SunPower (SPWRA) saw an increase of more than 10% in its stock price on March 15. This trend was seen across almost all companies in the solar industry, including SunPower's competitors FirstSolar (FSLR), SuntechPower (STP), and Yingli Green Energy (YGE).

Our price estimate for SunPower's stock is at $14.41, about 10% below its current market price.

Analyst Upgrades

• Air Products (APD) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Zimmer (ZMH) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• SunPower (SPWRA) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Brocade (BRCD) to buy from hold at Wunderlich and at ThinkEquity.
• Duke Energy (DUK) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• NewStar Financial (NEWS) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Hormel Foods (HRL) to hold from sell at Soleil.
• Inspire Pharma (ISPH) to hold from sell at Duncan-Williams.
• Alnylam (ALNY) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Weight Watchers (WTW) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Raytheon (RTN) and Toreador Resources (TRGL) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Fluor (FLR) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Macy's (M) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ), JA Solar (JASO) and HeartWare (HTWR) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Ashford Hospitality (AHT) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• RenaissanceRe (RNR) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• DCT Industrial (DCT) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE) and Silver Standard (SSRI) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Weatherford (WFT), Hercules (HERO), GulfMark Offshore (GLF), Tidewater (TDW) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to buy from hold, and Diamond Offshore (DO) to hold from underperform, at Jefferies.
• Ritchie Bros. (RBA) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• AstraZeneca (AZN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.

The deficit commission's pledge to bring the deficit down to a managed level and the hope that the Euro-Zone won't implode gave markets a steady boost today. Add in higher ISM data and higher jobs data than expected, along with predictions of solid retail numbers, and we had a huge rally. A gain of more than 200 points qualifies as a huge day.

Here were today's unofficial closing bells:

Dow Jones 11,255.78 +249.76 (2.27%)
S&P 500 1,206.07 +19.47 (1.64%)
Nasdaq 2,549.43 +51.20 (2.05%)

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Today got a boost from a less-bad GDP that came in as a revised 1.6%. Slow growth, but not as slow as what was expected. Even an overdue warning from Intel did not manage to be bad enough to stall the market recovery. After Ben Bernanke said he'd do whatever it took to maintain a recovery, stocks and oil rose, and some of the air came out of the bond bubble.

Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,151.18 +165.37 (1.66%)
S&P 500 1,064.60 +17.38 (1.66%)
Nasdaq 2,153.63 +34.94 (1.65%)

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Analyst Upgrades

• BMO Capital upgraded Church & Dwight (CHD) to outperform from market perform with a $75 price target, citing valuation.
• JPMorgan upgraded Men's Wearhouse (MW) to overweight from neutral with a $25 price target. The firm cites valuation and expectations for margin expansion for the upgrade.
• Longbow upgraded Greenbrier (GBX) to buy from neutral and has a $15 target on the stock. The firm's checks indicate demand is tightening for intermodal railcars.
• Sunpower (SPWRA) was upgraded to buy from hold at Soleil.
• Tesoro (TSO) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to Buy from Neutral based on positive feedback on the Chatter product and increasing confidence the company can beat FY11 guidance. The firm raised its price target to $111 from $90.
• Leerink upgraded Vivus (VVUS) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm believes Qnexa issues raised by the FDA are labeling and marketing issues, and not approval issues. The firm expects a positive panel vote for Qnexa.
• Goldman upgraded AK Steel (AKS) to Buy from Netural citing lower iron ore prices. The firm has a $17 price target on the stock.
• Kinder Morgan Energy (KMP) was upgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Shire (SHPGY) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Canadian National (CNI) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Analyst Upgrades

• Auriga upgraded Cisco (CSCO) to buy from hold, citing the company's improving strategic position in data centers.
• Blue Nile (NILE) was raised to buy from hold by Citigroup due to the recent pullback in shares.
• DuPont Fabros (DFT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS, which said that said fundamentals in the data center space have been improving.
• Baird upgraded Sterling Bancshares (SBIB) to neutral from underperform based on valuation.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Bristol-Myers (BMY) to buy from neutral.
• Amazon.com (AMZN) was raised to conviction buy from buy by Goldman.
• Jefferies upgraded Celgene (CELG) to buy from hold.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS upgraded JPMorgan (JPM) to buy from neutral and has a $50 price target on the stock. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade.
• Morgan Joseph upgraded Deere (DE) to buy from hold, citing strong U.S. demand for combines and tractors, favorable fundamentals in Brazil, and expectations for improved domestic construction-equipment demand. The firm has a $75 price target on the stock.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Venoco (VQ) to outperform from market perform to reflect increased confidence in the company's Monterey Shale potential.
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Tenet Healthcare (THC) was upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Agnico-Eagle (AEM) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

After the closing bell, SunPower Corporation (SPWRA) will take the spotlight to reveal its fourth-quarter earnings. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting the solar concern to report net income of 49 cents per share, down from its year-ago profit of 70 cents per share. Sales for the period are expected to arrive at $491 million.

SunPower has a solid history in the earnings spotlight, having exceeded Wall Street's consensus expectations in three of the past four reporting periods. Judging by a recent uptick in call buying, some traders appear to be anticipating another upside surprise.

With the failed global warming submit; leaked emails, faked numbers, suppressed data and major snow storms hitting both Europe and America global warning aka "climategate" seems to have taken a major hit recently. Some are even going as far as predicting the demise of global warming.

This could be a big turning point for global warming. Having been caught in a lie; they have lost massive amount of creditability and now face an uphill battle to convince a skeptical public. Certainly, global warming may regain public credibility, but it will face a lot of scrutiny as it tries.

SunPower (SPWRA - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced it will acquire SunRay Renewable Energy in a $277 million deal. SunRay is a European solar power plant developer. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on SPRWA.

SPWRA opened this morning at $19.51. So far today the stock has hit a low of $19.30 and a high of $20.14. As of 12:40, SPWRA is trading at $20.01 up 90 cents (4.7%). The chart for SPWRA looks bearish and S&P gives SPWRA a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded T. Rowe Price (TROW) to buy from hold due to valuation and solid core trends. The firm raised its target on shares to $57 from $55. Note the firm downgraded Franklin Resources to hold from buy (see below).
• KeyBanc upgraded U.S. Steel (X) to buy from hold based on stable domestic cost environment in 2010 and likelihood of sustained higher spot pricing. The firm has a $65 target on shares.
• Goldman upgraded Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) to buy from neutral, citing oil leverage, sizable resource base and free cash flow. The firm raised its target to $90 from $88.
• Darden (DRI) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Carnival (CCL) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• AmerisourceBergen (ABC) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Analyst upgrades:

• RBC Capital upgraded Fidelity National (FIS) to outperform from sector perform. The firm upgraded the stock due to valuation, and its belief that the company will clear up issues related to its merger on its Analyst Day, scheduled for Dec. 7. The firm set a $28 target on the stock.
• Citigroup upgraded Smith International (SII) to buy from hold, citing the sell-off in shares following its 28M share equity offering. Note that Smith International priced 28M shares Tuesday at $26.50.
• Wells Fargo upgraded DynCorp (DCP) to outperform from market perform. The firm upgraded the stock on valuation, and because it believes that the impact on DynCorp of a possible indictment of PWC will be minimal, if any.
• Rockwell (ROK) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Omega Healthcare (OHI) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Analog Devices (ADI) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.

Stocks started out strong, but despite the lower producer inflation via PPI the markets were mixed and the net result was not certain until the very end of the day. Many of the Warren Buffett stocks and George Soros stocks were among the movers today. One issue affecting stocks ahead is that investors and traders alike are starting to figure out that cost cuts at the likes of what was seen over the last year cannot go on forever, and that benefits can only add so much.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,423.81 +16.85 (0.16%)
S&P 500 1,110.31 +1.01 (0.09%)
Nasdaq 2,203.78 +5.93 (0.27%)

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