Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Reliance Steel (RS) to buy from neutral and The Buckle (BKE) to neutral from sell.
• RAM Energy (RAME) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
• RBC Capital upgraded H&E Equipment (HEES) and Cameco (CCJ) to outperform from sector perform, and Denison Mines (DNN) to sector perform from underperform.
• Alexandria Real Estate (ARE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Investment Technology (ITG) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Wedbush.

As an investor, I hate crowds. If a stock or sector that I like attracts a crowd, I know it is time to leave. As they say, the sheep are usually the buyers at the top.

Now, we need sheep to help drive prices of our holdings higher, but at some point it is time to jettison. Nothing goes up forever, and the best signal I have found over the years is to sell when the sheep are buying.

This year the sheep are being told to buy the biotechnology sector.

That advice may be a bit late in coming. 2008 was a disastrous year, but biotechnology did very well. It is that performance that is now attracting the sheep.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Durect, Red Robin Gourmet and ViroPharma were today's noteworthy initiations:

• RBC Capital thinks Durect's (NASDAQ: DRRX) overall portfolio is very attractive and started shares with an Outperform rating and $7 target.
  
• Red Robin Gourmet (NASDAQ: RRGB) was initiated at Jefferies with a Buy rating and $40 target. The firm believes the company has one of the few stable earnings stories in the sector, which should warrant a valuation premium in the current environment.
  
• JMP Securities believes ViroPharma's (NASDAQ: VPHM) valuation reflects several negative scenarios and notes that earnings will likely remain positive and that the company has a strong balance sheet; shares were initiated with an Outperform rating and $12 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) was assumed with an Overweight rating and $14 target at Stephens.
  
• ThinkEquity initiated Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) with a Buy rating and $360 target.
  
• Broadpoint started Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) with a Buy rating.