The reports of newspapers' demise have not been greatly exaggerated. The Rocky Mountain News, Colorado's oldest newspaper and one of two daily papers in Denver, announced it will publish its final edition, Friday, February 27th.

The date is two months shy of its 150-year anniversary.

Update: The final issue of the paper was printed today, February 27th, with a commemorative edition whose headline read "Goodbye Colorado" and which included some of the newspapers' Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs and stories. The headline on the front page read "Stop the Presses."

The paper had been sharing business services, including advertising and printing, with The Denver Post in a U.S. Justice Department-approved arrangement since 2001. As of Saturday, however, the editorial voices in the community will be reduced to one.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE: APD) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $79 from $63 on valuation as they believe the stock is oversold at current levels and that the company is well positioned to outperform in a slowing demand environment.
  
• Goldman upgraded the U.S. Insurance Brokers sector to Attractive from Cautious and upgraded AON Corporation (NYSE: AOC) and Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE: CVA) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer. The firm recommends buying shares because they believe that its business model is defensive and its long-term contracts provide stability.
• First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings.
  
• Baird upgraded IMS Health, Inc. (NYSE: RX) to Outperform from Neutral.
  
• The Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) was lifted to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

Analyst downgrades:

Minyanville's top dog, Todd Harrison, dares to ask in public what Wall Street types quietly consider in private. For more insight and ideas, visit www.Minyanville.com.

Yikes, Lehman downgrades Scripps (NYSE: SNI), Gannett (NYSE: GCI) pooped the bed. What the heck is happening to these paltry little rags?

Some thoughts:

• The internet is the single biggest deflationary force ever invented and the "information deflation" is in full force.
  
• Without a doubt, my bullish bent on the newspaper names was my single worst "call" of the year.
  
• The thesis was that portals will buy the papers to feed content into their pipes.
  
• That remains a viable option for some of the franchise properties, although it will seemingly happen -- if it happens -- from lower levels.
  
• I still own some GCI January calls but have quickly become lottery tickets.

R.P.

Position In GCI

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal had news on EW Scripps (NYSE: SSP), Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Congress.

• E.W. Scripps is considering splitting off its newspaper operations. It owns papers in 18 markets, which account for about 30% of company revenues.
• The head of Dell's commercial business group will retire in March and the unit will be divided into two separate businesses.
• Wal-Mart said the number of workers enrolled in its health plan increased slightly this year.
• The House of Representatives passed a $2.10 increase in the federal minimum wage, to take place over the next two years in three 70 cent increments.

• The Financial Times reported that Cerberus is considering a $36B offer for Equity Office Properties (NYSE: EOP).

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Detroit Free Press reported that Valeo (OTC: VLEEY) will not rule out buying Visteon Corp. (VC) or parts of Delphi Corp. (OTC: DPHIQ).
• Website GameDaily.com wrote that Viacom Inc's (NYSE: VIA) MTV Networks is in talks to acquire 1Up.com from Ziff Davis Media.
• The Investor's Business Daily's "New America" column wrote that Visa's plans to go public should take some of MasterCard Inc.'s (NYSE: MA) advantage in the stock market.