Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Ariba Inc. (NASDAQ: ARBA) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.

Capella Education Co. (NASDAQ: CPLA) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Cut to Neutral at Mizuho; Maintained Underperform and target cut to $14 at Credit Suisse.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Started as Underperform at Jefferies; Maintained Hold with $11 target at Canaccord Genuity.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) Reiterated Buy with $36 target at Argus.

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) Started as Buy with $40 target at Needham.

GATX Corporation (NYSE: GMT) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: JAZZ) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

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JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down 74 points to 12,368.47 (-0.59%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 35 points (-1.24%) to 2,778.79, and the S&P 500 fell -0.74% or nearly 10 points to 1,295.17.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a target price of $135 at Canaccord Genuity; Dendreon Inc. (NASDAQ: DNDN) started as ‘sell’ at Maxim; Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) cut to ‘sell’ at Deutsche Bank; Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) started as ‘buy’ at UBS; and Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) raised to ‘buy’ at Guggenheim.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: ANN Inc. (NYSE: ANN) is up 3.25% at $26.69; Brown Shoe Co. Inc. (NYSE: BWS) is up 21.4% at $10.63 (more coverage here); Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) is down -0.1% at $21.32; and Footlocker Inc. (NYSE: FL) is up 8.9% at $30.50.

Next week we are scheduled to get earnings reports fromTech Data Corporation (NASDAQ: TECD); Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN); Autozone Inc. (NYSE: AZO); Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY); Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL); PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM); Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL); Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG); and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) among others.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) is down -20% at $4.99. The Chinese Internet company is getting whacked on Facebook’s IPO. More coverage here.

GSV Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GSVC) is down -18.6% at $13.10. The investment company had a nice hunk of Facebook shares at a very low price — all the value is in today. More coverage here.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is down -16.3% at $6.92 after posting a 52-week low of $6.90 earlier today. Another stock that climbed on Facebook’s back during the run-up to the IPO, shares were stopped by an automatic trigger shortly after FB shares opened today. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Monday. Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
• 10:00 a.m. – Richmond Fed manufacturing index
• 11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions

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Have a great weekend!

Paul Ausick

Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) Started as Outperform at Raymond James.

Bankrate, Inc. (NYSE: RATE) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Started as Sell at Maxim.

Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE: LVS) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Reiterated Buy with $135 target at Canaccord Genuity.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) Started as Buy at UBS.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Reiterated Buy with $180 target at Canaccord Genuity.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Started as Hold at ThinkEquity.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Raised to Buy at Guggenheim.

Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) Cut to Hold at Argus.

Yelp, Inc. (NYSE: YELP) Started as Market Perform at Raymond James.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox.  We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

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JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall St. has compiled a log of companies which have already signaled in press releases that they will be presenting data or that data will be presented on their behalf at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting.  We have previewed more than 25 companies so far and that is not even including Big Pharma names.  As of May 18, the total abstracts submitted were 5,264 and of those there have been 2,744 which have been accepted for presentation at ASCO.  Of those accepted for presentation, some 1,859 are going to be ‘ePublication only’ for viewers.  The breakdown for the Abstracts shows that the oral presentation is currently 257 presentations and 2,487 are listed as poster presentation only.

The most presentations accepted (203) so far are focused on Genitourinary Cancer, which covers urinary tract and male genital tract as follows: Prostate cancer; Bladder cancer; Kidney cancer; Testicular cancer; Penile cancer; Nonmalignant tumors of the urinary tract and male reproductive system; and Von Hippel Lindau disease.  As of today, the fewest accepted presentations (93) cover Pediatric oncology.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), the largest independent biotech that there is, recently showed updated results from a Phase 2 study showing that treatment with blinatumomab helped achieve a high-rate of complete response in 72% of adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated in the study. This blinatumomab is the first of a new class of agents called bi-specific T cell engagers antibodies, which are designed to harness the body’s cell-destroying T cells to kill cancer cells.  Blinatumomab targets cells expressing CD19, a protein found on the surface of B-cell derived leukemias and lymphomas, such as ALL. Full results of the study will be presented during an oral abstract session on June 4 at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) recently sold off but will will have updated clinical data from the pivotal PACE trial of ponatinib, its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) on June 4.  The company said that the data will form the basis of its regulatory filings for marketing approval of Ponatinib for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblasatic leukemia.

ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) and Daiichi Sankyo, Co., Ltd. (Japan) will have an oral presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting featuring Phase 2 trial data with tivantinib as a single agent investigational second-line treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma. ArQule announced that this randomized, double-blind study met its primary endpoint in January and will now present the full results from this trial, including positive data in the pre-defined c-MET high population. Additional clinical data with tivantinib will be featured in two poster discussions and two general poster sessions.

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) has recently risen on its lung cancer and melanoma results.  The company has three oral presentations at the annual meeting after having already presented Phase 1 data on MEK162 in 28 patients with biliary tract cancer at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January 2012 showing that it was well tolerated and showed evidence of clinical efficacy in this patient population, including a complete response and a partial response. Stable disease was observed in 12 patients. The company has licensed selumetinib to AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and licensed MEK162 to Novartis (NYSE: NVS).

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down 156 points to 12,442.49 (-1.24%), the NASDAQ fell more than 60 points (-2.10%) to 2,813.69, and the S&P 500 fell -1.50% or nearly 20 points to 1,304,87.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) raised to ‘neutral’ at Sterne Agee; IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) raised to ‘strong buy’ at Raymond James; SINA Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) reiterated as ‘buy’ but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs; Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) reiterated as ‘buy’ with target price of $96 at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) is down -7.3% at $4.09; Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is down -5.6% at $95.60; E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG) is down -16.6% at $6.25 (more coverage here); GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) is down -10.1% at $18.72 (more coverage here); Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is up 3.9% at $52.84; and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is up 4.7% at $61.97 (more coverage here).

On Friday we are scheduled to get earnings from ANN Inc. (NYSE: ANN), Brown Shoe Co. Inc. (NYSE: BWS), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR), and Footlocker Inc. (NYSE: FL).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG) is down -17.7% at $4.11. The medical diagnostics firm priced a secondary offering this morning. More coverage here.

Dendreon Inc. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is down -11.3% at $7.65. The company’s prostate cancer drug got another challenge from a competing product from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). More coverage here.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) is down -21.4% at $1.68 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.63. The solar component maker lost its CFO today. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Friday. We don’t have anything on the schedule for tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll have a quiet day.

Paul Ausick

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) release positive data on its Zytiga medicine showing that the treatment helped high-risk patients.  Zytiga was approved in 2011 and the drug helped patients’ tumors when prostate cancer had not yet metastasized beyond the prostate gland.

What is happening is that Dendreon keeps having lower Provenge sales despite the hope that more reimbursement and more doctor recommendations are supposed to be helping.  This is the second big drop this month after a disappointing revenue figure was shown over a week ago. Analysts have a Thomson Reuters consensus target of just over $367 million in sales in 2012 and just over $513 million in sales in 2013.

Wednesday brought up more questions because the SEC probe may be tied to the company’s dropped sales projections for Provenge in earlier periods when shares were far higher. The reality is that this had been disclosed with earnings over a week ago, but investors are shooting first and asking questions later.

The only good news here for investors is that Dendreon’s stock chart may offer some support not too much lower than the current 10.6% drop to $7.70. Dendreon has four different presentations at ASCO this June and here is a Seeking Alpha transcript of the CFO presentation at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch health conference this week.

At $7.70, Dendreon’s 52-week range is $6.46 to $42.87.  Those old hopes of a Dendreon buyout now feel very dated.

The company’s market cap is now only $1.14 billion and Dendreon has over $500 million in cash and liquidity on hand.  The presentation at a conference this week currently shows no need to raise more capital until the company can reach a breakeven level.

JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall St. wanted to make a log of companies which have already signaled that they will be presenting data or that data will be presented on their behalf at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting.  The data below is as follows:

As of May 10, the total abstracts submitted were 5,264 and of those there have been 2,744 which have been accepted for presentation at ASCO.  Of those accepted for presentation, some 1,859 are going to be ‘ePublication only’ for viewers.  The breakdown for the Abstracts shows that the oral presentation is currently 257 presentations and 2,487 are listed as poster presentation only.

The most presentations accepted (203) so far are focused on Genitourinary Cancer, which covers urinary tract and male genital tract as follows: Prostate cancer; Bladder cancer; Kidney cancer; Testicular cancer; Penile cancer; Nonmalignant tumors of the urinary tract and male reproductive system; and Von Hippel Lindau disease.  As of today, the fewest accepted presentations (93) covers Pediatric oncology.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) will have updated clinical data from the pivotal PACE trial of ponatinib, our investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) recently noted that it “presented Phase 1 data on MEK162 in 28 patients with biliary tract cancer at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January 2012. MEK162 was well tolerated and showed evidence of clinical efficacy in this patient population, including a complete response and a partial response. Stable disease was observed in 12 patients.”

Biovest International, Inc. (OTCQB: BVTI), a majority-owned subsidiary of Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: ABPI) announced in early May that the new data from the BiovaxID® Phase II mantle cell lymphoma clinical trial conducted by the U.S. National Cancer Institute will be presented by the NCI at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDX) previously noted that interim topline results of the Phase 2b EMERGE study of CDX-011 in patients with advanced breast cancer will be presented in a webcast on May 23, 2012 but it is not going to get in at ASCO as it noted, “Celldex anticipated presenting these topline results at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2012 Annual Meeting. Due to a clerical error in which the incorrect submission category was inadvertently selected in the on-line ASCO submission form, the abstract for the EMERGE study was not considered for acceptance. Celldex attempted to rectify this clerical error but was informed that no exceptions are made to the submission policy.”  Call this the “ASCO-less ASCO presentation.”

CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR) will present data from its Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in patients with advanced solid tumors, primarily soft tissue sarcomas.

Exelixis, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXEL) recently announced that cabozantinib will be the subject of nine presentations at the upcoming Annual Meeting… The company noted that cabozantinib encompasses phase 3 pivotal trials in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

Galena Biopharma (NASDAQ: GALE) will present “Safety and Long-Term Maintenance of Anti-HER2 Immunity Following Booster Inoculations of the E75 Breast Cancer Vaccine” and it will host a panel called “HER2 Targeted Cancer Therapies” which includes NeuVax update from the Phase 2 and current Phase 3 PRESENT trials.

Generex Biotechnology Corporation (OTCBB: GNBT) will be presenting data on its breast cancer treatment ambitions.

Genomic Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX) recently announced that 18 abstracts were accepted for presentation at ASCO which will be highlighting Breast, Colon and Prostate progress.

ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN) noted in late-April “At the upcoming ASCO meeting in June, we expect to see not only EMILIA Phase III data and new SAR3419 Phase I data, but also data from the Phase II trial evaluating the safety of trastuzumab emtansine in the adjuvant/neoadjuvant setting.”

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) has two abstracts: one covering a Phase 3 study of NKTR-102 versus Treatment of Physician’s Choice in patients with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with an anthracycline, a taxane and capecitabine; a second will be NKTR-102 in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

NewLink Genetics Corporation (NASDAQ: NLNK) announced in April that data from its HyperAcute(R) Pancreas immunotherapy and its HyperAcute(R) Lung immunotherapy as well as its D-1MT IDO pathway inhibitor will be presented at the annual meeting.

Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC) will have two oral presentations and one poster discussion session: two oral presentations will highlight the first reporting on data from the ibrutinib (formerly PCI-32765) Phase II CLL single agent trial in treatment naïve patients and the ibrutinib Phase Ib/II CLL combination trial with ofatumumab in relapsed or refractory patients; the poster discussion session will highlight data from the ibrutinib Phase Ib CLL combination trial with bendamustine and rituximab in relapsed or refractory patients.

Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) will show updated information on ADCETRIS for patients with relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL).

Here was a recent list of other stocks to watch covered by an analyst in the Denver Post.

JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall St. screened out selective short interest data with the latest changes from the settlement date of April 30, 2012 versus the prior April 13, 2012 in shares of the following: Alcatel Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU); Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS); Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN); Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI); LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH); Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM); and Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI).   Does this make for a “Short-Sell in May and go away!” theme?  The short interest changes are for the April 13 versus March 30 settlement dates, with selective color added if applicable:   Alcatel Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) saw another rise in the short interest but this gain was massive by over 25% to 28.67 million shares in the short interest.  Based on its earnings botch, the short sellers made some real money here.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is not one of our usual short interest names but investors are back to betting against Spain and the PIIGS all over again now that austerity measures are being fought publicly.  The prior gain was a whopping 214% gain in the short interest to 55.7 million shares and the newest gain was only 2.5% to 57.1 million shares.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is back to seeing a rise in the short interest after a prior drop.  Short sellers lifted the short interest by 9.9% to 142.3 million shares.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) saw a small increase ion its short interest, which you know helped to exacerbate that pop from the Microsoft deal while activist investors press on here.  The short interest rose another 3.7% to 19.768 million shares.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 76 points to 12,932.01 (-0.59%), the NASDAQ fell more than 11 points (-0.39%) to 2,946.27, and the S&P 500 fell -0.43% or nearly 6 points to 1,363.71.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) maintained as ‘buy’ with a target price of $19 at Argus; Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) maintained ‘outperform’ with a target price of $166 at Credit Suisse; Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) raised to ‘hold’ at Argus; BP plc (NYSE: BP) cut to ‘underweight’ at Barclays; and Synacor Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNC) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) is down up 5.5% at $65.24 after posting a new 52-week high of $66.18 earlier today (more coverage here); Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) is up 4.1% at $4.04 (more coverage here); OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) is up 10.5% at $4.85; Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) is up 1.4% at $5.11; The Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) is down -4.3% at $4.66 (more coverage here); Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST) is up 18.4% at $12.64; and Pioneer Drilling Co. (NYSE: PDC) is up 5.5% at $8.03.

On Wednesday we are scheduled to get earnings from AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL), Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU), CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL), Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE: DTG), Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M), Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL), News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), and priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Fossil Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) is down -36.8% at $79.50. The fashion accessories company revealed a weak forecast today. More coverage here.

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is down -24.6% at $8.81. The drug maker’s earnings were not as strong as expected. More coverage here.

Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL) is down -24% at $1.67 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.58 earlier today. The rare earths miner is delaying a feasibility study. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade report
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 1:00 p.m. – 10-year note auction

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Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) said that its total revenue rose almost 200% to $82 million, but that is almost in-line and shows no upside surprise for PROVENGE sales.  Despite still having some $559 million in cash and near-term liquidity, a drop of 21% to $9.17 is really not hurting the overall biotech sector anywhere close to as much as we feared it would.

VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is weak after earnings as well as the loss was wider than expected, but it now has some of $333.4 million in cash and short-term now that it raised cash via a secondary offering.  This is still in a holding pattern as the current Qnexa NDA final decision is still out to about July 17, 2012.  A surprise mover to the upside is Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) with a rally ahead of its FDA meeting for lorcaserin as a weight-loss pill.  Arena shares are up 15% at $3.14 against a 52-week range of $1.23 to $3.47 and the current market cap is $571 million.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was up so much on Monday that you would have thought it was a takeover stock rather than a cystic fibrosis drug test that caused the pop.  Shares were up huge on Monday and Tuesday is seeing another day of bucking the trend as shares are up 5.3% at $61.20 at yet another 52-week high.  Its market cap is now magically almost $13 billion.  So far on Tuesday we have seen the following analyst rating changes: Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo; and Raised to Buy at Needham.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) is one of the upside exception today as J.P. Morgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating.  Shares are up almost 5% at $10.44 against a 52-week range of $5.88 to $13.75.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) is a mix somewhere between biotech and pharma and it is following the defensive stocks today with a gain of 0.6% to $70.04 against a 52-week high of $72.00.  That new 2.1% dividend yield is offering some cushion it appears.

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) shows that investors will reward emerging pharma players merely for reaching agreements with creditors,  This stock is up 19% at $1.855 on only 2 million shares after it reached an agreement with some creditors to restructure a portion of its debt in a move anticipated to bring the equivalent of $44 million.  Its market cap is $131 million and the $1.86 compares to a 52-week range of $1.26 to $9.14.

JON C. OGG