09:38 am Anadarko Petro: . Target $95. Friedman Billings downgrades APC to Mkt Perform from Outperform and sets target price at $95, and removes it from their Top Picks list. The firm says 1Q08 operating results validated our investment thesis that APC will become a company with a stable, predictable asset base with material low-risk reserve upside and a strong exploration platform. They believe that the recent stock price performance has reflect this evolution.

09:37 am Continental Resources: . Target $60. Broadpoint Capital initiates CLR with a Buy and price target of $60 saying Continental finds itself at the intersection of two major energy trends - leverage to both record oil prices and unconventional reservoirs (>80% of production/reserves), with upside in the North Dakota Bakken and the Woodford Shale.

09:37 am Biodel: . Target $33. Cantor Fitzgerald initiates BIOD with a Buy and price target of $33 saying they anticipate that VIAject will be the first new, rapid-acting insulin providing substantial improvement in the outcome of patients with diabetes - better glycemic control, decreased incidence of hyper- and hypo-glycemia - a potential blockbuster.

09:37 am ClickSoftware: . Target $3.5. Roth Capital initiates CKSW with a Hold and price target of $3.50 based on an attractive end market, a new offering aimed at the mid market, accelerating partner momentum, a seasoned management team, a possible take over candidate, and significant sales force hiring. The firm also says a depreciating dollar is a near-term headwind that will likely pressure. The firm mentions a few other concerns: customer and industry concentration risk, poor financial disclosures relative to U.S.-based companies, prospects for intense competition, and lumpy revenue recognition.

09:36 am Liberty Prop: . Stifel Nicolaus initiates LRY with a Hold saying they like the depth and breadth of management, development focus, and underlying real estate metrics, and are concerned with limited internal earnings drivers, inability to meaningfully grow FFO/FAD, non-covered dividend and heavy carrying costs due to land inventory and G&A.

09:36 am Urban Outfitters: . Stifel Nicolaus downgrades URBN to Hold from Buy saying as sales and earnings comparisons grow progressively tougher through the balance of the year and macro economic pressure on the consumer continues, they anticipate that the rate of earnings growth to moderate.

09:36 am Bigband Networks: . Needham initiates BBND with a Hold saying BigBand scored some early-stage wins in initial SDV deployments, and they believe its long-term outlook in this area remains promising. On the other hand the firm says, BigBand's inherently lumpy order flow, long revenue recognition cycles, and its high dependency on key wins from few large customers limit visibility and will likely contribute to future earnings volatility.

09:35 am F5 Networks: . Target $29 to $32. Kaufman raises their tgt to $32 from $29. Firm says as investor sentiment has become more positive toward the networking sector, FFIV's stock has performed quite well, appreciating 29% during the past month. Its solid fiscal 2Q08 results have been a key driver of the performance as well. Firm believes co's business and stock-price momentum will continue.

09:35 am Response Genetics: . Target $7.5 to $5. Caris downgrades RGDX to Above Average from Buy and lowers their tgt to $5 from $7.50 saying while they continue to be encouraged by the long term potential for Response Genetics' diagnostics business, the lack of near term visibility and slowly ramping pharmacogenomic services revenue is cause for their reduced estimates.

09:35 am Mine Safety: . Target $60. Dougherty initiates MSA with a Buy and price target of $60 saying they believe MSA's strong global position warrants a valuation at the upper end, if not a premium to these multiples.

09:34 am U.S. Steel: . Target $172 to $200. UBS raises their X tgt to $200 from $172 as they understand X and other mills are following suit following ArcelorMittal's (MT) move to raise prices to contract customers by $250/short ton effective May 5. The firm's scenario analysis shows strong leverage to higher contract prices as the US business has relatively fixed costs. They say fixed price contracts have comprised ~50% of the U.S. flat-rolled business. Their analysis assumes a 0% (base case) to 100% pass through of a $250/t price rise in H208. They assume 10% of added profit is profit sharing.

09:31 am Aruba Networks: . Target $7 to $9. RBC raises their tgt to $9 from $7 and increase their ests following quarterly update. Firm says full results are expected on May 22. It's still touch and go at Aruba Networks and it may take a few quarters for the co to display some sequential rev growth predictability. Near term metrics were in line with the pre-announcement and declined 13% sequentially to $40.6 mln. Demand still remains lumpy and Aruba is providing sequential rev growth guidance of $41 to $44 mln representing flat to up 8% sequential rev growth.

---

Take a FREE TRIAL of Briefing.com's complete Live market analysis of the U.S. stock and bond markets, technology stocks, economic releases, earnings reports, and day trading highlights