Stocks were indicated to open lower on Friday after the consumer price index showed almost 3% inflation, although trading indications in the futures markets had been lower all morning. Earnings season has been quite strong, and over 70% of the companies have exceeded expectations. The S&P 500 is also quite close to all-time highs again. Still, the volatility in 2018 has created less rewarding trades by buying the dips that had been so reliable in prior years. Many investors also are trying to decide how they want their investments positioned ahead of the midterm elections and with international trade concerns.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy and some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

Investors and traders looking for new ideas among the earnings season winners and losers should also pay attention here: There were 10 stocks receiving three or more analyst upgrades and six receiving three or more analyst downgrades on Thursday, and some of the names were up or down well over 10% from the news and the views.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Friday, August 10, 2018.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was raised to Neutral from Sell and the price target was raised to $21 from $13.25 at Goldman Sachs. AMD shares were down 2.45% at $19.10 on Thursday, but they were indicated up almost 1% at $19.30 on Friday. The 52-week trading range is $9.04 to $20.18.

ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT) was started as Outperform and assigned a $12.50 price target (versus an $8.47 prior close) at Credit Suisse. After a 10.6% drop on Thursday, the shares were up almost 3% at $8.70 on Friday. The 52-week range is $6.93 to $13.02, and the previous consensus target price was $14.00.

Alarm.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $57 price target (versus a $49.25 close) at Credit Suisse.

Amtech Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ASYS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Benchmark.

Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. (NASDAQ: BECN) was already among the heavily downgraded names this week, but JPMorgan has maintained its Neutral rating while cutting its target to $49 from $53. The stock was up 4.6% at $38.24 on Thursday but indicated up 0.7% at $37.95 on Friday.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) was down 5% at $1942.39 on Thursday after the travel websites giant lowered revenue guidance. Shares were indicated down another 2% at $1,900 on Friday. Jefferies downgraded it to Hold from Buy with a $2,060. Citigroup also lowered the stock, to Neutral from Buy with a $2,150 price target.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was added to the prized Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs, which noted that the oil giant is close to a sweet spot on free cash flow and with higher returns ahead, with one of the strongest pipelines of new oil and gas projects in the industry.

BrightHouse Financial Inc. (NYSE: BHF) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $42 price target (versus a $42.64 close) at Barclays.

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