Wall to Wall Street Coverage: Upgrades and Downgrades

• By Justin Sharon
• On 8:40 am EDT, Thursday October 8, 2009

Two of the major indexes rose for a third straight session and unless investors suddenly turn a tin ear to Alcoa's (AA) impressive earnings, this morning will witness another solid start. Admittedly yesterday's gains were slim and the Dow ended down but, whatever, stocks (unlike Ireland's economy) are on a roll. Gold gained again and bonds were strong after 10-year Treasuries proved easier to auction than a Tyrannosaurus. For more on gold see Why Gold Keeps Climbing, and Why it Could Stop and also Mr. T Gold Indicator Pities the Bullion.

On a day of blustery gusts in New York, Super 8 operator Wyndham Worldwide (WYN) was up almost 8%, making it the S&P 500's best performer. St. Jude Medical (STJ) still awaits an answer to its prayers however after falling approximately 14% in 48 hours. Fresh off Friday's Olympian achievement in Rio, on Wednesday Banco Santander Brasil (BSBR) was the world's biggest IPO this year and today Rio Tinto (RTP) is on a tear, a trifecta which will turn Argentina to tears. Retailers report September same-store sales (see also Which Retailers Are Poised to Beat) on a day which also sees initial unemployment claims and earnings from International Speedway (ISCA), Marriott (MAR) and PepsiCo (PEP).

Initiations

Financials: Deutsche Bank initiates Buys on both Morgan Stanley (MS) ($36 target price) and Goldman Sachs (GS) ($220).

Aruba Networks (ARUN): ThinkEquity thinks Aruba Networks is a Buy due to reduced operational and capital costs among other factors.

Mosaic (MOS): The ag stock is picked up with a Outperform at RBC Capital.

Large-Cap Banks: UBS assumes coverage of the large-cap bank sector with a cautious outlook, its Sells including Wells Fargo (WFC), BB&T (BBT)�and SunTrust (STI).

Upgrades

Monster Worldwide (MWW): JP Morgan is upgrading Monster Worldwide to Overweight from Neutral with a $24 price objective as it is "increasingly confident" in product offering improvements.

eBay (EBAY): Kaufman upgrades eBay to Buy from Hold, increasing its objective to $29 from $22 on an improved outlook.

California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI): The stock gets boosted to Buy from Hold ($18 objective) at KeyBanc Capital after the company increased third quarter guidance.

Clorox (CLX): Deutsche Bank upgrades household products powerhouse Clorox to Buy from Hold and takes its target up $1 to $66 on potential EPS upside.

Adobe Systems (ADBE): The software maker is upgraded to Outperform from Neutral (target now $40 from $35) after management's reaffirmation of earnings guidance.

Downgrades

NCR Corp. (NCR): The stock could have less ka-ching in its cash register after a Hold-from-Buy cut at KeyBanc Capital after the resignation of its CEO.

Edison International (EIX): Sanford Bernstein lowers Edison International to Market Perform from Outperform.

L-3 Communications (LLL): The stock is reduced to Sell at Goldman as it is disproportionately exposed to Iraq.

Tata Motors (TTM): Deutsche Bank bids Tata Motors farewell, its rating going to Hold from Buy as it believes the shares are fully valued at these levels.

Broadcom (BRCM): The tech stock is downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert Baird ($30 target) amid an increased risk of cancellations.

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