Analyst Upgrades

• Hyatt Hotels (H) and Hospitality Properties (HPT) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• AB InBev (BUD) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Amerisafe (AMSF) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Northrop Grumman (NOC) to sector perform from underperform at RBC Capital.
• China Lodging Group (HTHT) to buy from hold at Brean Murray and to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.

Here are a few highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) beat estimates on strong sales and higher profit margins.
• Baidu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) profit soared on strong revenue from online marketing.
• Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) earnings and revenue surged in the fourth quarer.
• Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) missed expectations on rising commodity costs and lower profit margins.
• Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) posted better-than-expected profits as rising grain prices spurred demand.
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) posted solid results on cost savings and debt reduction.
• Insight Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: NSIT) beat expectations and raised its guidance.
• LECG (NASDAQ: XPRT) posted a net loss despite a slight increase in revenue in the fourth quarter.
• Loews Corp. (NYSE: LTR) missed estimates due to profit decline in its CNA Financial (NYSE: CNA) affiliate.
• Marsh & McLennan Inc. (NYSE: MMC) missed estimates on weakness in its insurance services business.
• Playboy Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: PLA) posted disappointing results on weakness in publishing and TV.
• Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q) fourth-quarter and full-year results met estimates.
• Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) beat esimates on the launch of new product s.
• Taser International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) profits doubled, which was in line with expectations.
• Visteon Corp. (NYSE: VC) posted a fourth-quarter loss on restructuring costs and write-downs.
• Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WMI) beat espectations and offered 2008 guidance.
• Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN) earnings met expectations and were buoyed by lodging revenue.
• Zoltek Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT) missed earnings estimates due to inventory buildup.

Upcoming results to watch for include Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX), Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI), MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM), JCPenney (NYSE: JCP), and Safeway (NYSE: SWY).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Shares of Visteon Corp. (NYSE: VC) are slipping in morning trading after the company posted a larger fourth-quarter loss and announced it would continue its restructuring plan.

The auto parts supplier reported a wider fourth-quarter loss of $43 million, hurt by restructuring costs and write-downs. Included in the company's loss was $30 million related to non-cash asset impairments and $32 million related to restructuring expenses.

However, the company's loss per share of 33 cents managed to beat analysts' estimates for a much larger quarterly loss of 55 cents per share. Visteon's revenue also saw a small increase of only 2% $2.86 billion from $2.81 billion in the same period of last year.

The market rallied strongly on the Fed's announcement today and shot up about 2.5%. The Fed, chaired by Bernanke, cut rates by one half point surprising Wall Street which only expected a quarter point cut.

To excerpt the Feds announcement: "Economic growth was moderate during the first half of the year, but the tightening of credit conditions has the potential to intensify the housing correction and to restrain economic growth more generally. Today's action is intended to help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets and to promote moderate growth over time."

The NYSE had volume of 3.6 billion shares with 3,013 shares advancing while 345 declined for a gain of 301.28 points to close at 9,909.03. On the NASDAQ, 2.1 billion shares traded, 2,359 advanced and 657 declined for a gain of 70.00 to 2,651.66.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: National Grid, Shire Plc, On Semiconductor and Enbridge were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of National Grid (NYSE: NGG) to Buy from Hold as they believe the Keyspan deal will be positive for shareholders.
• Goldman upgraded shares of Shire Plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to Buy from Neutral and added the stock to their Conviction Buy List on valuation and expected gains in the ADHD market.
  
• On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia on valuation.
  
• Enbridge Inc (NYSE: ENB) was raised to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC World Markets, as the firm sees an attractive 3-year return potential as new projects come into service and expects the stock's relative underperformance to come to an end.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Visteon Corporation (NYSE: VC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  
• RSC Holdings (NYSE: RRR) and Greenfield Online Inc (NASDAQ: SRVY) were upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman Brothers.
  
• Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Stifel upgraded Health Care REITs, including Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR), LTC Properties Inc (NYSE: LTC) and Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR), to Buy from Hold.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal had news on EW Scripps (NYSE: SSP), Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Congress.

• E.W. Scripps is considering splitting off its newspaper operations. It owns papers in 18 markets, which account for about 30% of company revenues.
• The head of Dell's commercial business group will retire in March and the unit will be divided into two separate businesses.
• Wal-Mart said the number of workers enrolled in its health plan increased slightly this year.
• The House of Representatives passed a $2.10 increase in the federal minimum wage, to take place over the next two years in three 70 cent increments.

• The Financial Times reported that Cerberus is considering a $36B offer for Equity Office Properties (NYSE: EOP).

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Detroit Free Press reported that Valeo (OTC: VLEEY) will not rule out buying Visteon Corp. (VC) or parts of Delphi Corp. (OTC: DPHIQ).
• Website GameDaily.com wrote that Viacom Inc's (NYSE: VIA) MTV Networks is in talks to acquire 1Up.com from Ziff Davis Media.
• The Investor's Business Daily's "New America" column wrote that Visa's plans to go public should take some of MasterCard Inc.'s (NYSE: MA) advantage in the stock market.