Analyst Upgrades

• Expedia (EXPE) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Weatherford (WFT) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• MDC Holdings (MDC) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• AutoNavi (AMAP) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Ciena (CIEN) and Nvidia (NVDA) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Canadian Pacific (CP) to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.
• First Midwest (FMBI) and Quiksilver (ZQK) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Sonic (SONC) to neutral from negative at Susquehanna.
• MIPS Technologies (MIPS) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Arrow Electronics (ARW) and Avnet (AVT) to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Analyst Upgrades

• Molycorp (MCP) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Humana (HUM), HealthSpring (HS) and UnitedHealth (UNH) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Williams Cos. (WMB) to conviction buy from neutral and UBS (UBS) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• China Kanghui (KH) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Armstrong World (AWI) to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Time Warner (TWX) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Calpine (CPN) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• 3M Company (MMM) to neutral from underperform and Kirby (KEX) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to overweight from neutral and raised its target price for shares to $77 from $53 after The New England Journal of Medicine reported the company's PARTNER Trial met primary endpoints.
• UBS upgraded Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $36 from $25. UBS is positive on Endo's creative strategic deals and believes the switch to Opana TRF from Opana ER will be easy. Additionally, the analyst believes pipeline expectations are very low.
• BMO Capital upgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform based on expectations that share loss in the core GPU business will stop, Tegra momentum and valuation. The firm raised its price target to $16 from $9.
• FirstEnergy (FE) and Allegheny Energy (AYE) were upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Mylan (MYL) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman. Warner
• Chilcott (WCRX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Transocean (RIG) to outperform from market perform as it believes congressional hearings and reports indicate the company's blowout preventer at the Deepwater Horizon likely worked properly. The firm has an $87 price target for shares.
• Auriga upgraded First Solar (FSLR) to buy from hold as it believes the recent sell-off in shares as created an attractive entry point. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $138 from $147.
• Soleil upgraded Priceline.com (PCLN) to buy from hold, citing a favorable risk-reward profile. Despite the upgrade, the firm lowered its target for shares to $230 from $250.
• Blackrock (BLK) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Abbott (ABT) was upgraded to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Exxon Mobil (XOM) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) to Market Weight from Underweight. Thomas Weisel said they are less negative on the outlook for memory industry dynamics but they do expect SanDisk shares to be range bound.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) to Buy from Hold as they believe Hershey is benefiting from increased advertising spending and the consumer trade-down to less expensive chocolate. The firm maintains a $39 target on the stock.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) to Buy from Holdas they believe the company will be a beneficiary from the Circuit City liquidation.
• Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) and Virgin Media (NASDAQ:VMED) were raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) was upgraded at KeyBanc to Buy from Hold.

Analyst downgrades:

• Citigroup downgraded Kellogg (NYSE:K) to Hold from Buy as they believe the company's U.S. trends are decelerating and that FX trends will have a negative impact. The firm lowered their target price to $47 from $58.
  
• Jefferies downgraded Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) to Hold from Buy following Eclipsys' (NASDAQ:ECLP) negative pre-announcement as they believe both companies are suffering from a downturn in hospital spending. Jefferies lowered their target on Cerner to $38 from $51.
  
• Oppenheimer cut Amdocs (DOX) to Perform from Outperform following the weak Q1 results citing lack of near-term catalysts and the macroeconomic slowdown.
• Eclipsys (NASDAQ:ECLP)was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies and to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  
• PetSmart (NASDAQ:PETM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) was lowered to Underperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Analyst initiations:

• Wunderlich initiated Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) with a Buy rating and $30 target and believes the company should enjoy sustainable pricing leverage following the merger with Waste Management.
  
• RBC Capital initiated Elan Corp (NYSE:ELN) with an Underperform rating and $4 target based on Tysabri uncertainty, bapineuzumab clinical risk, MS competition, and debt overhang.
  
• Oppenheimer expects Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) to become an aggressive acquirer of financially distressed biotech companies with the completion of the acquisition of Pharmacopeia. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating and $5 target.
• Zebra Tech (NASDAQ:ZBRA) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $25 target at JP Morgan.
  
• Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) was reinitiated at Friedman Billings with an Outperform rating and $14 target.
  
• Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was assumed with a Hold rating at Jesup & Lamont.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Private equity firm Corsair Capital and several of the banks bigger shareholders are expected to inject over $6B into Cleveland regional bank National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC), the Wall Street Journal reported.
• According to sources, the Financial Times reported that Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is planning to sell a portion of its 9% stake in China Construction Bank in order to raise capital. However, Bank of America will offset some of the share sales by exercising options it holds to buy additional stakes in the bank at levels that are now well below market rates.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The UK Times said The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (NYSE: RBS) confirmed that it is considering a rights issue that is expected to raise up to GBP10B for the British bank.
• The UK Telegraph reported that the BBC is talking to private equity firms to join in a bid for Virgin Media Inc's (NASDAQ: VMED) Virgin Media Television, which owns a percentage of the UKTV content business that the BBC doesn't already own.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) could announce a capital infusion of several billion dollars from outside investors as early as Monday, people familiar with the matter said. While final terms of the deal are still being worked on, the Wall Street Journal reported that the bank is expected to receive between $6B-$7B, in return the investor group would receive shares priced at roughly $23-$24 per share.
• According to people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is seeking to sell as much as $20B in debt to a 'collection of investors,' which include private-equity firms.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Telegraph reported that Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) is said to be considering a bid for Virgin Media Inc's (NASDAQ: VMED) television channels.
• The UK Times wrote that Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) and Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (NYSE: MER) will demoralize Wall Street this week with revelations of write-downs of $15B.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Patterson Companies, Virgin Media and MannKind were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Patterson (NASDAQ:PDCO) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird, as the firm's checks indicate industry fundamentals have softened and it sees greater near-term risk for dental consumables than dental equipment.
  
• Virgin Media (NASDAQ:VMED) was cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies as they believe the company's results could be under pressure given the continued competitive activity and potential weakening of the UK economy.
  
• Piper downgraded shares of MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) to Neutral from Buy and lowered their target to $1.50 after Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) discontinued inhaled insulin Exubera due to an increase in lung cancer cases.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Lehman cut Cheniere Energy (LNG) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
  
• Pantry (PTRY) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings.
  
• JP Morgan lowered Watsco (WSO) to Neutral from Overweight.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal's "Ahead of the Tape" focused on the upcoming earnings report from American International Group Inc (NYSE: AIG) after the close today, as a fresh barometer to gauge the subprime market -- AIG has exposure as a lender, insurer, and investor.
• With uncertainty in the debt markets, Virgin Media Inc's (NASDAQ: VMED) plans to sell itself were put off until conditions improve, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that Oleg Deripaska, the owner of Russia's biggest aluminum maker, has acquired a stake in General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) of just under 5%, say two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Chinese government, which holds $1.33 trillion in foreign reserves, has made economic threats against the U.S., saying it may liquidate its holdings in U.S. Treasury bonds if the U.S. imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation, reported the Telegraph.
• The New York Post has learned that Warner Music Group Corp (NYSE: WMG) may go private due to its plummeting stock price and negative investor sentiment towards the music industry in general.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Liberty Global Inc's (NASDAQ: LBTYA) John Malone may bid on Virgin Media Inc (NASDAQ: VMED), the UK's biggest cable company, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The controlling shareholders of Dow Jones & Company Inc (NYSE: DJ) -- the Bancrofts -- are still debating whether or not to accept Rupert Murdoch's New Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) $5B offer to buy the company, and the debate is still too close to call, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Even a nine cents a drink price hike may not help Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) slumping share price, down about 20% this year, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Dutch bank ABN Amro Holdings NV's (NYSE: ABN) boards today refused to endorse either of two competing bids for the bank, effectively taking a neutral position on the issue, reported the Financial Times.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Theme park operator Cedar Fair Entertainment (NYSE: FUN) has reportedly entered into quick- moving negotiations with investment firm Destiny Capital Solutions about a $4.1B takeover of the theme park operator, reported the New York Post.
  

MAJOR PAPERS:

• General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) has hired Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to find a buyer for its WMC Mortgage subprime mortgage unit, signaling its exit from the mortgage business, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
  
• GE's CNBC cable business news channel and the Financial Times Group are in discussions to share resources and shore up their Web business, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• VeriSign Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN), which oversees dot-com and dot-net domain names registry, has recorded an additional $160M in compensation expenses related to stock option grants made between 1998 and 2006, causing the CFO to resign, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Virgin Media Inc (NASDAQ: VMED) has hired financial services company UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) yesterday to pursue strategic buyers.

OTHER PAPERS:

• From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column:
  
• Investors are paying attention to Arbitron Inc (NYSE: ARB), the media research company that compiles radio ratings.
  
• Ziopharm Oncology (NASDAQ: ZIOP) is testing the use of ZIO-101 arsenic [organic] to treat myeloma and other blood cancers.
• Zoltek Companies Inc's (NASDAQ: ZOLT) carbon fiber used in wind turbines is in-demand, as windmill demand soars as an alternative energy source.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) is disconnecting about 1,000 customers who have been calling customer service "excessively."
• According to the Wall Street Journal, Apollo Management has raised its offer for Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) to $28 a share, valuing Huntsman at $6.5B.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO), the credit rating agency, will issue a report today criticizing the private equity industry's increasing use of debt to buy companies.
• The Financial Times reported that Dow Jones and Company's (NYSE: DJ) board is reportedly making a final attempt to find a rival bidder for the company to compete with News Corporation (NYSE: NWS), contacting billionaire Ron Burkle.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Virgin Media Inc's (NASDAQ: VMED) bankers have contacted ComCast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and DirecTV Group Inc (NYSE: DTV) to help "kick-start' an auction for the company, reported The Mail on Sunday.
• The New York Post reported, citing sources, that theme park operator Cedar Fair Entertainment (NYSE: FUN) has contacted private equity firms about the possibility of acquiring the company.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• A small group of lawyers who hold overlapping roles in a number of trusts held by by the Bancroft family that controls Dow Jones and Company Inc (NYSE: DJ), may have final say on whether or not to sell the company to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (NYSE: NWS), according to the Wall Street Journal.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) has told investors in its two hedge funds, the Bear Stearns High Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage fund, that it will know the total hedge fund losses on about July 16.
• The Financial Times reported that Kraft Foods Inc (NYSE: KFT) is in talks with Danone (NYSE: DA) to acquire its biscuit and cereal products unit.
  

OTHER PAPERS:

• The U.K. Times reported that Virgin Media Inc (NASDAQ: VMED) has been approached informally by a potential buyer with an $8B takeover offer, according to people familiar with the matter.
• The New York Times also reported on Virgin Media's possible takeover, saying the potential buyer was Carlyle Group, and the price tag was about $20B.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Labopharm (DDSS), Dell (DELL) and Nasdaq (NDAQ) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Labopharm Inc. (NASDAQ: DDSS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch and to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink Swann after the 2nd approval letter from the FDA said Tramadol did not show efficacy. CIBC World Markets downgraded shares of Labopharm to Sector Performer from Outperformer and at Canaccord Adams to Sell from Hold.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, which recommended investors take profits following the strong earnings reports. The firm does not believe the drivers behind the earnings upside are sustainable. Dell was also downgraded at Morgan Stanley, to Equal Weight from Overweight, based on valuation.
• The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman, as the firm believes the stock is range-bound for the next several months following the OMX acquisition announcement.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Robert W Baird downgraded shares of DiamondRock Co. (NYSE: DRH) and Chesapeake Utilities Corp. (NYSE: CPK) to Neutral from Outperform on valuation.
• Bear Stearns downgraded shares of Emmis Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: EMMS) to Underperform from Peer Perform, as the firm does not believe the CEO will make another bid to take the company private.
• Matrix USA downgraded shares of Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) to Hold from Buy.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) Underweight from Equal Weight, citing growth concerns, and downgraded shares of Virgin Media Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) to Equal Weight from Overweight, citing higher customer churn and weaker pricing power.
• Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) to Neutral from Buy.

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

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and online services company Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE: CRM) may form a partnership to better compete with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
  

OTHER PAPERS:

• The U.K. Times reported that Warner Music Group Corporation (NYSE: WMG) is expected to offer EMI Group (OTC: EMIPY) a "£100 million sweetener" to try and keep the company from accepting an offer from private equity.
• According to The Observer, Royal Bank of Scotland (OTC: RBSPY), along with its partners Fortis and Banco Santander Central Hispano (NYSE: STD), hope to "table" a £47 billion offer for ABN Amro Holdings (NYSE: ABN) this week.
• The Observer reported that a private equity consortium is considering a $15 billion offer for Virgin Media Inc (NASDAQ: VMED).
• Cadbury Schweppes ADS (NYSE: CSG) is planning to return £5 billion to shareholders through a special dividend or share buyback, according to The Observer.
• The Sunday Telegraph reported that UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) will offer to buy out the pension schemes of some of the leading FTSE100 companies next week.
• Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) may be looking to acquire British social networking site Bebo, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
• The Bollywood film producer, Eros International, is expected to announce a partnership with Google Inc's (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited's (NASDAQ: TEVA) Copaxone will face generic competition for the first time, but will not see an impact immediately, Ha'aretz reported.

WEBSITES:

• The Orange County Register blog looked at a transcript from IndyMac Bancorp Inc's (NYSE: IMB) first quarter conference call, where the CEO Michael Perry said: "When you see that delinquency number in the press of 13% subprime delinquencies, it's hugely understated. It is absolutely hugely understated. And the prime delinquencies are overstated. The subprime delinquencies are more like 18, 20, 22% delinquencies and that's where I think you're going to see the problems."