A recovering U.S./global economy, a rising oil price, and the prospect of further oil price gains offer a great backdrop for Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU), which is why I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for the company, first recommended on February 25, 2009 at a price of $18.35.

If you bought Suncor in February, you're up an impressive 107%.

This was one of those low-report days for economic data. We had two current and one former DJIA components report earnings and the earnings reactions today were only so so. Today's action felt like a long week that ended the start of earnings season where traders just wanted that closing bell to come. The DJIA and S&P were so mixed throughout the day that knowing where the markets were was a guess more than a feel.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,743.94 +32.12 (0.37%)
S&P 500 940.38 -0.36 (-0.04%)
Nasdaq 1,886.61 +1.58 (0.08%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for Suncor Enegy (NYSE: SU) first recommended on February 25, 2009 at a price of $18.35.

Suncor's oil sands production increased 12% in Q1 or by 27,800 barrels per day, roughly in-line with expectations. Moreover, oil sands is the driver here, with the focus being Canada's Athabasca oil sands region: oil sands require a larger investment and hence a higher price, but the substantial sands resources of Canada will play a larger role in energy as the world's older, conventional oil fields continue to decline.

Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) is expected to close on its purchase of Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) in Q3 pending regulatory approvals. PCZ will receive 1.28 shares in the new company for each of their shares while SU holders will receive one share.

SU closed at $30.60. PCZ closed at $38.83. WTI Crude oil is recently down 0.21% to $71.34 according to Bloomberg. SU August option implied volatility of 53 is below its 26-week average of 60, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Petro-Canada August option implied volatility is at 54, below its 26-week average of 59, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) is a vertically-integrated oil company located in Canada. Unlike its vertically-integrated brethren in the United States, this Canadian stock is up more than 40% this year. By comparison, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) is down 13%, and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is down more than 20%.

The reason for the big difference in performance is the weakness in the dollar. That makes Canadian-based Suncor more valuable to investors.

You have to love OPEC. It's not uncommon for the barons of the giant cartel to voice their interest in seeing oil at such-and-such a price.

Recently, OPEC reiterated its desire to see oil prices at $80 per barrel. This, they claim, is the price needed to spur additional investment in crude projects. Apparently, anything less will result in oil sitting idle in the ground.

"Canadian energy giants Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) and PetroCanada (NYSE: PCZ) announced their intention to merge; Suncor, a holding in our 'Wildcatters Portfolio' will be the surviving entity," says Elliott Gue.

In his The Energy Strategist, he explains, "The combined firm will be the fifth-largest energy company in North America and the largest in Canada." Here, he explains why the new stock remains a buy.

"The combined firm will have more financial flexibility than Suncor did on its own. Debt ratios will be healthier, and the combined firm will also be able to redirect certain planned capital expenditures to higher return potential projects.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) to Hold from Sell on easing credit and liquidity concerns following the company's guidance. The firm raised its target on the stock to $7.50 from $4.
  
• UBS upgraded Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Buy from Neutral and raised their target to $90 from $65 as they expect pent-up replacement demand in enterprise to drive 2010 estimates higher and for the consumer smartphone opportunity to grow in 2009 and 2010.
  
• Goldman upgraded Suncor (NYSE: SU) to Conviction Buy from Sell and raised their target to $33 from $25 citing their bullish view on crude oil for 2H09 and 2010 and in the company's ability to lower operating and capital costs in the oil sands region.
• Canadian National (CNI) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Applied Micro Circuits (NASDAQ: AMCC) was lifted at Oppenheimer to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.

I am the Global Editor at MoneyShow.com and each week I interview an investing expert. This week, I spoke with Gordon Pape, editor of The Canada Report, who thinks Toronto may have seen its lows, and he's cautiously optimistic on the loonie, too.

Q. Gordon, since we last spoke, global markets have lost nearly half their value, and the Toronto Stock Exchange's Composite Index has dropped from more than 15,000 to just over 8,700. Have we hit bottom?

A. We are cautiously optimistic, but the recent trillion-dollar bond purchase plan announced by the Federal Reserve is great news for Canada. The flood of cash will likely spur inflation, drive down the value of the US dollar, and raise the price of commodities. It's no surprise that gold [rose] almost $60 an ounce and oil [got] back over $50 a barrel. The Canadian stock market is heavily weighted to commodities, so we are seeing a big lift. I still expect a lot of volatility in the coming months. However, the March 6th TSE low of 7,480 may turn out to have been the bottom for this cycle.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the price of crude isn't high enough to reignite the oil drilling companies.

Crude's awesome and it's really pushing up the whole complex. The stocks of the oils and the oil drillers are powering higher even as drilling is going down hard. Is it possible that the integrateds are right and the drilling stocks are wrong? Or should they both be going up together?

I wrestle over this issue every day because one of the main reasons why oil is going up, besides the endless "dollar-going-down-oil-safe-haven" trade that the media loves to go out with in order to sound smart, is that the drilling around the world has been cut back dramatically. I think that a deal like Suncor (NYSE: SU) (Cramer's Take) and Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) (Cramer's Take) is great for the oils. It makes me recognize that there is value here in the group. I also believe the demand is real.

Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) will be purchased by Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU), the world's second-largest oil-sands producer, for about $14 billion.

PCZ will receive 1.28 shares in the new company for each of its shares, while SU holders will receive one share. PCZ April option implied volatility closed at 64, below its 26-week average of 71, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

SU April call option implied volatility closed at 82, puts at 89, above its 26-week average of 80, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

An oil play? In this market? You may ask, "How so?"

True, the price of oil collapsed 2008, due to the departure of many leveraged investors after the financial crisis started, and due to the U.S. and global recessions. Hence, given oil's likely sluggish 2009 path, you have to investigate thoroughly (due diligence) and invest carefully when you're considering an oil play.

That said, know this: oil 'taint' going to remain near $35-45 per barrel forever. When global GDP growth resumes (it's flat-lining now, or worse), oil will move back toward $60, and with the above in mind, Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) is worth a review.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company is taking the right steps to turn its operations around. The firm raised its target price to $13 from $11.
  
• Pali upgraded Whole Foods to Buy from Sell following the Q1 report based on better than expected cost containment, labor costs, capex cuts, and plans to rationalize the store base.
  
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) to Overweight from Market Weight. The firm believes HPQ's risk/reward has improved given overdue reduced FY09 guidance and attractive valuation.
  
• Bernstein upgraded Talisman (NYSE: TLM) to Outperform from Market Perform based on relative valuation.
• Navistar (NYSE: NAV) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
  
• Sovran Self Storage (NYSE: SSS) was upgraded to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
  
• Suncor (NYSE: SU) was upgraded at Barclays to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Analyst upgrades:

• Canaccord upgraded Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) to Buy from Hold citing valuation following the severe price decline following BHP Billiton's (NYSE: BHP) dropped bid.
• UBS upgraded Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) to Buy from Neutral citing valuation and defensive business mix.
• Jefferies upgraded shares of HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS) to Buy from Hold on valuation and maintains a $13.50 target.
• Melco PBL Entertainment (NASDAQ: MPEL) was raised to buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• PG&E (NYSE: PCG) was upgraded at Merrill Lynch to Buy from Neutral.
• HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst downgrades:

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) to Buy from Sell and added shares to its Conviction Buy List citing valuation. The firm also upgraded the Semiconductor Capital Equipment Sector to Attractive.
  
• Morgan Keegan believes Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) will emerge from the slowdown as a stronger company with greater market share and expansion into adjacent markets. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform.
• Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
  
• Daimler (NYSE: DAI) was upgraded at UBS to Neutral from Sell.
• Friedman Billings upgraded Mariner Energy (NYSE: ME) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation and the company's upcoming catalysts in the deepwater GOM.
• Swiss Reinsurance (OTC: SWCEY) was raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

Analyst downgrades:

• Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
• Deutsche Bank cut Hess Corp (NYSE: HES) and Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) to Hold from Buy and Suncor (NYSE: SU) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) to Sell from Hold after cutting their oil price forecast for 2009 to $60/bbl and 2010 to $58/bbl.
  
• Merrill downgraded Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) to Neutral from Buy on expectations the company's coatings end markets will worsen and chemicals division will see pressure next year.
• Monster (NASDAQ: MNST) was lowered at Citigroup to Hold from Buy.