Analyst Upgrades

• BB&T (BBT) and Aflac (AFL) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Kodiak Oil & Gas (KOG) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Zhongpin (HOGS) to neutral from reduce at Global Hunter.
• Marathon Oil (MRO), Noble Energy (NBL) and Manulife Financial (MFC) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Comerica (CMA) to buy from neutral at Rochdale.

Analyst Upgrades

• U.S. Steel (X) to buy from neutral and Barnes & Noble (BKS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Salesforce.com (CRM) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Dollar Tree (DLTR) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Edison International (EIX) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Analog Devices (ADI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

Analyst Upgrades

• NYSE Euronex (NYX) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• General Dynamics (GD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Deere (DE), Parker-Hannifin (PH) and ExlService (EXLS) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Aflac (AFL) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Amdocs (DOX) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Juniper (JNPR) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Rudolph Tech (RTEC) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Hershey (HSY) and Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Micron (MU) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Smith Micro (SMSI) to overweight from neutral and raised its price target to $15 from $9, citing the release of a WiFi iPad with MiFi from Verizon and Apple.
• Jefferies upgraded Whole Foods (WFMI) to buy from hold and raised its price target to $45 from $36, citing checks that indicate sales are accelerating and the company has been focused on expense control.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Ensco (ESV) and raised its price target to $54 to $56 from $46 to $47, citing valuation, the lifted deepwater drilling ban and higher oil prices.
• Gran Tierra Energy (GTE) was upgraded to buy from hold at Wunderlich, citing the company's Moqueta oil discovery as well as other near-term exploration opportunities, and raised its price target to $12.50 from $7.00.
• Chico's FAS (CHS) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc and set a $13 price target.
• UR-Energy (URE) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.

Monday October 29

• VNUS Medical Technologies (NASDAQ: VNUS) patent infringement lawsuit against Angiodynamics (NASDAQ: ANGO), Diomed Holdings (AMEX: DIO), Vascular Solutions (NASDAQ: VASC) begins.
• Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.

Tuesday October 30

• Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 8am.
• MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 11am.
• U.S. Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 2pm.

Wednesday October 31

• Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 8am.
• Smith Micro Software (NASDAQ: SMSI) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 2pm.

Thursday November 1

• PDUFA date for Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) and Mylan Laboratories' (NYSE: MYL) Nebivolol for hypertension.
• Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) to report October sales at 1pm.
• General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) to report October sales at 2pm.

Friday November 2

• PDUFA Date for Sciele Pharma's (NASDAQ: SCRX) Sular formulation
• PDUFA Date for GlaxoSmithKline's (NYSE: GSK) Variza for major depression disorder

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple (AAPL), Cash Systems (CKNN) and Citrix (CTXS) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Oppenheimer believes Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the largest beneficiary of the secular growth trends in Internet advertising and transitioned coverage with a Buy rating and $625 target.

• Oppenheimer also believes the current price of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is an attractive entry point given the company's number one position in display advertising and the recent successful launch of Panama. The firm transitioned coverage of Yahoo! with a Buy rating and $34 target.

• RBC Capital sees continued upside for Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) based on achieving its 10M goal for iPhone, upside from Mac momentum and maintaining iPod/iTunes dominance helped by new products, and started shares with an Outperform rating and $160 target.

• Merriman believes Cash Systems (NASDAQ: CKNN) is positioned to gain meaningful share in the casino cash access industry through the near-term introduction of powercash and started shares with a Buy rating.

• Friedman Billings believes Citrix's (NASDAQ: CTXS) latest Presentation Server product release has some near-term risk given raised prices and initiated shares with a Market Perform rating and $35 target...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) was initiated at Oppenheimer with a Buy rating.

• Lehman started Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) with an Equal Weight rating and $82 target.

• JP Morgan initiated Smith Micro Software (NASDAQ: SMSI) with an Overweight rating.

• First Albany initiated coverage of dELiA's (NASDAQ: DLIA) with a Neutral rating.

• Banc of America initiated coverage of Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) with a Buy rating and $34 target.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Netflix, Inc (NFLX), Blockbuster Inc (BBI), The Mosaic Company (MOS) and Domino's Pizza, Inc (DPZ) were some of today's noteworthy downgrades:

• First Albany cut Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) to Neutral from Buy to reflect weak industry subscriber additions.

• Blockbuster Inc (NYSE: BBI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Soleil.

• Citigroup cut The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) to Sell from Hold on expectations for a sharp DAP price decline and valuation.

• Domino's Pizza Inc (NYSE: DPZ) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns, citing valuation.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Merrill Lynch downgrade BP Plc (NYSE: BP) to Neutral from Buy on valuation.

• Smith Micro Software, Inc (NASDAQ: SMSI) was cut to Hold from Buy with a $21 target.

• Pacific Crest downgraded Linear Technology Corp (NASDAQ: LLTC) to Sector Perform from Outperform based on secular headwinds and an increase in DOI to 82 days.

• Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd (NYSE: TNP) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Citigroup on valuation.

• Piper Jaffray downgraded Compuware Corp (NASDAQ: CPWR) to Market Perform from Outperform following the disappointing Q4 guidance.

• Brean Murray downgraded Komag, Inc (NASDAQ: KOMG) to Hold from Buy.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Wachovia(NYSE:WB) initiated KBR Inc (NYSE: KBR) with a Market Perform rating based on valuation, with a target range of $26-$29.

• Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) initiated Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG) with a Sector Performer rating and $26 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Hansen Medical (NASDAQ: HNSN) was initiated at JP Morgan(NYSE:JPM), as the firm believes Hansen's Sensei robotic remote catheter navigation system has potential to be a platform technology that could be used in a variety of procedures. The firm also considers Hansen's shares attractive at these levels.

• UBS (NYSE:UBS) initiated Smith Micro Software (NASDAQ: SMSI) with a Buy rating and $18 target; the firm expects Smith Micro to continue to benefit from growth at Verizon Wireless and for the company to continue to further divest its customer base.

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