Free Stock Picks

Upgrades:
Cisco Systems (CSCO) target raised to $32 from $29 at Oppenheimer
Dendreon (DNDN) target raised to $50 from $40 at Brean Murray
Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus; price target $70
Johnson Controls (JCI) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird; price target $42 from $33
Medivation (MDVN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital; price target $14 from $10
Netflix (NFLX) target raised to $120 from $96 at Caris
Patriot Coal (PCX) target raised to $30 from $25 at Brean Murray
RSC Holdings (RRR) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank; price target $25

Popularity: 14% [?]

UBS upgrades CF Industries (NYSE: CF) from Sell to Neutral. The firm also raised its price target on the stock from $81 to $84.

Shares of CF are indicated notably higher in this morning’s pre-market session. The stock last traded at $86.75, up nearly 1.7% from Friday’s closing price.

Popularity: 24% [?]

American icon motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) shares roared Tuesday, rising more than 8.5% after the company announced stronger-than-expected earnings results for the first-quarter.
Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson, Inc. reported earnings of $33.3 million, or 14 cents a share, down from $117.3 million, or 50 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Net revenue dropped to $1.04 billion from $1.28 billion as motorcycle sales continued falling.

Popularity: 58% [?]

Microsoft, Inc. (MSFT) just hit a new multi-year high on better than expected Q3 results that included a 7% earnings surprise on strong sales from its new Windows 7 operating system. With a forward P/E of just 15X and a solid next-year growth projection of 11.5%, shares look well positioned for more gains.

Popularity: 65% [?]

Managed-care stocks ran up a day before UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH, $31.23, +$0.50, +1.63%) kicks off what many hope will be a stabilizing earnings season for the group, with hospital utilization rates appearing to be light amid a weak flu season and premiums continuing to rise. The gains also could be a recovery from recent declines. Health Net Inc. (HNT, $23.55, +$1.40, +6.32%), Wellcare Health Plans Inc. (WCG, $31.09, +$1.68, +5.71%), Amerigroup Corp. (AGP, $34.54, +$0.50, +1.47%), Molina Healthcare Inc. (MOH, $26.84, +$0.75, +2.87%), Centene Corp. (CNC, $25.16, +$0.70, +2.86%), Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH, $24.35, +$0.64, +2.70%), Cigna Corp. (CI, $35.30, +$0.81, +2.35%) and Humana Inc. (HUM, $44.66, +$0.73, +1.66%) all traded higher.

Popularity: 70% [?]

JIm Cramer recent selected these stock as a buy:

Windstream (WIN)
Citigroup (C)
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)
Standard Pacific (SPF)
Wynn Resorts (WYNN)
AT&T (T)
Unilife (UNIS)
Forest Laboratories (FRX)
American Tower (AMT)
Bank of America (BAC)

Popularity: 28% [?]

Altera Corp. (ALTR), Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (HCBK), Randgold Resources Ltd. (GOLD), Waters Corp. (WAT), PartnerRe (PRE) and Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) were among some of the small-cap stocks upgraded by Louis Navellier in his latest fundamental stock analysis on April 19, 2010.

Popularity: 26% [?]

BP Plc (BP), Boeing (BA) and Credit Suisse (CS) were among some of the widely held stocks Picks upgraded by Louis Navellier in his latest fundamental stock analysis on April 19, 2010.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Cbeyond (CBEY) upgraded to Outperform from Perform at FBR Capital Markets; price target $18 from $14
EMC (EMC) target raised to $23 from $21 at Jefferies
Intrepid Potash (IPI) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Soleil; price target $25
Microchip (MCHP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS
Monster Worldwide (MWW) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse; price target $22 from $15
Netflix (NFLX) target raised to $96 from $87.50 at Caris & Company
Petrohawk Energy (HK) upgraded to Outperform from Perform at FBR Capital; price target $30 from $25
Potash (POT) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Soleil; price target $100
Sigma Designs (SIGM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at BWS Financial; price target $19

Popularity: 37% [?]

Sprint Nextel (S)
CSX (CSX)
Sherwin-Williams (SHW)
Masco (MAS)
Home Depot (HD)
Swift Energy (SFY)
Family Dollar Stores (FDO)
Hot Topic (HOTT)
SanDisk (SNDK)
Citigroup (C)
Verizon (VZ)
AT&T (T)
Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA)
Research In Motion (RIMM)
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS)
Walt Disney (DIS)
BB&T Corp (BBT)

Popularity: 68% [?]

EnteroMedics Inc., a development stage medical device company, focuses on design and development of devices that use neuroblocking technology to treat obesity and other gastrointestinal disorders. ETRM

Popularity: 35% [?]

Costco (COST), Eli Lilly (LLY), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) and Walmart (WMT) were among some of the widely held stocks upgraded by Louis Navellier in his latest fundamental stock analysis on April 12, 2010.

Popularity: 53% [?]

Solar Stocks: Auriga initiates the solar space, with Buys on Yingli Green Energy (YGE), Trina Solar (TSL), and Solarfun Power Holdings (SOLF). Canadian Solar (CSIQ) is a Hold with a $25 target while SunPower (SPWRA) gets assigned a Sell.

Popularity: 62% [?]

Williams-Sonoma (WSM) and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) are both begun at Hold by BB&T Capital Markets.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Midpriced department store chain J.C. Penney is likely to benefit as consumer spending recovers, a Goldman Sachs analyst said Friday, and upgraded the company to “Buy” from “Neutral.”

Goldman Sachs analyst Adrianne Shapira also added J.C. Penney to her “Conviction Buy” list, which indicates top stock picks.

Popularity: 28% [?]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed above the 11000 level for the first time in 18 months—albeit for a few brief moments—marking another key milestone in what has been one of the strongest stock-market rebounds in history.

While the threshold has prompted less fanfare than when the Dow recaptured 10000 in October, it represents another big accomplishment for a measure that was below 7000 a year ago.

The Dow broke 11000 briefly in the last minutes of trade—hitting a high of 11000.98—before ending at 10997, up 70.28 points.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Bed Bath and Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) said Wednesday night (post-close) that fourth-quarter earnings rose 56% year over year to 86 cents per share, easily trumping analysts’ expectations of 73 cents. Revenue rose 16.7% from last year, also exceeding what Wall Street was hoping for. Finally, same-store sales grew 11.5% in the period, versus a 4.3% decline last year at this time. Looking forward, BBBY officials said they expect earnings to grow 10%-15% in fiscal year 2011. So it is clear that the American consumer is continuing to spend (at least on towels, kitchen supplies, and candles).

Popularity: 65% [?]

Advanced Micro Devices Inc.: UBS Securities equity analyst Uche Orji reiterated a buy rating on shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) on Apr. 7. He also raised a 12-month price target on shares of the maker of personal-computer processors to $13 from $12.

Popularity: 70% [?]

Upgrades

Nokia (NOK): The mobile phone maker gets a Buy from Neutral boost at UBS, though the broker notes it still has “challenges remaining” in the high end of the market.

Cedar Fair (FUN): The stock is upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform with Wells Fargo.

California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI): Cowen raises its California Pizza Kitchen rating to Neutral from Underperform.

KeyCorp (KEY): Keycorp gets upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Darden Restaurants (DRI): The stock is now Outperform from Neutral at Cowen.

Allied Irish Banks (AIB): Celtic cooperation as Allied Irish Banks gets a 180 degree (Buy from Sell) upgrade at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

CIBER (CBR): Citing improving trends in their IT professionals’ survey, Robert Baird boosts CIBER to Outperform from Neutral and increases its price target to $5 from $4.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Gap (GPS)
Skechers USA (SKX)
Darden Restaurants (DRI)
Walt Disney (DIS)
Marriott International (MAR)
Boeing (BA)
Allegheny Technologies (ATI)
Eaton (ETN)
Emerson Electric (EMR)
Carmax (KMX)
Johnson Controls (JCI)
CSX (CSX)
United Parcel Service (UPS)
Fedex (FDX)
Aetna (AET)
Stryker (SYK)
General Dynamics (GD)
Northrop Grumman (NOC)
T. Rowe Price (TROW)
Capital One Financial (COF)
Apple (AAPL)
Polo Ralph Lauren (RL)
Nordstrom (JWN)
Ross Stores (ROST)
99 Cents Only Stores (NDN)
Costco (COST)
Wynn Resorts (WYNN)
MetroPCS Communications (PCS)
Ancestry.com (ACOM)
JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
Owens Corning (OC)
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB)
DuPont (DD)
Halliburton (HAL)

Popularity: 88% [?]

YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company with headquarters in Overland Park, Kan., is one of the largest transportation service providers in the world and the holding company for a portfolio of successful brands, including YRC, YRC Reimer, YRC Glen Moore, YRC Logistics, New Penn, Holland and Reddaway. YRC Worldwide has the largest, most-comprehensive network in North America with local, regional, national and international capabilities. Through its team of experienced service professionals, YRC Worldwide offers industry-leading expertise in heavyweight shipments and flexible supply-chain solutions, ensuring customers can ship industrial, commercial and retail goods with confidence.

Popularity: 38% [?]

An analyst at Rodman & Renshaw has just upgraded shares of AutoChina (Nasdaq: AUTC) from Market Perform to Market Outperform. The firm also set a $45 price target on the stock.

Popularity: 94% [?]

Aflac, Gold Fields, JetBlue: Ratings Upgrades

Stock Upgrades

Popularity: 24% [?]

Shares of CardioNet Inc., which have lost two-thirds of their value in the last year, advanced Tuesday after an analyst upgraded the heart device maker’s stock.
Matt Dolan of Roth Capital Partners said reimbursement rates for procedures using CardioNet’s wireless heart-monitoring devices should remain steady or increase after being slashed by 33 percent last year. That could give a significant boost to the company’s revenue, and patient volume growth is strong, he said. Dolan upgraded the stock to “Buy” from “Hold.”

Popularity: 22% [?]