Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 results to reflect improved visibility. The firm raised its target price to $6.50 from $3.
• Citigroup upgraded Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) and Potash (NYSE: POT) to Buy from Hold and Agrium (NYSE: AGU) to Hold from Sell as it believes stronger grain fundamentals more than offset China contract risk. The firm raised its target on Mosaic to $72 from $48, on Potash to $145 from $83 and on Agrium to $55 from $36.
• Fulton Financial (NASDAQ: FULT) Was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
• Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) was upgraded at Deutsche Bank to Buy from Hold.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Last December Chemtura Corporation (NYSE: CEM), a specialty chemicals company with a market cap of about $1.9B, said it might sell itself, and now The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) and Apollo Management are in talks to buy the company, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• In part one of a series to help explain the reasons why The Bear Stearns Companies (NYSE: BSC) collapsed, the Wall Street Journal said that the troubled firm was torn apart by executives who couldn't agree on what course to take, including raising capital and slicing mortgage and related bonds from its inventory. And each of about six attempts to raise capital fell part.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The American investor and Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) chief Warren Buffett said the United States is already in a recession that is deeper and will last longer than the public expects, the Economic Times reported.
• According to the Telegraph, Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS) is planning to sell Barclays Life Assurance Company, its life assurance arm, which has over GBP7B of funds under management. Sources believe potential bidders for the unit may include Pearl, Swiss Reinsurance Company (OTC: SWCEY), General Re, Canada Life and XL Re. Market commentators believe that on an embedded value basis, the unit is currently valued at around GBP1B.

Here are a few highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) posted a big loss and warned of more to come.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) beat expectations even though its fourth-quarter profit fell.
• DreamWorks Animation Inc. (NYSE: DWA) 2007 earnings and revenue soared, lifted by Shrek the Third.
• HJ Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) posted solid third-quarter earnings and revenue.
• Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KOP) beat fourth-quarter expectations and approved a share buyback plan.
• Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) raised its first-quarter and full-year guidance on subscriber growth.
• Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE: NT) missed expectations due to rising operating costs.
• Origin Agritech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SEED) 2007 earnings sank, missing analysts' expectations.
• Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) beat fourth-quarter estimates and offered revised guidance.
• Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) narrowed its loss due to a surge in subscribers.
• Swiss Reinsurance Co. (OTC: SWCEY) quarterly EPS plunged but 2007 decline was less than expected.
• Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) reported strong fourth-quarter and full-year results.

Also, analysts predict that bank losses will be the highest in 20 years. Timothy Sykes recommends investors not become starstruck by superstar companies such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

Upcoming results to watch for include Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS), Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST), and Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

It is shaping up to be another tough day for the market as traders continue to express concerns over a possible recession, disappointing earnings numbers, surging crude oil prices and persistent weakness for the U.S. dollar. However, not all the companies are joining the general market anxiety, and Swiss Re made strong gains, trading up 4.9% in the Zurich exchange, despite a plunge of 87% in its fourth-quarter net profit as investors were encouraged by its positive earnings outlook.

The world's largest reinsurer announced that its quarterly profit had dropped to 170 million Swiss francs ($161.7 million), dragged down by higher write-downs related to bad loans. Its profit numbers were down from 1.3 billion reported in the same period a year ago.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Thornburg Mortgage, Expedia and Perot Systems were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Thornburg Mortgage Inc Corp (NYSE: TMA) to Buy from Hold as they believe the stock is at an inflection point, characterized by accelerated earnings and dividend growth.
• Expedia Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, as they believe the company is well-positioned to benefit from global e-travel and media opportunities, strong free cash flow, and attractive valuation.
• Perot Systems Corporation (NYSE: PER) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital following its Q4 report.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• HSBC raised Swiss Reinsurance Company (OTC: SWCEY) to Overweight from Neutral.
• The Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE: EL) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Lehman.
• Cantor upgraded Genomic Health Inc (NASDAQ: GHDX) to Buy from Hold.

If you're a bear, then at least another down beginning may await you in today's session. At least, that's the indication U.S. stock futures are giving this morning. As economists forecast the risk of a recession increased due to the collapse of the housing market along with the credit crunch and as oil prices jumped again on OPEC comments, it seems the bears have returned.

On Friday, U.S. stocks saw volatile session that ended with gains, with the Dow industrials rising 66 points, or 0.51%, the Nasdaq Composite up 18 points, or 0.72%, and the S&P 500 rising 7 points, or 0.52%. On the week stocks finished higher in a week full of wild swings. The Dow ended up 1.03%, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended up 0.35%.

Not much economic data is due today so investors are focusing on rising oil prices, overseas activity and some M&A action.

Socially conscious investors may want to grab a copy of this week's (April 2, 2007) edition of FORTUNE magazine, which is all about the greening of corporate America. No longer can companies merely not pollute: The double bottom line of both economic profitability and social responsibility demands that companies re-engineer themselves and their products to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Companies that are ahead of the game will prosper. Companies that lag behind in environmentalism will be punished by investors as well as the media. The article "Green is Good" summarizes the green activities of 10 well known companies that stand to reap rewards for their environmentally sensitive manufacturing and operational practices. Companies taking the lead towards a low-carbon economy are:

GE closed today at $33.87 down 20 cents, a mere blip downwards of .59 percent. GE today wasn't announcing big news, just finishing up its spinning off of its reinsurance business.  This deal makes Swiss Re the world's largest reinsurance firm. A further bonus: GE picked up an additional $1.8 billion in the deal as GE Insurance's book value increased since striking the deal.

The Insurance section of GE has cost the company a lot, losing over $700 million and needing some $3.2 billion of capital. Immelt must be thrilled to see GE finalizing this deal. As he admitted in the last investors meeting, 'he no longer has to obsessively watch the weather channel.'