Wall to Wall Street Coverage: Upgrades and Downgrades

• By Justin Sharon
• On 8:35 am EDT, Monday September 28, 2009

After hitting 11-month highs on Tuesday, stocks slipped in subsequent sessions and ended with their steepest weekly drop since July. The Lost Symbol won big at bookstores but tickers everywhere tanked. KB Home (KBH)�fell 8.5% on Friday and KB Toys founder auctioned off assets. EBay's (EBAY)�ex-head announced a gubernatorial run in California, so expect more garage sales to bail out that beleaguered economy.

The FDIC's seizure of a bank in Georgia (the state, not the country) was the 95th such failure so far this year, not including those existing on governmental gifts. It's a quiet day in economics, Cal-Maine (CALM) is out with first quarter earnings and Xerox (XRX) just copied Dell's (DELL) merger Monday strategy by announcing an acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services (ACS)�for $6.4 billion. And a huge loss for words as arguably the most articulate William since Shakespeare exits stage right; rest in peace Bill Safire.

Initiations

Financials: Goldman Sachs assumes coverage of People's United Financial (PBCT) (Neutral) and Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) (Sell).

Thoratec (THOR): Auriga initiates Thoratec with a Buy and a $40 objective on a favorable view its second generation HeartMate II device. CB Richard Ellis is picked up at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch with a Neutral.

Upgrades

Cisco (CSCO): Barclays takes Cisco to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Stericycle (SRCL): Stericycle is upgraded to Gradually Accumulate from Hold by Soleil, which sets a $56 price target.

United Community Banks (UCBI): The stock is boosted to Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey with an objective of $7.50.

Cabot Oil & Gas (COG): SunTrust raises its Cabot Oil & Gas rating to Buy from Neutral.

Applied Materials (AMAT): Citigroup upgrades Applied Materials (Buy from Hold).

Duke Realty (DRE): Citigroup is also upgrading Duke Realty to Buy from Hold.

Downgrades

MEMC Electronics (WFR): Citigroup lowers MEMC Electronic to Hold from Buy.

Retailers: Jones Apparel (JNY) and Liz Claiborne (LIZ) are both cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.

Jos. A. Bank (JOSB): The retailer�is downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus as the shares appear fully valued.

Cameco (CCJ): Cameco�is cut to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Adams.

Boston Properties (BXP): Stifel Nicolaus downgrades Boston Properties to Hold from Buy.

Nothing contained in this article is intended as a solicitation for business of any kind or for investment in the firm.