Analyst Upgrades

• McAdams Wright expects Dendreon's (NASDAQ: DNDN) near-term momentum to continue but has long-term concerns that Street estimates are too high. The firm upgraded shares to Hold from Sell.
• JPMorgan upgraded Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect valuation, potential catalysts from Colorado's easing gaming regulations, and the company's strong free cash flow. The firm raised its target on shares to $24 from $20.
• Citigroup upgraded Valspar (NYSE: VAL) to Hold from Sell after channel checks indicated paint demand is shifting to big-box retailers, the company's primary sales channel. The firm raised its target on shares to $22 from $19.
• Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
• Spectra Energy (NYSE: SEP) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.

Analyst Ugrades

• Stephens upgraded Old Dominion Freight (NASDAQ: ODFL) to Overweight from Equal Weight to reflect the financial problems at YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW), which the firm believes could lead to market share gains. Stephens raised its target on Old Dominion Freight to $40 from $22.
• UBS expects SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) to benefit from the U.S. residential solar segment as investment tax credits come available. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $38 from $26.
• KeyBanc upgraded DPL (NYSE: DPL) to Buy from Hold based on valuation and potential upside from the Ohio approval of the rate settlement, 2010 guidance, and potential to use cash flow for accretive purposes.
• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman.
• Carnival (NYSE: CCL) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• South Financial Group (NASDAQ: TSFG) was upgraded at SunTrust to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded HMS Holdings (NASDAQ: HMSY) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they believe the recent weakness provides an attractive entry point. The firm keeps a $36 price target on shares.
  
• Credit Suisse believes Universal Health (NYSE: UHS) is well positioned to gain market share, that earnings risk from the Las Vegas market is manageable, and that the balance sheet provides flexibility. The firm upgraded shares to Outperform from Neutral and raised their target to $48 from $46.
  
• UBS upgraded RF Micro (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Buy from Neutral citing checks that indicate strengthening momentum, impact from recent restructuring, and expected debt reduction. The analyst raised RFMD estimates above consensus and upped the price target to $3 from $1.10.
• Liberty Capital (NASDAQ: LCAPA) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Tesoro (NYSE: TSO) was raised to Hold from Sell at Soleil.
  
• SunTrust (NYSE: STI) was lifted at Keefe Bruyette to Outperform from Market Perform.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says companies saddled with high debt loads can be found in every sector in every business.

Overleveraged. Too much debt. Need to pay down debt. How many times have you read that story?

You read it so much because it plays out every day and plays havoc with stock picking almost every time you see a savory stock down on its luck.

This weekend, as I went through the charts, I was amazed at how low some stocks have gone, stocks that I would normally say to just take a flyer on, but turn out to have so much debt, short- and long-term, that they are just too dangerous.

Consider these perhaps poisonous morsels:

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Safeway (NYSE:SWY) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation.
  
• AthroCare (NASDAQ:ARTC) was raised to Neutral from Negative at Susquehanna on valuation.
• BT Group (NYSE:BT) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
  
• Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP) was upgraded at Goldman to Buy from Neutral.
  
• China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Analyst downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Albany Molecular (NASDAQ:AMRI) to Underperform from Hold on concerns regarding the company's exposure to small biopharma as their checks suggest biopharmaceutical companies that rely on the capital markets to fund operations are cutting back significantly on R&D projects. The firm lowered their target to $8 from $10.
• Baird downgraded Sirona Dental (NASDAQ:SIRO) to Neutral from Outperform and lowered their target to $15 from $21 due to lack of catalysts and better options in dental.
  
• Stephens cut Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) to Equal Weight from Overweight on the expectation that weaker volumes will lead to pricing pressure. The firm lowered their target to $24 from $36.
• Teco Energy (NYSE:TE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at KeyBanc.
  
• RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ:RFMD) was lowered to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Energy Conversion (NASDAQ:ENER) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation and a potential margin rebound at Linens N' Things.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) to Hold from Sell on valuation and believes expectations have been reset to a reasonable level. The company's target was lowered to $27 from $33.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Ceradyne (NASDAQ: CRDN) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following the recent weakness and thinks the Army will move forward with a larger XSAPI procurement in FY09. The firm raised their target to $30 from $26.
• Goldman added Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  
• Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst downgrades:

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says all that money has to go somewhere, and this is a likely destination.

Clash of the ideals! Oil's down, and what can you buy when there's so much bad bank news? What can you buy when Wachovia (NYSE: WB) (Cramer's Take) is boosting reserves and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)) (Cramer's Take) is still being pursued by authorities and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) says July stunk and UBS (NYSE: UBS) (Cramer's Take) is so tarnished that you can't believe it was once the most conservative blue chip out there.

The answer is tech, of course!

Wait a second. Would anyone mind if we actually had a reason to buy tech beyond the Kindle, the device that made Citigroup gaga about Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) (Cramer's Take) -- not that you needed a device to do that.

Sure, we have pre-seasonality. Remember, you are supposed to buy tech at the end of the summer, not that anyone waits that long.

But what we really have is that quant thinking that Doug rails about so correctly: the CDO of stocks! We take a little bad tech, the lowest-end stuff like RF Micro (NASDAQ: RFMD) (Cramer's Take) and Parametric (NASDAQ: PMTC) (Cramer's Take); mix in some mid-tech, stuff like National Semi (NYSE: NSM) (Cramer's Take) and Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) (Cramer's Take); then throw in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) (Cramer's Take), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) (Cramer's Take), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) (Cramer's Take), Amazon and Adobe (NASDAQ: ABDE) (Cramer's Take) -- yes, Adobe; then split them into tranches, slice 'em up, and offer a derivative on them for those who want leverage and we have, well, a tech rally!

MOST NOTEWORTHY: RF Micro Devices, QLT Inc and Everest RE Group were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded RF Micro (NASDAQ:RFMD) to Buy from Hold citing strong proprietary Asian channel checks. The firm believes RF Micro is past the worst of the inventory handset correction in Asia and that the MPG business is also recovering.
  
• RBC Capital said QLT Inc's (NASDAQ:QLTI) risk/reward has improved and expects divestment announcements to start in late Q2. The firm raised shares to Outperform from Sector Perform.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Everest RE (NYSE:RE) to Buy from Hold citing valuation, likely buybacks, the low risk of asbestos charges and the seasonal trade ahead.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Merriman raised Level 3 Comm (NASDAQ:LVLT) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
  
• True Religion (NASDAQ:TRLG) was raised at Morgan Keegan to Outperform from Market Perform.

Way back in early March I highlighted 10 horrifically downtrending stocks and said not to even think about buying them until they broke their nasty trendlines to the upside.

Over the past few weeks, many have displayed solid sideways price action, but it wasn't until yesterday that the high volume breakouts occurred. I'm talking about those 50+ million shares traded, 10%+ price surges beautifully accomplished by such popular names like Sprint Nextel Corp (NYSE: S), Broadcom Corp (NASDAQ: BRCM) and Level 3 Communications Inc (NASDAQ: LVLT).

Unsurprisingly, several other stocks also showed similarly strong price action:

RF Microdevices Inc (NASDAQ: RFMD)
Anadigics Inc (NASDAQ: ANAD)
Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: SWKS)
Triquint Semiconductor Inc (NASDAQ: TQNT)
China Life Insurance Co. Ltd (NYSE: LFC)
Raymond James Financial Inc (NYSE: RJF)
Cerner Corp (NASDAQ: CERN)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: RF Micro Devices, Western Digital and Boyd Gaming were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Hold from Buy to reflect the continued softness in the China Market after Asian channel checks suggested the March quarter will be weak.
  
• Citigroup downgraded shares of Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) to Hold from Buy, as they believe the HDD industry is nearing a cyclical peak. They also view the likelihood of consolidation as less likely given the current conditions.
  
• Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD) was lowered to Neutral from Add at Calyon following its Q4 report.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• JP Morgan downgraded BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA), Lea Corporation (NYSE: LEA) and TRW Automotive Holdings (NYSE: TRW) to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• Merrill lowered Edison International (NYSE: EIX) to Neutral from Buy.

Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch cut 2008 earnings forecasts for JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that Jefferies cut RF Micro (NASDAQ: RFMD) from "buy" to "hold."

Moody's Investors Service put Fannie Mae's (NYSE: FNM) "B+" bank financial strength rating on its review list for a possible downgrade, according to the AP.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The trucking sector, Banco Santander and StatoilHydro were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Bear upgraded the trucking sector to Market Weight from Underweight and continues to expect weak pricing but believes valuations are near a bottom. The firm raised Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW) and Knight Transportation (NYSE: KNX) to Peer Perform from Underperform.
  
• WestLB upgraded shares of Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) to Buy from Add as they believe the company's diversified business would shield it from an economic slowdown in Spain.
  
• StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Societe Generale on valuation, as they believe the company has one of the most risk/reward profiles in the industry.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Under Armour (NYSE: UA) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  
• B. Riley upgraded Actuate (NASDAQ: ACTU) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Deutsche Bank raised RF Micro (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Hold from Sell.

AmCOMP (NASDAQ: AMCP) Buy-out offer. Up 37%.

Shuffle Master (NASDAQ: SHFL) Sells patent and tax benefit helps Q4. Trading up 12%.

RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) Revises guidance down. Falls 15%.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) Big write-offs. Falls over 7%.

Stocks may trade differently in pre-market than they do in regular session.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Genentech, HSBC Holdings, Suntech Power, SunPower and Force Protection were today's noteworthy initiations:

• UBS is positive on Genentech Inc's (NYSE: DNA) leading industry franchises and potential upside from development projects and started shares with a Buy rating and $101 target.
  
• HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) was assumed with a Reduce rating at WestLB, as the firm believes subprime concerns may hold back shares in the near-term.
  
• Jefferies initiated shares of SunTech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP) with a Buy rating and $45 target. The firm believes the company is positioned to beat 2007 and 2008 expectations by ramping manufacturing capacity and production faster than expected.
  
• Jefferies also resumed coverage of SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) with a Hold rating and $90 target, citing valuation, but believes the stock's higher multiple is justified given the company's superior growth potential.
  
• Force Protection Inc (NASDAQ: FRPT) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and Friedman Billings, as they believe near-term production expectations are too high given emerging DOD funding issues.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Lehman started shares of Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) with an Overweight rating.
  
• UBS started shares of RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Cowen resumed coverage of Savient Pharmaeuticals Inc (NASDAQ: SVNT) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Morgan Keegan started shares of Heartland Payment Systems Inc (NYSE: HPY) with a Market Perform rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: GameStop (GME), Brocade (BRCD), Tween Brands (TWB), Plantronics (PLT) and Arcelor Mittal (MT) were today's more notable upgrades:

• First Albany sees upside potential in GameStop (NYSE: GME) through 2008 and upgraded shares to Strong Buy from Buy.

• JMP Securities upgraded Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) to Market Outperform from Market Perform on valuation.

• Tween Brands (NYSE: TWB) was upgraded to Buy from Sell on valuation at Matrix USA.

• JMP Securities' checks indicate Altec Lansing's im600 iPod docking station/FM radio is selling better than expected, and upgraded shares of Plantronics (NYSE: PLT) to Market Outperform from Market Perform.

• Merrill upgraded shares of Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) to Buy from Neutral to reflect the company's inclusion in the Euro Stoxx 50 Index in September as well as the positive global carbon steel environment...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Pepsi Bottling (NYSE: PBG) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC.

• Morgan Stanley raised RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Equal Weight from Underweight.

• Matrix upgraded Barr Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: BRL) to Buy from Hold.

• Jefferies upgraded Advanced Medical (NYSE: EYE) to Hold from Underperform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).