MOST NOTEWORTHY: EMC Corp (EMC), Network Appliance, Inc (NTAP), ImClone Systems Inc (IMCL) and International Game Technology (IGT) were some of today's more notable upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC) to Overweight from Neutral as the firm believes improved momentum in the second-half of 2007 will drive shares higher.

• Network Appliance (NASDAQ: NTAP) was also upgraded by JP Morgan, to Overweight from Neutral, as the firm believes storage will experience improving secular trends this year.

• Citigroup upgraded ImClone (NASDAQ: IMCL) to Hold from Sell and raised their target to $40 from $26 due to lower competitive threats from Amgen Inc's (AMGN) Vectibix.

• Prudential raised International Game Technology's (NYSE: IGT) rating to Neutral from Underweight, citing valuation.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman Sachs upgraded DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc (NYSE: : DWA) to Buy from Neutral with a $36 target and added DWA to their Americas Investment Buy List. Goldman believes the company's new films should drive a higher valuation.

• Wachovia upgraded Urban Outfitters, Inc (NASDAQ: URBN) to Outperform from Market Perform after a meeting with management as they believe a turnaround is well in progress.

• Wachovia upgraded Northrop Grumman Corp (NYSE: NOC) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation.

• AG Edwards upgraded Western Union Co (NYSE: WU) to Buy from Hold with a $36 target.

• Friedman, Billings, Ramsey upgraded shares of Progressive Corp (NYSE: PGR) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Research in Motion Ltd (RIMM), BE Aerospace Inc (BEAV) and Burger King Holdings (BKC) were some of today's more notable initiations.

• JMP Securities started Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ: RIMM) with a Market Perform rating as the firm has concerns about RIMM's enterprise-focused prospects in the hits driven, high-end consumer market.

• Wachovia initiated BE Aerospace Inc (NYSE: BEAV) with an Outperform rating, expecting significant growth in its core businesses.

• AG Edwards started Burger King Holdings (NYSE: BKC) with a Buy rating and $25 target. The firm believes Burger King has improved fundamentals and robust future earnings potential after years of turnaround efforts.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Raymond James initiated AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE: ANN) with an Outperform rating, Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) with a Strong Buy rating and Charlotte Russe Holding (NASDAQ: CHIC) with a Market Perform rating.

• Caris started Medtronic, Inc (NASDAQ: MDT) with a Buy rating and $61 target.

• ThinkEquity initiated Gaming Partners International (NASDAQ: GPIC) with a Buy rating.

• Morgan Stanley initiated Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) with an Equal-Weight rating.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Under Armor Inc (NYSE: UA) and Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE: CAH) are today's most notable upgrades:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Under Armor Inc (NYSE: UA) to Outperform from Neutral with a $65 target and believes that the company is emerging as one of the premier global athletic brands.

• JMP Securities upgraded shares of Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE: CAH) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect their expectation for accelerated earnings growth over the next three years.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Friedman, Billings upgraded shares of Urban Outfitters Inc (NASDAQ: URBN) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect positive momentum in URBN's core division, inventory control and easy upcoming comps.

• Stanford upgraded shares of Vonage Holdings (NYSE: VG) to Hold from Sell on valuation.

• Goldman Sachs upgraded the US Homebuilding Sector to Neutral from Sell saying the worst may be behind the group, but fundamentals remain troubling. The analyst said the next meaningful data will be from the Spring selling season, 6-8 weeks away.
• Goldman upgraded D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE: DHI), MDC Holdings Inc (NYSE: MDC) & Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE: TOL) to Buy from Neutral due to lower-risk at this point in the cycle. The Ryland Group Inc (NYSE: RYL) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Disney (DIS), IBM Corp (IBM), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Texas Instruments (TXN) topped today's list of initiations:

• Citing tough comps and slowing consumer spending for their neutral stance, The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) was initiated with a Sector Performer at Pacific Crest.
• Prudential initiated International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM) with a Neutral rating and $100 target, and explained that Service bookings growth for the year will likely be negative and backlog growth continues to be stuck in neutral.
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD) was started with a Sell rating and $13 target at Nollenberger, as they believe shares are "vulnerable" in 2007 in terms of CPU/GPU market share and ASP declines;
• additionally, Nollenberger started Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN) with a Buy rating and $34 target, as they believe Texas Instruments should continue to be able to gain market share in all of its markets.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Cowen resumed coverage of Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) with a Neutral rating; they would look to buy shares on a modest pullback.
• Lehman Brothers initiated shares of Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASDAQ:CWTR) with an Overweight rating and $29 target.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cisco (CSCO), and Sonic Solutions (SNIC) top today's modest-sized list of initiations.

• Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS following the company's strong first-quarter earnings and guidance.
• JP Morgan upgraded Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ:SNIC) to Overweight from Neutral following the weak second-quarter results and light third-quarter guidance. The firm said weak PC demand ahead of the Vista launch has already been priced into shares of Sonic Solutions.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE:WPI) was reinstated with a Sector Performer rating, up from an Underperformer rating, citing valuation.
• Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital. The firm said expectations for Urban have come down this quarter and that news going forward is likely to be positive, not negative.

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

U.S. stocks rallied for the 2nd day in a row ahead of tonight's election results and on lower interest rates. The S&P 500 is up 0.22%, NASDAQ 100 is up 0.42%, The Dow is up .43% and the 10 year bond rate declined to 4.659%. The CBOE VIX was down .01 to 11.15.

Cisco (CSCO) is expected to report earnings per share of .29 cents on November 8th. UBS has a Neutral rating on Cisco and says "we think Cisco may report in-line to slightly better results than our estimates as FY 07 is starting off stronger that the past two years." Cisco option volume of 198,570 contracts compares to put volume of 78,530 contracts according to Track Data. Cisco November option-implied volatility is at 45 and December is at 33; above its 26-week average of 29 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Urban Outfitters (URBN), a life style merchandising company, reported a 7% increase in 3rd Q sales to $308 million. Urban Outfitters is recently up .49 to $18.38. Goldman Sachs says the company "continues to be challenged by tepid consumer responses to current merchandise assortments and we believe has not yet made adequate changes to resolve the problem." Goldman Sachs has a $19 price target on Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters call option volume of 4,034 contracts compares to put volume of 11,399 contracts. Urban Outfitters option-implied volatility of 46 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, indicates non-directional price risks.

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) is recently up 0.62 to $13.05. JetBlue was raised to Market Perform at RAJA. JetBlue's call option volume of 11,536 contracts compares to put volume of 58,674 contracts. JetBlue over-all option-implied volatility of 37 is below its 26-week average of 45. March option implied volatility is at 46 on heavy put spreading volume, indicating traders expect increased spring price risk.

Option volume leaders today were Cisco (CSCO), Apple Computer, Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Pfizer (PFE) and Intel Corp. (INTC).

Options Update is provided by Paul Foster and TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).