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Analyst downgrades: ERIC, ALU, GM and AAUK

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, General Motors and Anglo American were today's noteworthy downgrades:

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was downgraded to Reduce from Buy at WestLB and to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse following the company's Q3 profit warning.
WestLB downgraded shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Reduce from Hold following Ericsson's profit warning, as they believe Alcatel-Lucent's mobile business will face top-line and margin issues.
Bear Stearns downgraded shares of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) to Underperform from Peer Perform after learning that benefits from the new union contract will be lower than expected in 2008 and 2009. The broker recommends swapping into Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F).
HSBC downgraded shares of Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) to Neutral from Overweight on valuation. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Anglo to Equal Weight from Overweight also on valuation, as they see better value elsewhere in the sector.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Merrill Lynch downgraded Westpac Banking Corporation (NYSE: WBK) to Neutral from Buy.
Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Piper Jaffray.
Citigroup downgraded SRA International (NYSE: SRX) to Hold from Buy.
UBS downgraded THQ Inc (NASDAQ: THQI) to Neutral from Buy.
Lehman Brothers downgraded Syngenta (NYSE: SYT) to Equal Weight from Overweight.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The small-cap bank sector, Waste Connections, Warnaco Group and Intersections were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Lehman upgraded the small-cap bank sector to Neutral from Negative as they expect the group to benefit from the decline in short-term interest rates and the steeping yield curve. The firm upgraded Associated Banc-Corp (NASDAQ: ASBC), Pacific Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ: PCBC) and Westpac Banking Corp (NYSE: WBK) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
Friedman Billings added Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) to its Top Picks list. The firm believes the company can outperform the group and overall market in an economic downturn.
Warnaco Group (NASDAQ: WRNC) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan on valuation and growth potential.
JMP Securities' checks indicate that Intersections (NASDAQ: INTX) is on track to meet EPS expectations for the quarter and is well positioned to beat their 2008 EPS estimate of 80c. The firm raised shares to Strong Buy from Outperform.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Best Buy Incorporated (NYSE: BBY) and AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) were upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James.
The firm also upgraded shares of CBRL Group (NASDAQ: CBRL) to Market Perform from Outperform.
JP Morgan upgraded Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) and Plexus Corp (NASDAQ: PLXS) to Overweight from Neutral.
Bear Stearns raised MFA Mortgage Investments (NYSE: MFA) to Outperform from Peer Perform.
Goldman added Automatic Data Processing (NYSE: ADP) to its Conviction Buy List.

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1	Joseph Lazzaro	111
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3	Steven Mallas	50
4	Tom Taulli	47
5	Connie Madon	46
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8	Mark Fightmaster	35
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11	Zac Bissonnette	23
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14	Jim Cramer	21
15	Jon Ogg	21
16	Eric Buscemi	17
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