Analyst Upgrades

• Xilinx (XLNX) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Orion Energy (OESX) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Goodyear Tire (GT) to buy from fair value at CRT Capital.
• RadioShack (RSH) to neutral from underperform at Wedbush.
• Novo Nordisk (NVO) to buy from neutral at Goldman.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Lubrizol (LZ) to Hold from Sell following the company's analyst day citing its continued pricing power in lubricants. Citi upped its target price for shares to $115 from $82.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Viacom (VIA) to Buy from Neutral citing the company's ratings improvement, 2011 film slate, and video game pipeline. The firm has a $45 price target for shares.
• BMO Capital resumed coverage on Gammon Gold (GRS) with an Outperform from a Market Perform following the its equity issue. The firm has a $12.50 price target on the stock.
• Comerica (CMA) and First Horizon (FHN) were upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Prudential (PRU) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• Itron (ITRI) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

Analyst Upgrades

• Apollo Group (APOL) was upgraded to sector perform from underperform at RBC Capital. The firm has a $75 target on the stock.
• JPMorgan raised Westlake Chemical (WLK) to overweight from neutral.
• Morgans Hotel (MHGC) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Wells Fargo (WFC) to market perform from underperform and raised its target on shares to $26 from $21 following the company's better-than-expected quarter.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Starbucks (SBUX) to buy from hold following the company's better-than-expected Q1 results. The firm raised its target price on shares to $30 from $19.
• UBS upgraded Dreamworks (DWA) to buy from neutral, citing upside from its upcoming film releases. The firm raised its target to $50 from $35.
• Colgate (CL) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• F5 Networks (FFIV) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Applied Industrial (AIT) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Stephens.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Semiconductors, ADC Telecomm and Nationwide Financial were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Banc of America upgraded the Semiconductor Sector to Overweight from Market Weight citing indications of a bottom given earnings estimate revision momentum and supply chain inventory levels. The firm upgraded Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) and Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) to Buy from Neutral and PMC Sierra (NASDAQ:PMCS) and LSI Corp (NYSE:LSI) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of ADC Telecomm (NASDAQ:ADCT) to Buy from Hold as they believe April consensus estimates could prove conservative.
  
• UBS raised Nationwide Financial (NYSE::NFS) to Buy from Neutral and believes a higher offer by Nationwide Mutual is likely.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Westlate Chemical (NYSE:WLK) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Traders came in this morning wanting to carry on from last week's stability on word that Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE: WM) was perhaps going to get a private equity bailout. At least a lifeline was the hope. But throughout the day shares slid from a 100 point gain to close mostly flat on the day as the market decided it had better get ready to go into earnings season yet again for Q1 2008 earnings reports from major companies. Below are the unofficial closes for US index levels:

• DJIA 12,612.43 (+3.01; +0.02%)
• NASDAQ 2,364.83 (-6.15; -0.26%)
• S&P500 1,372.53 (+2.13; +0.16%)
• 10YR-TBond 3.556% (+0.075)
• Full 52-Week Lows
• Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) up today after a price target upgrade by Thomas Weisel Partners today. Shares closed up almost 2% at $155.89.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Intel, Respironics and First Horizon were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• JP Morgan lowered its rating on Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) to Neutral from Overweight, as their checks indicate a late-quarter slowdown for Intel in order rates from the PC end market, which offset the upside the company experienced in earlier in Q4.
  
• Banc of America downgraded shares of Respironics (NASDAQ:RESP) to Neutral from Buy to reflect the acquisition by Philips (NYSE:PHG).
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) to Underperform from Market Perform, citing its exposure to home equity and construction loans and mortgage banking operations. The firm adds that it expects the company to cut its quarterly dividend.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• JP Morgan removed General Motors (NYSE:GM) from its Focus List.
  
• Merrill downgraded Hess Corp (NYSE:HES) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Lehman downgraded Westlake Chemical (NYSE:WLK) to Equal Weight from Overweight.