Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Reiterated Buy with $51 target at Argus.
Aixtron SE (NASDAQ: AIXG) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH) Removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
MeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE: MWV) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Raised to Top Pick at FBR.
Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
Accuray, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARAY) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) Raised to Outperform with $20 target at Credit Suisse.
Everest Re Group, Ltd. (NYSE: RE) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) Reiterated Buy at Argus.
GameStop Corporation (NYSE: GME) Reiterated Outperform and $28 target at Credit Suisse.
General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) Reiterated Buy with $86 target at Argus.
Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTR) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $71 at Credit Suisse.
Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) removed from Focus List but Maintained Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Reiterated Buy with $44 target at Argus.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has a chart that is either wavering or one which is getting sick.  Here is our detailed chart analysis and fundamental explanation regarding why this may be happening. Elsewhere, Canaccord Genuity raised its target to $480 from $460 on Apple this morning and shares are indicated up marginally pre-market.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) is up 2% premarket on moderate volume to $6.78, relative to a 52-week range of  $5.04- $7.70.

Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) is down 18% premarket to $14.81, within a 52-week range of $13.17-$23.29. The company lowered its FY11 income and sales projections.

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTR) is up 8.2% premarket to $12.80, relative to a 52-week range of $7.68-$13.70.

AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Central European Distribution Corporation (NASDAQ: CEDC) Started as Buy at Nomura.
Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Started as Buy at B. Riley.
Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR) Reiterated Buy and $46 target at Argus.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) Maintained Hold at Argus.
Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTR) Started as Neutral at BofA/ML.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONS) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research (late-Tuesday call).
Universal Forest Products Inc. (NASDAQ: UFPI) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) Started as Buy at B. Riley.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Things are so bad at Crocs (CROX) that it is off nearly 50% down near $1.

Optimer Pharmaceuticals (OPTR) continues to be volatility. Details here..

AgFeed (FEED) is getting crushed.

NetApp (NTAP) is today’s tech winner.

AMAG Pharmaceuticals (AMAG) is making a big run up.

Sangamo Biosciences (SGMO) ran into drug trial troubles and will trade way down.

Optimer Pharmaceuticals (OPTR) is ready for a big move up after good results from its new antibotic product.

Goldman Sachs (GS) is ready to sell off on concerns about earnings and the potential need to raise more cash.

The Las Vegas Sands (LVS) could lose it casino in Macau. The is causing moves in Wynn (WYNN) and Melco Crown  (MPEL).

Douglas A. McIntyre

• Force Protection (NASDAQ: FRPT) Raised to Buy at Collins Stewart.
• Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
• Netezza (NYSE: NZ) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
• Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
• United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
• US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) Raised to Hold from Sell at Sandler O’Neill.
• VMware (NYSE: VMW) Started as Perform at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
November 11, 2008

The company is focused on discovering, developing and commercializing anti-infective products, and initial development efforts are to treat gastrointestinal infections and related diseases where current therapies have limitations.  The company currently has two late-stage anti-infective product candidates, OPT-80 and Prulifloxacin.

OPT-80 is the lead product candidate and is an antibiotic that is currently in two Phase III registration trials for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-infections, also known as Clostridium difficile-associated disease, the most common nosocomial diarrhea. Prulifloxacin is an antibiotic that is currently in two Phase III trials for the treatment of infectious diarrhea in travelers, a community-acquired infection often caused by a broad range of bacteria.  The company developing additional product candidates using its proprietary technology, including its OPopS drug discovery platform.

We frequently cover secondary offerings and other issues around IPO’s that include back door plays into IPO’s, spin-offs, restructurings, recapitalizations, and more in our open email distribution list.

Optimer shares are down 1.4% at $6.21 today, and its 52-week trading range is $5.90 to $10.42.  Its current market cap is $172.95 million.

Jon C. Ogg
March 28, 2008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and he can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.