MOST NOTEWORTHY: Advanced Analogic, Navios Maritime and Lockheed Martin were today's noteworthy initiations:

• JMP Securities started shares of Advanced Analogic (NASDAQ: AATI) with a Market Outperform rating and $13 target, as they are positive on AATI's increasing margins driven by proprietary portable power management designs and cost-effective manufacturing technology.
  
• Cantor assumed coverage of Navios Maritime (NYSE: NMM) with a Buy rating and $21 target and believes the company's focus on long-term charter contracts and substantially fixed operating costs helps provide clear earnings visibility to support its dividend policy.
  
• American Technology views Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) as a compelling long-term investment opportunity given the overall predictability of the sector and an attractive valuation. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $129 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Morgan Stanley initiated SuccessFactors (NASDAQ: SFSF) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Cowen initiated Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) with a Neutral rating and Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) with an Outperform rating.

Cyber Monday -- today's marketing gimmick to get people to buy holiday gifts online in the wake of last week's Black Friday -- is expected to generate $4.8 billion worth of e-commerce. According to the New York Times, Doug Hart, a BDO Seidman analyst expects today's Cyber Monday sales to account for 12% of the $39 billion in online revenue this holiday season -- almost as much as the 15% share of holiday sales recorded by bricks and mortar retailers this Black Friday.

Cyber Monday often features online discounts. For example, in 2006 Ice.com, an online jeweler, offered a 20% discount on 15 items on Cyber Monday. RalphLauren.com, a unit of Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) recently had a pre-Thanksgiving 40% off sale which ended November 19th. I received a $200 gift card for my birthday and when I tried to use it after learning from the gift giver of the sale that morning, RalphLauren.com could not verify its value. When I called its customer service line, RalphLauren.com told me that the gift card was worthless.

I notified the gift giver who called RalphLauren.com whose customer service person, Marlon, called me and told me he would take care of the problem that day and get back to me so I could use the card to take advantage of the 40% off sale. Marlon did not call me back, so late that afternoon I called in to customer service -- mentioning Marlon's name (she did not know who Marlon was) -- and was told that I should ask the gift giver to return to wherever he got the card and try again.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Papa John's (PZZA), Wynn Resorts (WYNN), SourceForge (LNUX), Cathay Pacific (CPCAY) and Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Matrix downgraded shares of Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) to Hold from Strong Buy to reflect minimal improvement to fundamentals and negative free cash flow trends.

• Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform based on valuation as the firm believes shares fully reflect solid Las Vegas & Macau fundamentals and the company's development pipeline.

• SourceForge (NASDAQ: LNUX) was cut to Underperform from Market perform at JMP Securities, with a $3 target, following the disappointing results.

• Merrill Lynch downgraded Cathay Pacific (OTC: CPCAY) to Sell from Buy on valuation.

• Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) was cut to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns as they believe margin expansion will be lower than expected, softening insurance pricing will impact organic growth, and cites managements acquisition desires over aggressive repurchases...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• PolyMedica (NASDAQ: PLMD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy.

• Merrill downgraded Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) to Neutral from Buy.

• Morgan Stanley cut Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) to Underwieght from Overweight.

• JP Morgan downgraded Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC) to Neutral from Overweight.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Polo Ralph Lauren (RL), Alcan (AL), Alcoa (AA) and Conn's, Inc (CONN) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Piper Jaffray. The firm feels the risk/reward is balanced at current levels given the near-term risks from increased investment and exposure to inconsistent U.S. wholesale markets.

• Goldman Sachs resumed coverage of Alcan (NYSE: AL) and Alcoa (NYSE: AA) with Neutral ratings and a $101 target and $48 target, respectively.

• Morgan Joseph is positive on Conn's Inc's (NASDAQ: CONN) strong track record of growth, new store growth and easy comps, and initiated shares with a Buy rating and $34 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Merriman initiated shares of Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) with a Buy rating.

• Stifel initiated shares of Pharmerica (NASDAQ: PMC) with a Hold rating on valuation.

• Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) and SAVVIS, Inc (NASDAQ: SVVS) were initiated at CIBC World Markets with Sector Performer ratings.

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

Jim Cramer had a slightly different rendition today to his Wild Bull market sector picks on today's Stop Trading! segment on CNBC. He noted that the retail investor is starting to return to the market. If retails buys tech like Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) and Apple, Inc.(NASDAQ :AAPL) then they are buying needles in the haystack because they are in technology. But other sectors, such as machinery, mining, minerals and aerospace are all their own haystacks. You can see what he said the other night here with his top picks in each group, of those wild bull market picks for the first four sectors and then the other two sectors that retail should be buying. He also noted that Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) is firing on all cylinders and it is starting to take up more and more retail space and taking gross margin power away from retailers. Cramer said Ralph Lauren's stock is heading for $120.

Those major sectors are still hard to argue against, particularly since they have been working. Ralph Lauren has been doing quite well if you include its new forays into the likes of JC Penney and others, but investors may want to caution that the retail designer is now worth $10 billion in market cap. It also seems like whenever there's a merchandise sale at a given department stores, there's a flood of Polo merchandise for sale, particularly in the 'Custom Fit" lines that are cut too small for a huge portion of Americans (no pun intended).

Here is a quick look at this upcoming holiday shortened week.

Monday May 28

• Markets closed for Memorial Day holiday.
• PDUFA date for MedImmune Inc's (NASDAQ: MEDI) sBLA for CAIV-T.

Tuesday May 29

• Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) to hold webcast at 4:30pm to discuss newly announced Mobility Solutions.
• Verifone Holdings Inc (NYSE: PAY) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.
• BMC Software Inc (NYSE: BMC) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 5pm.

Wednesday May 30

• Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 9am.
• ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) to hold shareholders meeting at 10am.

Thursday May 31

• Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
• Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 11am.
• Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL) to report Q1 earnings after market close.
• Novellus Systems Inc (NASDAQ: NVLS) to hold mid-quarter update conference call at 4:30pm.

Friday June 1

• Weyerhauser Company (NYSE: WY) to hold analyst meeting at 9am.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) is helping to bring eBay Inc's (NASDAQ: EBAY) Skype "to the masses," by selling Skype Internet calling phone gear in the electronics section of its stores.
• The Wall Street Journal's "BreakingViews" section speculated that a merger between General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) NBC and Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) would "make industrial sense."
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that the Bancroft family, which control a majority of the voting shares of Dow Jones and Company Inc (NYSE: DJ), is split over the idea of meeting with News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) Chairman Rupert Murdoch to discuss his $5B offer for Dow Jones.
• The Financial Times reported that Internet jewelry retailer Blue Nile Inc (NASDAQ: NILE) is launching operations in Europe.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the Sunday Telegraph, Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) has hired Morgan Stanley to help defend itself in the event of an unsolicited takeover approach.
• The Sunday Telegraph reported that Clear Channel Communications Inc (NYSE: CCU) is expected to put its international poster business up for sale for as much as $3.2B.
• The Telegraph reported that rival groups are looking to stop Alcoa Inc's (NYSE: AA) hostile bid for Canadian aluminum producer Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL).
• The Economic Times reported that Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is in talks with "leading Indian business houses including the Tatas," according to sources.
  

WEBSITES:

• DigiTimes.com reported that the ATI Radeon HD that was just introduced by Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) has fallen short of expectations in terms of price, performance and energy efficiency.

Stock screeners are tools that let investors filter through a large number of stocks according to chosen criteria. While helping investors pick stocks and narrow down options, it is important to remember that a stock screener is just a tool and every investment should be analyzed on its own merits to make sure it fits with your personal portfolio and risk characteristics. This is my weekly column that finds interesting investment opportunities with the help of our Stock Screener.

Last week I explained why I decided to look at the women's clothing industry in the Stock Screener, a combination of personal taste and recent news. I chose a minimum $1 billion market capitalization and the stock screener returned Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) and Jones Apparel Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY).

I found Jones Apparel to lack the growth of other apparel companies, while also having lower margins. The brands of JNY also seemed mature. Better opportunities seem to be out there should one choose to invest in the industry. What about Liz Claiborne then?

Cramer today said that the large Saudi investor buying into HSBC Holdings Plc (ADR) (NYSE: HBC) signals that banks might be attractive now. Maan Al-Sanea is head of a huge conglomerate and he's not Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.

Cramer said this lends credence that Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC), Wachovia (NYSE :WB), and Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) could all be acquired. The fact that Fremont General (NYSE: FMT) sold off $2 billion in subprime lows is showing there is a bid out there.

Cramer said even SLM Corp, or Sallie Mae, (NYSE: SLM) being bought is showing that these in the group are taking out the short sellers.

On the retail sector, Cramer again pumped up Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL). He said that this could to go to $110 to $115 based on the Coach, Inc. (NYSE: COH) multiple out there.

Stock screeners are tools that let investors filter through a large number of stocks according to chosen criteria. While helping investors pick stocks and narrow down options, it is important to remember that a stock screener is just a tool and every investment should be analyzed on its own merits to make sure it fits with your personal portfolio and risk characteristics. This is my weekly column that finds interesting investment opportunities with the help of our Stock Screener.

Update: I've written the post before the recent rumors reported in the New York Post about Barneys New York possibly being bought by Dubai oil sheiks. While I did mention that I've noticed increased activity in JNY trading, the reason was unclear. I now expanded further on the matter at the end of the post.

Last Friday was Good Friday and like every good Canadian who lives along the U.S. border, we decided we couldn't handle one day without shopping (stores in Canada were closed). So we drove to Buffalo. Bargain huntin'. With the low U.S. dollar, bargains are even better. We went to the outlet mall and, as usual, I got stuck at Jones New York, hubby at Liz Claiborne.

Last week I came across an article in Forbes about the possibility of Gianni Versace S.p.A. going public. Versace had recently announced it swung a profit in 2006 and that it plans to further expand in Asia. A Versace IPO could be worth $1.2 billion. A Wall Street Journal article mentioned that a few other private fashion houses might also consider public offering [subscription] next year, including Prada SpA.

Naturally, with all this in my head, I wanted to see how the U.S. fashion stores are doing. In the Stock Screener, I chose the Women's Clothing industry and a minimum $1 billion market capitalization. Lo and behold, the stock screener returned Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) and Jones Apparel Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY).

aQuantive (NASDAQ:AQNT) was started in new coverage as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) was downgraded to Sector Perform at CIBC, cut to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.

EMC (NYSE:EMC) and Network Appliances (NASDAQ:NTAP) were raised to Overweight at J.P.Morgan.

Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) cut to Reduce at UBS, cut to neutral at BofA; stock down 2% after earnings and no buyout.

A.G.Edwards started the video game sector in new coverage: Game makers Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), and THQ Interactive (NASDAQ:THQI) were all started as Buy ratings, while Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) & Midway (NYSE:MWY) were started as Hold. GameStop (NYSE:GME) was started as a HOLD rating in the retail end.

24/7 Wall St. full research summary.

Goldman Sachs notes: Coldwater Creek (NASDAQ:CWTR), Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL), and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) were all raised to Buy from Neutral. Liz Claiborne (NYSE:LIZ) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral. Goldman Sachs reiterated its Conviction Buy List on Coach (NYSE:COH) and maintained Buy ratings on Abercombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF), Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO), and Nike (NYSE:NKE). Here is Goldman Sachs' full research summary.

Jon Ogg is a partner in 24/7 Wall St., LLC; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Acorda Therapeutics Inc (ACOR) and Coach, Inc (COH) were some of today's most notable initiations:

• Morgan Joseph started Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: ACOR) with a Sell rating and $15 target citing seizure rates for Fampridine-SR and limited efficacy for its rating.

• Coach, Inc (NYSE: COH) was started at Soleil with a Buy rating and $58 target; the firm believes continuing market share gains should create a long-term EPS growth rate of 23%.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Morgan Stanley initiated Time Warner Cable (OTC: TWCA) with an Equal Weight rating.

• Raymond James started Legacy Reserves LP (NASDAQ: LGCY) with an Outperform rating and $27 target.

• Wedbush initiated Avaya Inc (NYSE: AV) with a Hold rating and $14 target.

• Nollenberger initiated Rudolph Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: RTEC) with a Buy rating and $26 target, citing valuation.

• Precision Drilling Trust (NYSE: PDS) was initiated at CIBC with a Sector Performer rating.

• Lehman Brothers started Polo Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE: RL) with an Overweight rating and $100 target.

• Bank of America reinstated The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) with a Neutral rating and $33 target.

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

Socks and ties, cologne, a ticket to a ball game: all well and good, but for the stock-loving guy in your life, why not surprise him this year? Instead of giving him a gift that will wear out, run out or disappoint (for God's sake, don't give him Knicks tickets!), present him with something that will fit into his portfolio and remind him of you every time he counts his loot. Some suggestions:

Instead of cologne, a cologne maker. Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE:RL) offers Polo, Polo Black and Polo Blue colognes for men at $30-40 a pop. For $83.52, you can buy him a share, so he makes money on every bottle sold. And this week Polo announced third quarter results eleven cents over forecast estimates.

Stocks instead of socks (or ties). J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), the stalwart of middle American men's wardrobes, has shown impressive growth over the last three years. This week, it announced a same-store sales rise for January of 3.6%, which will warm any Wall Street fan's heart more than a pair of socks.

Think dollars instead of ducats. If you buy your honey tickets to a ball game, you run the risk of a half-time stomp out and a grumpy guy if his team tanks for the night. Suppose, instead, you bought him a share of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS). He would the be part owner of ESPN. That way, even on those nights when his team is struggling, he can enjoy the commercials knowing they're building his portfolio's value.

And that special thing you do that drives him wild? You know what I mean. Don't even think of trying to replace that with a stock.

Valentine's Day gifts for the market woman in your life -- Chocolate, champagne and diamond