NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by Bridgewater Equity (BWE).

What's better than a high-quality stock? A high-quality stock that has the wind at its back.

These stocks are tops in the month of January.

Sometimes insiders are selling for all the right reasons.

The U.S.markets are closing out the 2008 market crash with a guardedly positive technical outlook to start next year.

Actions speak louder than words.

Goldman Sachs is upgrading AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) to Buy from Neutral and adding it to the Americas Conviction Buy List. They recommend AKS for near-term to medium-term investors primarily due to its high sensitivity to steel prices. Its electrical steel segment should remain highly profitable and should get a boost from global stimulus packages, particularly in China. Firm's new 6- month P/E and EV/EBITDA based target price of $15 (increased from $9) implies the highest potential upside in their coverage of 34%. It should also benefit from lower iron ore prices next year. Goldman notes they see steel prices at an inflection point They remain positive on the steel sector in the near-term owing to impressive supply discipline exhibited by the industry around the world[More...]

Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Chicago Merc Exch Hld'A' (CME), NYSE Euronext (NYX), Analyst initiations

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $22 from $17 on valuation and the company's "diversified" business.
  
• Barclays expects Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) to outperform in Q1 as investors become more comfortable with the company's balance sheet. Shares were upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Asset Acceptance (NASDAQ: AACC) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation but lowered their target to $6 from $8.
• Blackrock (NYSE: BLK) and Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) were added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
  
• Lattice (NASDAQ: LSCC) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst downgrades:

Continue reading Analyst calls: XLNX, STLD, ICE, NYX, MT, JOYG, CME, LLL, AAPL, ENR ...

Analyst calls: XLNX, STLD, ICE, NYX, MT, JOYG, CME, LLL, AAPL, ENR ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The economy is still in recession. The stock market is assuming the worst. Governments the world over are rolling out programs to boost the economy and nothing seems to be working. This maybe the best time to start putting your money to work (as always, do your own due diligence and invest according to your risk appetite) President elect Barack Obama just announced plans for massive investment in rebuilding country’s infrastructure. Infrastructure upgrades are long overdue in this country and this does appear to be as good a time as any to focus efforts in rebuilding the old infrastructure in US. This spending will have the added benefit of creating new jobs (however short term) and this should help prop up the job market and jump start the economy. Overseas, the Chinese stimulus package is heavy on infrastructure spending. At the same time, many of the businesses in manufacturing sector that are likely to[More...]

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Boeing Co (BA), Analyst initiations

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Genentech (NYSE: DNA) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $100 from $95 on increased likelihood of an acquisition after Roche (OTC: RHHBY) reaffirmed commitment to its $100/share offer.
  
• Baird expects Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) to gain market share in 2009 in mobile phones, IPTVs, and digital TVs. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Neutral.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of Torchmark (NYSE: TMK) to Outperform from Market Perform as they see limited earnings risk and an attractive risk/reward.
• Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was raised to Buy from Add at Calyon.
  
• Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS and to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
  
• Goldman upgraded AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) to Neutral from Sell and Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst downgrades:

Continue reading Analyst calls: AAPL, BA, BRCM, MGM, LNC, AEO . . .

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I found a few more I like. All of these are for long trades, but, again, the stance here is very cautiously bullish. EchoStar Corp (SATS) looks likely to break out of this wedge to the upside. I will be looking for a move over Friday’s high. Michael Brush also mentions SATS ...

Companies featured in this segment: Steel Dynamics Incorporated (NASDAQ:STLD), CEL-SCI Corporation (AMEX:CVM), Vale (NYSE:RIO), Progress Energy (NYSE:PGN), Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), DuPont (NYSE:DD), Cytec Industries Incorporated (NYSE:CYT), Lubrizol Corporation (NYSE:LZ)

Companies featured in this segment: Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR), U.S. Steel (NYSE:X), Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD), Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX), Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Incorporated (NYSE:FCX), Restoration Hardware Incorporated (NASDAQ:RSTO), CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS)

Third Quarter 2007 Conference Call

ACQUISITION of OMNISOURCE CORPORATION

Specifics on how to make sure that your portfolio is set for any downturn and also the eventual upturn. We look at Preferred stocks yielding over 7 percent. These have an after tax equivalent yield of 8.5 percent. A new segment: Mutual Fund Grab-and-Stab. Andrew discusses what is working now and what is not. Specific funds [...]