Analyst upgrades:

• JPMorgan upgraded Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) and Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) to Overweight from Neutral following its gold valuation analysis. The firm set a $54 price target on Barrick shares and a $47 price target on Goldcorp shares.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) to Overweight from Market Weight and raised its target to $24 from $15, citing the company's improving end market demand, competitive position, and valuation.
• Barclays upgraded AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) to Overweight from Equal Weight, citing the company's improved liquidity position and what they believe to be the beginning of a multi-year profit cycle for the sector. Despite the upgrade, the firm lowered its target to $14 from $20.
• Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
• Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Overweight from Market Weight due to accelerating manufacturing cost declines, potential NAND flash sourcing upside at Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF) and Samsung and an increase in 2H09 demand.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Quality Systems (NASDAQ: QSII) to Perform from Underperform to reflect potential benefits from the stimulus package and channel checks that indicated IT budgets are stabilizing. The firm raised its target price on shares to $54 from $40.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSIP) to Outperform from Sector Perform following positive Tarceva survey results and cites valuation.
• Marriott (NYSE: MAR) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.
  
• Grainger (NYSE: GWW) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
  
• Duncan Energy Partners (NASDAQ: DEP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Toshiba Corp. (OTC: TOSBF) saw quarterly operating profit increase of 38% for its latest quarter, due to increases in the sale of flash memory chips and nuclear power plants, according to the Japanese electronics conglomerate. Toshiba is the world's second-largest maker of flash memory chips (the NAND design) behind South Korean competitor Samsung Electronics, and such a large quarterly increase be a telltale sign for the consumer electronics industry.

For example, the storage needs of the world continue to explode every year, but more and more of that insatiable need is being requested by consumers instead of corporate data centers. The form of storage, though, is required to be portable, energy-efficient and super-tiny (think Apple iPod Nano). The solution? NAND flash storage, where Toshiba is a huge player. Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPod line (not the larger, hard drive-based units) and almost every cellphone sold worldwide use some kind of NAND flash storage. As cellphones continue displacing landline phones and grow in capability with portable video and audio players, my guess is that NAND manufacturers will see even brighter days than they have already seen.

Now, here's the sticky part: Toshiba expects NAND prices to fall about 20% in the October-December quarter as the annual price decline continues in that market. Add an annual 50% price decline into the picture and it could strike some as odd. It's not -- this is standard operating procedure considering the supply-demand dynamic taking place. In addition to the red-hot NAND market, Toshiba's division responsible for nuclear reactor building (that's a change, no?) expects an operating profit for the year to come in at over $2.54 billion. Toshiba's largest competitor in that commercial space is General Electric (NYSE: GE).

Toshiba Corporation (OTC: TOSBF), the large memory chip manufacturer, said that it has sold out of its supply of NAND flash memory. Also, there have been reports that increased handset and smartphone demand is leading to a pick up in demand for chips in general.

Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) reports results today so it will be interesting to see what they have to say and whether any of their diversification efforts are having success.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) recently upped its revenue guidance, National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: NSM) reported results in line with positive guidance and Texas Instruments Inc (NYSE: TXN) provided mid-quarter guidance with no positive surprise.

Micron is one moribund stock sitting at a low. The stock looks pretty washed-out with limited downside risk. It may be worth a look going into today's earnings release.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• On January 1, 2008 Jeffrey L. Bewkes may be the new CEO of Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX), reported the Wall Street Journal. The current president and COO, is expected to take over from Richard Parsons.
• Paetec Holding Corp (NASDAQ: PAET) has paid $492M for McleodUSA, creating a tough rival to AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) for business telephone sales, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) is focusing its business on consumer electronics, and may sell its advanced chip production facility, with possible buyers including Toshiba Corporation (OTC: TOSBF) and IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM), reported the Wall Street Journal.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The New York Times reported that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating five large energy companies, AES Corporation (NYSE: AES), Dominion (NYSE: D), Dynegy Inc (NYSE: DYN), Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) and Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL), in order to determine whether their plans to build coal-fired power plants pose undisclosed financial risks that their investors should know about.
  

WEBSITES:

• According to sources, BuddyTV, a TV community site, is being acquired by Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) reported PaidContent.org.
• TheInquirer.net reported, citing sources, that Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) will launch a "famous new platform" this Tuesday.

If you're not up on the ongoing face-off between Blu-ray and HD DVD, here's a quick synopsis on what is becoming the latest technology battle since that long ago technology struggle between VHS and Betamax:

Blu-ray and HD DVD are two next-generation DVD formats fighting to win over consumers. Electronics giant Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) developed the Blu-ray format, and is using its Playstation 3 video game console to showcase it. Others supporting Blu-ray include Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Hewlett Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ). HD DVD was developed by the DVD Forum, and is being championed by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Toshiba Corporation (OTC: TOSBF) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), among others. The main difference between the two is that the Blu-ray format can hold more data, while the HD DVD format is less expensive.

Just when you thought the exploding lithium-ion battery problem was over, Gateway, Inc. (NYSE: GTW) has thrown its laptop into the ring.

Gateway announced yesterday that it is voluntarily recalling around 14,000 Samsung-made laptop battery packs that were sold for three months in 2003. The problem, according to Gateway, is that the lithium-ion battery packs can overheat, potentially causing a fire.

That's hot.

Over 10 million lithium-ion batteries have been recalled worldwide since 2006. The recall has hit computer companies blindly, including Sony Corp (NYSE: SNE), Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL), Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Lenovo Group (OTC: LNVGY), and Toshiba Corp (OTC: TOSBF). Now Gateway.