"My mantra for investing in this dicey market is to focus on three non-negotiable demands: very solid balance sheet; large, installed customer base; steady cash flows; and dividends," says Jack Adamo.

In his Insiders Plus newsletter he looks at a technology stock that meets his criteria: Sybase (NYSE: SY). He notes, "Overall, this is a company I'm comfortable owning, even in a bad ongoing recession."

The advisor explains, "Sybase is an industry leader in software to manage, analyze and distribute information in the most data-intensive enterprises, such as financial services, telecoms, manufacturing and government.

"To put it concisely: It manages data and makes it available to the many different devices that use it, across the myriad communication protocols that must be traversed to accomplish that.

"We screened our database for standouts based on meaningful profit surprises," says quantitative analyst Richard Moroney.

In Upside, a service focused on applying in-depth quantitative analysis to small to mid-cap growth companies, he looks at a trio of stocks earning his "Best Buy" rating -- Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN), Sybase (NYSE: SY), and Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA).

"All things equal, the better a stock's earnings momentum and profit outlook, the more likely it is to outperform in the year ahead.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Symantec (SYMC), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Nvidia (NVDA) and SVB Financial Group (SIVB) were today's more notable upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and superior execution.

• Symantec Corp (NASDAQ: SYMC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird as they believe integration issues from Veritas (CGV) are behind the company and expectations that shares will benefit from investments made during the past two years.

• Stifel upgraded Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) to Short-Term Trading Buy from Neutral and recommends buying shares of AMD ahead of the Q2 report given market stabilization, the seasonally stronger 2H, and any positive commentary during the call that may be enough to encourage renewed investor interest.

• Lehman upgraded Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) to Overweight from Equal Weight citing checks that indicate a strong product cycles & shares gains in notebooks, improving seasonal demand, and new product traction.

• Citigroup upgraded shares of SVB Financial (NASDAQ: SIVB) to Hold from Sell to reflect less earnings volatility due to more later-stage customers and growing funds management...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Matrix USA raised Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) to Buy from Hold on valuation.

• Citigroup upgraded MBIA Inc (NYSE: MBI) to Buy from Hold.

• Banc of America upgraded Sybase (NYSE: SY) to Buy from Neutral.

• Interline Brands (NYSE: IBI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Lehman raised Swisscom (NYSE: SCM) to Overweight from Equal Weight.

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

Yes, it's June already, and as the heat begins to rise, so does rumor rage.

PACKETEER INC (NASDAQ: PKTR)

On the block? If some investors have their way it is. The developer of wide area network, or WAN, Application Optimization systems expects first quarter revenues to fall about 20% from the fourth quarter's $42.7M. Leading the insurgency is "activist investor" Elliott Associates which holds 6.3% of the shares. In a letter to the firm's board, Elliott wrote that the company has "proven unable" to take advantage of its "leading technology." Better to be in the arms of a bigger company? The vultures think so.

GUITAR CENTER INC (NASDAQ: GTRC)

Quicker than you can strum your guitar, this number appears to be up. Up for sale. The information is coming faster than a high strung solo. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) is playing the lead. What an auction it will be. For the leading retailer of musical instruments, the stock disappoints, the direct response business is out of tune. A Goldman analyst reportedly said the company is a turnaround candidate, but may sell. Talk about blowing your own horn. We hear the LBOs are lined up right outside the Westlake Village headquarters in California. Everyone have a number?

INFOSPACE INC (NASDAQ: INSP)

How many pesetas, uh Euros, does it take to make about a billion dollars? Ask Spain's LaNetro Zed. That's about what some think they're offering to buy InfoSpace, the developer of tools and technology that helps "regular" folk find content and information on the Internet or on their mobile. Privately-held LaNetro Zed provides mobile phone content and services. What's the hook here that they'd pay that much? Access to the U.S. market, of course. The answer, by the way, is about 800M Euros.

OFFICE DEPOT INC (NYSE: ODP)

If you just lined up $1B worth of borrowing, which could go up to $1.25B, what would you do with it? Buy something, maybe? Sound like a good idea? Well, that's what Office Depot just did, and may do. Now who are they going to buy? OfficeMax Inc (NYSE: OMX), maybe? Maybe. If true, then, along with Staples Inc (NASDAQ: SPLS), there would be just two biggies in retail office supplies, and the Depot would be number one.

OPENWAVE SYSTEMS INC (NASDAQ: OPWV)

And we're off! The stock has been on an upward trend for about a month. Volume is increasing. Sybase Inc (NYSE: SY) is in the lead to buy the phone browser and messaging company. What about Harbinger's push on the inside? Now it's BridgePort Networks in the pack. Will Openwave overtake it? The field is tightening. Others could move up and take the lead. No one knows for sure how this one gwill end, folks. What a finish it's going to be!

DILLARD'S INC (NYSE: DDS)

The founders may be seeking "strategic alternatives." Eyes wide open, please.