American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

McDermott International Inc. (NYSE: MDR) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) Reiterated Buy with $50 target at Argus.

Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (NYSE: PLG) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Randgold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD) target raised at Goldman Sachs.

Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE: RJF) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) Reiterated Buy with $14 target at Argus.

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) Raised to Top Pick at Citigroup.

Veolia Environnement S.A. (NYSE: VE) Raised to Buy at Nomura.

Westport Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: WPRT) Started as Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

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A Moody’s spokesman noted:

The ratings upgrade reflects Foster Wheeler’s demonstrated ability to profitably bid and execute on key projects through prolonged cyclical pressures while maintaining its key credit metrics at levels consistent with an investment grade rating.

The stable outlook reflected a change from the company’s previous positive outlook:

The stable outlook reflects Moody’s view that FW’s operating results will begin to trend higher over the next 12 to 18 months, but that the company’s cyclical exposure and potential for share repurchases and/or acquisition activity will prohibit further upwards rating movement near term.

Foster Wheeler’s shares are up about 1% at $23.35 in a 52-week range of $16.40-$38.74.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 46 points to 12,984.91 (0.36%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 24 points (0.81%) to 2,956.98, and the S&P 500 rose 0.43% or nearly 6 points to 1,363.46.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) reiterated as ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) reiterated as ‘hold’ at Argus; Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) reiterated as ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; and Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) cut to ‘market perform’ at FBR.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) is up 10.10% at $15.92; Boston Beer Company Inc. (NYSE: SAM) is down -4.5% at $99.88; Caribou Coffee Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOU) is down -1.8% at $17.28; DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) is up 6.7% at $3.67; Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS) is up 2.8% at $121.08; Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) is up 6.2% at $64.11; Goodrich Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: GDP) is down -4.4% at $16.07; Hewlett Packard is down -6.4% at $27.08; KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) is up 9.1% at $36.01; American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) is up 0.68% at $63.69; Bill Barrett Corp. (NYSE: BBG) is down -0.5% at $27.77; Charles & Colvard Ltd (NASDAQ: CTHR) is up 22.3% at $3.73 after posting a new 52-week high of $3.99 earlier today; Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) is up 10.6% at $57.73; Dish Network Inc. (NASDAQ: DISH) is up 1.5% at $29.60 (more coverage here); Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) is up 7.5% at $25.58; Officemax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) is up 7.25% at $5.92; and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is up 3.5% at $54.80 (more coverage here).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is up nearly 80% at $18.93 after posting a new 52-week high of $21.44 earlier. The drug maker yesterday received an FDA panel approval for its obesity drug. More coverage here, here, and here.

Onvia Inc. (NASDAQ: ONVI) is up about 34% at $4.21. The government contractor service provider has rejected a buyout bid at $4.25/share, boosting hopes of a bidding war.

Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is up nearly 19% at $61.93. The retailer reported an enormous loss, but also announced plans to pare down the company. More coverage here.

Penn Virginia Corp. (NYSE: PVA) is down nearly -15% at $4.92. The independent oil & gas company missed EPS estimates badly, and lowered its production forecast for 2012.

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE: GTI) is down more than -15% at $13.07. Volume is more than 10x the daily average of 1 million shares traded. The industrial products company reported a big revenue miss this morning.

Stay tuned for Friday. St. Louis Fed president James Bullard and New York Fed president William Dudley are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index
• 10:00 a.m. – New home sales

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Paul Ausick

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) Reiterated Buy and $50 target at Gleacher & Co.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research.
Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity; Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Reiterated Buy and $160 target at Auriga.
Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $47 at Credit Suisse.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) Started as Buy at UBS; Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Seagate Technology PLC (NYSE: STX) Started as Buy at Auriga.
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Tower Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TWGP) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) Started as Buy at Auriga.

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JON C. OGG

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $50 at Argus.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $94 at Credit Suisse.
Central European Distribution Corp. (NASDAQ: CEDC) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse; Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) Reiterated Buy at Gabelli.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Started as Buy at UBS.
J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Started as Buy at UBS.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) Maintained Outperform at Credit Suisse; Maintained Buy at Gabelli.
Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $22 at Argus.
Mylan, Inc. (NYSE: MYL) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE: ODP) Cautious as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (NYSE: RBA) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: SNDA) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research (lathe Tuesday).
SIRIUS XM Radio inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) Maintained Buy with private market value of $2.85 at Gabelli.
SurModics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRDX) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
ValueClick, Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) Raised to Buy at Jefferies; Raised to Buy at Needham.

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JON C. OGG

Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) Started as Neutral at Janney.
Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) Started as Hold at Jefferies.
Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Outperform and $22 target at Credit Suisse.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) Started as Positive at Susquehanna.
Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) Started as Positive at Susquehanna.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) Started as Positive at Susquehanna.
Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $158 at BofA/ML.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) Started as Positive at Susquehanna.
United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) Started as Outperform and $30 target at Credit Suisse.
VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Raised to Buy and target raised to $12 from $6 at BofA/ML (full details).
Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) Started as Neutral at Janney.

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JON C. OGG

Applied Signal Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: APSG) confirmed on Friday that it was exploring strategic alternatives; shares are up 5.3% at $32.99 and above the $31.65 year high put in on Friday.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) announced that the FDA Rejected its Lorcaserin diet drug; shares are actually higher by 3.7% at $1.69 this morning.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) is trading higher after Goldman Sachs added the bank to its Conviction Buy List.  Shares are up about 3% at $4.23.

CommScope, Inc. (NYSE: CTV) is soaring on news that it is talks with Carlyle over being acquired for $31.50 per share versus a $23.12 close on Friday and versus a 52-week range of $18.39 to $34.95.

Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) is trading lower after its CEO is leaving to pursue other interests.  Shares are down 1.6% at $23.65 this morning.

Novatel Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: NVTL) is up on thin volume with shares up 5% at $11.30, likely on more hopes of getting iPad business from carriers.  We have not confirmed but BMO has reportedly upgraded the stock.

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (NYSE: PPD) is trading higher this morning after announcing that it is exploring strategic alternatives to increase shareholder value; it disclosed that it is evaluating an offer received from a well-known private equity firm to acquire it at $60.00 cash per share.  Shares are up 11.3% at $62.50 versus a 52-week trading range of $30.68 to $68.66.

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SVA) is lower after it lowered its revenue guidance.  Shares are down about 6.7% at $3.77 in pre-market trading.

Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) is trading up after earnings with a 20% sales gain and 12% income gain.  Shares are up almost 7% at $65.76 before the open versus a 52-week trading range of $40.05 to $71.50.

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JON C. OGG

If you couldn’t tell by the name, this is an alternative energy company making fuel or biocrude.  It is a renewable energy company that is licensing and deploying a biomass production platform in the global energy and agriculture markets. Its proprietary technology uses light and environmental management systems and it claims to allow customer licensees to grow aquatic microorganisms at about four-times the natural growth rates. It also notes that this enables the commercial-scale production of two end-products: a fuel feedstock and a protein, biocrude and protein products.

In short, PetroAlgae licenses a commercial micro-crop technology system that enables the production of green diesel and a high-value protein food source in an environmentally beneficial manner.  PetroAlgae said in the prospectus that it believes the end-products produced will remain commercially viable even if crude oil prices went as low as $20 per barrel; and it noted that the profitability of its license units is not dependent on government subsidies nor is it dependent upon historically high oil prices.

This is a developing company that is still in the infancy stages.  The underwriting group is rather large, so this is going to be treated as a true IPO despite the OTC Bulletin Board status.  Goldman Sachs, UBS Investment Bank, and Citi are listed as the joint book-runners, and others in the syndicate are Baird, Cowen & Co., and Piper Jaffray.  With an underwriting group this large and with this caliber of names, PetroAlgae is likely going to be given a lot of interest from Main Street and Wall Street.

The company announced just in July that it has “engaged a global business consulting and internal audit firm” to assist it in complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.

The company noted in the prospectus that “a customer licensee could generate revenue of approximately $350 million annually per standard license unit and earn a pre-tax unlevered internal rate of return of approximately 30%, based on certain assumptions…” Remember, this is “could” rather than “has.”  The company has no significant history of revenues, operating or net income, cash flows or the other financial performance metrics.  It noted, “To date, we have not been profitable and have incurred significant losses and cash flow deficits. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2009, 2008, and 2007, we reported net losses of $30.3 million, $20.0 million, $8.3 million, respectively, and negative cash flow from operating activities of $27.6 million, $11.8 million, and $4.7 million, respectively.”

The company noted also that its “current and prospective customer licensees” primarily comprise large oil companies, independent refiners, power companies and multinational agriculture companies.  These should have the ability to rapidly deploy one or more standard license units, with each license unit consisting of a 5,000 hectare micro-crop production facility.  It also claims that it has developed “a strong pipeline of over 300 additional prospective customer licensees that have indicated an interest in the development and construction of approximately 500 license units in over 40 countries.”

Private equity entities managed by Laurus Capital Management, LLC, Valens Capital Management, LLC and their affiliates are the primary shareholders.  The PetroAlgae.com website also lists Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) as one of its partners to create end-to-end biomass-to-fuel solutions.

On August 4, 2010, PetroTech Holdings Corp. funded $1,000,000.00 to PA LLC, PetroAlgae Inc.’s operating subsidiary, under the terms of a secured term note and the proceeds of this loan were earmarked specifically for working capital purposes.  PA LLC to pay PetroTech Holdings, on June 30, 2012, the $1 million, plus 12% interest per year.

The company’s presentation is here.

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JON C. OGG

BP plc (NYSE: BP) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) Cut to Sell at Roth.
CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.
Foster Wheeler Ltd. (NASDAQ: FWLT) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) Raised to Buy at Janney.
Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) Raised to Hold at Benchmark.
Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Started as Buy at SStern Agee.
Microsoft Corp. (NASSDAQ: MSFT) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.

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JON C. OGG

Sponsor: 5 best investments for 2010 – The next nine months represent a bold new era for investors.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Maintained as Sell with $6 target at Auriga; Maintained Buy with $14 target at Broadpoint AmTech.
AGCO Corporation (NASDAQ: AGCO) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) Raised to Buy at BB&T.
FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Raised to Outperform at Willian Blair.
Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) Started as Buy at Canaccord.
Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) Started as Buy at Canaccord.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) Raised to Buy with $32 target at BB&T.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) Started as Outperform with $300 target at FBR.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Started as Neutral at Janney.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Cut to Hold at Needham.
Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) Cut to Sell with $25 target at Auriga.
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) Raised to Outperform at Willian Blair.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Started as Outperform with $115 target at FBR.

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JON C. OGG