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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: EMS, DT, SPSS, CELG ...

Analyst upgrades:

Stephens upgraded Emergency Medical Services (NYSE: EMS) to Overweight from Equal Weight on valuation as they believe shares are undervalued at current levels. The firm has a $42 target on the stock.
Deutsche Bank upgraded Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) to Buy from Hold ahead of the company's earnings report as they expect the results to provide confidence in the dividend.
Baird upgraded CoPart (NASDAQ: CPRT) to Outperform from Neutral due to the defensive nature of the salvage auction market, strong balance sheet, and potential growth beyond salvage and outside the U.S.
First Financial (NASDAQ: FFBC) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
GPC Biotech (NASDAQ: GPCB) was upgraded at Piper Jaffray to Neutral from Sell.
Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Southwest Gas, Hittite Microwave and Repsol SA were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Citigroup upgraded shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE: SWX) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe the company's fundamentals have improved enormously over the last three years.
Thomas Weisel upgraded shares of Hittite Microwave (NASDAQ: HITT) to Overweight from Market Weight, as they believe the company is executing on its strategy of increasing new product introductions and growing its global sales efforts. They believe shares are undervalued and maintain a $43 target.
Repsol SA (NYSE: REP) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank as they expect good news to flow in 2008.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Goldman upgraded CNOOC (NYSE: CEO) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to their Conviction Buy List.
Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Broadpoint raised Ultimate Software (NASDAQ: ULTI) to Buy from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: 1-800-Flowers.com, Ctrip.com International, 51job and Choice Hotels were today's noteworthy initiations:

Nollenberger started shares of 1-800-Flowers.com (NASDAQ: FLWS) with a Buy rating and $14 target and believes shares are undervalued at current levels given the company's compelling growth prospects, strong cash flow generation, and solid balance sheet.
Bear believes Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) is the best positioned online travel company ahead of structural changes and consolidation in China's fragmented travel agency industry. The firm initiated shares with an Outperform rating and $80 target.
Bear expects 51job (NASDAQ: JOBS) to benefit from China's increasing Internet user base due to the internet's broadening reach among job seekers, resuming coverage with an Outperform rating and $28 target.
Goldman started Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) with a Buy rating and $45 target, as they are positive on the stock given unit growth and minimal capital needs, among other reasons.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Thomas Weisel initiated On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) with an Overweight rating and $15 target.
Broadpoint initiated Ariba (NASDAQ: ARBA) with a Buy rating and $15 target and Ultimate Software (NASDAQ: ULTI) with a Neutral rating.
Merrill started shares of Savient Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SVNT) with a Neutral rating.

#	Blogger	Posts
1	Joseph Lazzaro	114
2	Tom Johansmeyer	106
3	Steven Mallas	51
4	Connie Madon	48
5	Tom Taulli	47
6	Steven Halpern	37
7	Trey Thoelcke	36
8	Mark Fightmaster	35
9	Paul Foster	24
10	Brian White	24
11	Zac Bissonnette	23
12	Brent Archer	22
13	Jon Ogg	22
14	Jim Cramer	21
15	Melly Alazraki	21
16	Eric Buscemi	17
17	Michael Fowlkes	15
18	Michael Shulman	13
19	Sam Collins	11
20	Elizabeth Harrow	11

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