Analyst Upgrades

• Goodrich (GR) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Ford (F) to neutral from underperform and CenterPoint Energy (CNP) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Dollar Financial (DLLR) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Alterra Capital (ALTE) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) and P.F. Chang's (PFCB) to buy from neutral, as well as SunTrust (STI) to neutral from sell, at Janney Capital.
• Arch Capital (ACGL), Axis Capital (AXS), PartnerRe (PRE), Everest Re (RE) and Transatlantic (TRH) to buy from hold, as well as W. R. Berkley (WRB) to hold from sell, at Citigroup.
• Optimer Pharm (OPTR) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

"Royal Gold (RGLD), a gold royalty operation, is progressing well, and is a good buy at current levels," says global resources expert Adrian Day.

The editor of The Global Analyst explains, "Over $6 a share income by 2013 makes Royal Gold fundamentally inexpensive; it is also selling below a reasonable net asset value, unusually for gold stocks.

"The company hold a gold royalty on part of the huge Penasquito mine in Mexico, which had a good first quarter. Royal Gold has other new projects gearing up to boost revenues. Andacollo started production in October, so this year will see a full year of revenues from two new mines.

Many stocks had large gains yet the markets were mixed throughout the day. Sometimes the market likes QE2 and sometimes it doesn't. Today is a day where the markets are struggling to to figure out what influence to follow. Gold was above $1400 and oil hit new recent highs, but both gave some back today as the market correlation between the dollar and other markets was not tick for tick.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,346.75 -60.09 (-0.53%)
S&P 500 1,213.40 -9.85 (-0.81%)
Nasdaq 2,562.98 -17.07 (-0.66%)

Top Analyst Calls

Where should you invest in 2010?" asks resources sector expert Curtis Hesler, who suggests, "Preferably, you should stick to the heart of the matter and focus on crude oil and gold.".

In his top-ranked The Professional Timing Service, he explains, "Invest in assets that promise to increase in price as the dollar falls; this will insulate your portfolio from the damage that the ongoing deleveraging process will bring to the stock market and to other paper assets."

"Despite the expected correction, there is much further to go for gold and gold stocks." says Adrian Day. In The Global Analyst, he looks to the outlook for gold and some mining favorites.

"Gold saw its ninth annual advance, to new highs before a 10% correction at the end of the year. Gold certainly was helped by the weak dollar-and the year-end sell-off was provoke by a dollar recovery-but it's much more than an anti-dollar play.

Surviving this recession is foremost on peoples' minds, but giving to charity is especially important in times like these. So how can you effectively give while preserving your net worth?

If you plan on liquidating any profitable, or taxable, positions in the stock market thanks to the current uptrend and also want to give to your favorite charity, the strategy outlined below is key to optimizing your gift, as well as your capital.

Though giving cash to causes is the most popular form of charity, desperate times call for creative measures, and any type of gift will be gladly accepted. By giving stock directly to charity, and bear in mind that the stock must be in your portfolio for one year or more as short-term capital gains are not applicable, you not only avoid capital gains taxes on your gains, but you can actually use the gift of your stock as a tax deduction. Hence, the cost of your gift is lower than giving cash directly. Think of it as an overall investment for yourself and the charity.

"As the name suggests, Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD) is a royalty company, one of the larger and longest-established of such companies, with a focus on gold," says resource exprt Adrian Day.

In his Global Analyst advisory, he explains, "In my view, the stock offers a combination of growth, low risk, and high potential." Here's his look at this "golden opportunity."

"In the past year, the company has acquired two significant royalty packages, the first last year from Barrick and more recently from Teck Cominco. The Barrick package includes approximately 70 royalties.

"Even before these acquisitions, it had a solid long-term growth record, in royalties and in revenues. Its pipeline is solid, including a royalty on the large Pensasquito mine of Goldcorp; when that ramps up in 2012, it will add about 25% to Royal's revenues.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded MICROS Systems (NASDAQ:MCRS) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company's cost cutting is running ahead of Street expectations. The firm raised its target on shares to $25 from $18.
  
• KeyBanc upgraded Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) to Buy from Hold. The analyst believes companies will beat EPS estimates given lower commodity costs, focus on cost controls, and reduced drag of inefficient, new restaurants on unit level margins. Additionally, they believe reduced mortgage payments from refinancing will incrementally help traffic.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded First Niagara (NASDAQ:FNFG) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following the company's Q1 results. The firm raised its target price to $15.
• American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) was upgraded to Sector Performer from Sector Underperformer at CIBC and to Neutral from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.
  
• Micron (NYSE:MU) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

"Stocks are so low that the best are bound to attract bargain-hunters ... eventually," says Timothy Lutts. One such value he highlights in The Cabot Stock of the Month Report is Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD).

He explains, "Royal Gold doesn't own any gold mines. It doesn't mine gold. It doesn't buy gold. And it doesn't sell gold. It simply owns the rights to royalties from a variety of precious metals producers."

"The major benefit of Royal Gold's approach to the gold business is that it involves no capital costs, no operating costs and no legal or environmental liabilities. The major drawback? Well, we haven't found it yet.

"Royal Gold is not large. It has annual revenues of just $69 million and 34 million shares outstanding. However, Royal Gold is the biggest company in the world that derives its revenues solely from precious metal royalties.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) to Buy from Hold on expectations that Haynesville results could be a catalyst in 2009. The firm raised their target to $100 from $94.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Republic Services (NYSE: RSG) to Outperform from market Perform following the completed merger with Allied Waste (NYSE: AW).
  
• KeyBanc upgraded NorthWestern (NYSE: NWE) to Buy from HOld as they expect the Montana commission to grant the company's pending request for an accounting order to smooth pension expenses over five years.
• EnCana (NYSE: ECA) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• Goldman also upgraded Questar (NYSE: STR) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Analyst downgrades:

Wall Street's equity market has a very light schedule this week, due to the Passover and Easter holidays, with four deals on the docket, including one IPO and three Secondaries.

Those deals tentatively scheduled to price include:

IPOs:

Thursday

Veraz Networks Inc., a 9M-share IPO for this web switches company. Credit Suisse and Lehman are the lead managers. Filing range $10-$12.

Secondaries:

Wednesday

Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD), 4M-share Secondary for this precious metals company. HSBC and Merrill Lynch are the lead managers.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD), a 5M-share Secondary for this pharmaceutical company. Bank of America and Lehman are the lead managers.

Thursday

Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS), a 2.86M-share Secondary for this PR software company. Thomas Weisel is the lead manager.

For the latest market intelligence on IPOs, Syndicate, and after-market trades, check out TheFLY Syndicate at
www.theflyonthewall.com. (Subscription required.)