EMCOR Group (NYSE: EME) plans, installs, operates and maintains the systems that create facility environments. These include installations for power generation, power distribution, lighting, security, communications, plumbing, waste treatment, heating, ventilation, refrigeration and air-conditioning. The firm also provides facilities management and maintenance support. It serves commercial, industrial and institutional clients such as Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB). Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) is a major competitor.

The Street was surprised last week, when EMCOR guided FY08 EPS from $2.08-$2.28 to $2.22-$2.42 and FY08 revenues from $6.3-$6.5 billion to $6.8-$7.0 billion. Analysts had been looking for $2.31 and $6.76 billion. The CEO cited "solid order activity" and a "strong contract backlog" for the favorable view.

The news kept EME shares cycling through a positive four-month trading channel. The price is currently consolidating at the base of that channel, suggesting the potential for a rise back toward the top. Correspondence of the stock's 50-day moving average to the base of the channel backs the rebound notion.

Brokers recommend the issue with three "strong buys", one "buy" and three "holds". Analysts expect a 15% average annual growth rate, through the next five years. The EME P/E ratio (13.12), PEG ratio (0.87), Price to Sales ratio (0.30), Price to Book ratio (1.99), Price to Cash Flow ratio (10.22), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (7.50), Sales Growth rate (29.16%), EPS Growth rate (144.44%) and Return on Investment (12.58%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 600 SmallCap Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $18.25 and $38.69. A stop-loss of $24.75 looks good here. Note that the firm is next expected to release quarterly results in late July.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com. He does not hold positions in any of the stocks mentioned above.

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From TheStreet.com Network

• Cramer: Death Rattle Stocks Part 2
• Boeing All Done Growing?

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The fund has some pretty high ideals according to its Web site: "We focus on the economic, environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities that can materially affect a company's ability to sustain profitability and deliver returns. Our research plays an important role in forming our views on the quality of the business, the quality of management, and valuation."

So how does that translate in the real world? Al Gore isn't providing performance details, according to the Bloomberg story. It's kind of weird for Gore to be so mum considering that its biggest holding Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) is up more than 60% over the past year in U.S. trading.

Other big holdings aren't doing nearly as well. Nestle SA (VX: NESN) is up 4% and Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) has only jumped a little more than 2%.

The Bloomberg story quotes the Nobel Laureate as saying, "More money is allocated by markets around the world in one hour than by all the governments on the planet in a full year." How true.

But the inconvenient truth for many of Gore's admirers is he's doing really well by not being in politics, making it unlikely that he will ever run for elected office again.

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It is alarming to me that the same people who screw up the economy (or stand by watching) are the ones that are now promoting the remedies. They have proven without a shadow of a doubt that this is not their strong suit. The proposed economic stimulus package has bi-partisan support and calls for an estimated $156 billion of tax rebates ranging from $500 to $1,000 (+ $300 for each child) that might show up in May.

If we are going to add on to our already humungous joke of national debt, than I want to invest this capital in something that will bring a higher return on invested capital (ROIC) than the paltry one time mad money. That expenditure should be for national infrastructure projects like roadways, bridges, tunnels, and waterways.

We have all heard about the poor condition of our national infrastructure and the hundreds of billions of dollars of repair work and replacement that is desperately needed.

This alternative would bring visible results that every single person in the country would benefit from and improved linkages always stimulate economic growth. Road improvements even reduce fuel consumption by shortening routes and reducing friction both strategically and physically.

Furthermore, this form of stimulus goes directly to support middle and lower income workers, the ones hurt by the severe downturn in the construction industry. The government, like private enterprise, benefits when it can borrow cheaply and invest at higher returns. This has been historically true of infrastructure projects.

Giving people a one time hand out is like giving your kids some cash for the week end. They will enjoy it while it lasts and it won't last long. However, building something usable will have a benefit for several generations.

If you are interested in a few stocks that would benefit from this type of investment you might add the following to your watch list:

• Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) -- aluminum
• BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (NYSE: BHP) -- raw materials
• The Black & Decker Corporation (NYSE: BDK) -- hand tools
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) -- heavy equipment
• Cemex SAB de CV (ADR) (NYSE: CX) -- concrete
• Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) -- heavy equipment
• Freeport McMoRan Copper (NYSE: FCX) -- raw materials
• General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) -- building systems
• The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) -- construction supply
• Honeywell International, Inc. (NYSE: HON) -- building systems
• Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEC) -- engineering
• Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI) -- building systems
• Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) -- construction supply
• Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) -- steel
• Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE: RS) -- specialty metals
• Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE: RTP) -- raw materials
• United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) -- steel
• United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) -- building systems
• URS Corporation (NYSE: URS) -- engineering

All of these do not present the same value and some of them, being conglomerates will be effected less than more focused companies. For example, I would expect CX or NUE to receive more benefit than GE or UTX.

• On a related note: Suburban slums -- city centers being revitalized

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I do not own shares of any of these stocks except for CX. RS is one of my 2008 picks.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (NYSE: SNP) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent sell-off.
• ThinkEquity upgraded Syniverse Holdings Inc (NYSE: SVR) to Buy from Accumulate citing growth from further price reductions and adoption of new technologies that will drive transaction volumes.
• Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: ATI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.The firm upgraded Allegheny based on valuation, low stainless steel inventories, and nickel price stabilization.

• Napster Inc (NASDAQ: NAPS) was upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
• Goldman raised Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) to Neutral from Sell.
• Johnson Controls Inc (NYSE: JCI) was upgrade to Buy from Add at Calyon.

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Here are a few highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) had a lackluster quarter due in part to the acquistion of ATI.
• AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) posted a larger than expected loss due to rising fuel costs.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are hunkered down post-MacWorld but ahead of the Q1 report.
• Genentech Inc. (NYSE: DNA) beat earnings estimates, though its growth is slowing.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) forecasts earnings growth on cost-cutting and overseas sales.
• IBM (NYSE: IBM) had an impressive fourth quarter and expects a good 2008 (see transcript).
• Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ: INTC) solid results failed to impress investors (see transcript).
• Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) posted a solid first quarter, with growth in all divisions.
• New Oriental Educational & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: EDU) posted disappointing results.
• Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) profits fell on restructuring costs and increased competition for generics.
• Sony Ericsson beat estimates and is gaining market share in the global cell phone market.
• TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) revised its fourth quarter outlook after strong December sales.
• Vignette Corp. (NASDAQ: VIGN) raised its fourth quarter revenue guidance, which buoyed shares.
• Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) lowered its guidance on weak holiday sales.

See additional earnings highlights. Also, Jim Cramer ponders the ennui of the new earnings season. Georges Yared is bullish on tech stocks, and big tech executives are bullish as well. Jonathan Berr looks ahead to upcoming big tech reports.

Other upcoming results to watch for include Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), E*Trade Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFN), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE: WM) announced after the market closed Thursday that it swung to a loss of $1.87 billion, or $2.19 per share, due to the disarray in the mortgage and credit markets. WaMu had been preparing Wall Street for the hit since December. Still, revenues fell 5% to $3.41 billion in the quarter, missing Wall Street's estimate of $3.51 billion. For 2007, WaMu posted a loss of $67 million, or 12 cents per share, on $11.11 billion in revenue, compared to a profit of $3.56 billion, or $3.64 per share, on $13.68 billion in revenue in 2006. CEO Kerry Killinger said in a conference call that 2008 won't be much better. However, by midday Friday shares were up more than 6%.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) reported Friday that its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 45% with growth across all divisions. Earnings grew to $235 million, or 39 cents per share, in the quarter ended December 31, from $162 million, or 27 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Quarterly revenue climbed 16% to $9.48 billion from $8.21 billion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected profit of 37 cents per share on revenue of $9.1 billion. The company maintained its full-year 2008 forecast for earnings of $2.45 to $2.50 per share and revenue of $38 billion. After opening at $34.35 on Friday, shares fell to near $30 in morning trading.

For more Friday results, see also:
General Electric (GE) earnings match expectations and lift markets
IBM earnings call: Lightning in a bottle
Schlumberger (SLB) fourth-quarter profit rises but misses estimates
AMD: Will the last one to leave please turn out the lights

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Another earnings season crunch has begun, though with a level of uncertainty and ennui, as Jim Cramer and others have pointed out here on BloggingStocks. Several of the big banks are reporting soon, but among other companies reporting this week are Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) and Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI). Here is a quick peek at these two companies.

Schlumberger hasn't missed quarterly earnings expectations since 2004. When it reported third-quarter results back in October, its $1.09 earnings per share beat the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial by two cents, as well as the actual 81 cents per share in the same period of 2006. For the current quarter, analysts expect earnings of $1.13 per share, or $4.20 for the full year, up from $3.04 in 2006.

Schlumberger's 56.9 percent earnings per share growth forecast for the next three to five years is better than the industry average and the S&P 500. The analysts' consensus recommendation has been to buy Schlumberger for at least six months. The share price rose to a 10-year high of $114.84 in October, but has traded mostly in the $90s since then.

For news that could influence the earnings results, check out BloggingStocks' Schlumberger coverage.

Johnson Controls has met or beat earnings expectations every quarter for the past four years. When it reported fourth-quarter 2007 results in October, its 78 cents earnings per share were in line with estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, and up from 62 cents in the same period of the previous year. For the full year, earnings were $2.10, up from $1.74 in 2006. For the first quarter of 2008, analysts expect 37 cents per share, compared to 28 cents actual in the same quarter last year.

Johnson's forecast earnings per share growth over the next year is 18.7 percent, better than the S&P 500, but much less than the auto parts industry average. Yet, the consensus recommendation from the analysts is to buy Johnson Controls, and has been for at least six months. The share price climbed from a 52-week low of $28.55 about a year ago to a 52-week high of $44.46 at the end of October, but has slipped back to the low $30s since then.

For more news that may influence earnings results, see BloggingStocks' Johnson Controls coverage.

Both Schlumberger and Johnson Controls are scheduled to report earnings Friday.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bank of America downgraded shares of E-Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) to Sell from Neutral, as they no longer believe the value of the company's retail brokerage business can offset negative value at the bank.
  
• Sterling Bancshares (NASDAQ: SBIB) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird on valuation.
  
• Morgan Keegan lowered its rating on Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Market Perform from Outperform, and believes the 8000 series upgrade cycle will likely slow and that share performance will be impacted by expectations of a slowing economy..

• UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) and Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) were downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman.
  
• Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) was lowered to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

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Construction tends to be a local business, but a limited number of firms have managed to establish international reputations. One of them employs some 27,000 skilled workers and operates locally from 140 locations worldwide.

EMCOR Group (NYSE: EME) plans, installs, operates and maintains the systems that create facility environments. These include installations for power generation, power distribution, lighting, security, communications, plumbing, waste treatment, heating, ventilation, refrigeration and air-conditioning. The firm also provides facilities management and maintenance support. It serves commercial, industrial and institutional clients such as Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) and the U.S. Senate. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) is a major competitor.

The Street was surprised last week, when EMCOR reported Q3 EPS of 55 cents and revenues of $1.5 billion. Analysts had been looking for 47 cents and $1.44 billion. Management also guided FY07 EPS to $1.75-$1.80 ($1.58 consensus) and FY07 revenues to $5.8 billion ($5.71 billion consensus). Morgan Joseph and Friedman Billings subsequently reiterated "buy" recommendations and boosted their price targets to the $44.00-$45.50 range. The share price popped on the earnings news and then moved into a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Stocks frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling on entry. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Altogether, brokers recommend the issue with three "strong buys," two "buys" and two "holds." Analysts expect a 21% growth rate through the next year. The EME P/E ratio (20.08), PEG ratio (1.34), Price to Book ratio (2.71), Price to Cash Flow ratio (15.83), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (12.63), Sales Growth rate (21.09%) and EPS Growth rate (57.14%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions hold about 95% of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 600 SmallCap Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $27.10 and $38.69. A stop-loss of $29.45 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage

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The user-programmable integrated circuit allows electronics manufacturers to fine-tune its properties to suit themselves. Such devices were pioneered in 1984, by a San Jose, California outfit that still sells a lot of them.

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) makes high-density programmable logic devices and associated development tools. PLDs are integrated circuits that clients can program themselves, using software that Altera also provides. This allows clients to provide their customers with special-purpose chips that cost less than equivalent custom-designed devices. Altera's circuits are used by thousands of customers in computing, telecommunications, industrial, and automotive applications. Clients include Honeywell (NYSE: HON), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT).

The stock has been a steady gainer, since mid-August, moving higher in response to such issues as solid third quarter revenue guidance ($319.7-329.3M vs. $325.1M consensus) and last week's upgrade to overweight by Morgan Stanley. In fact, the price is cycling through a positive eight-week trading channel.

Brokers recommend the issue with four "strong buys," five "buys," 15 "holds" and a "sell." Analysts see a 32% growth rate, through the next year. The ALTR PEG ratio (1.40), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (33.26), Operating Margin (24.17%), Net Profit Margin (26.72%), Return on Assets (16.37%), Return on Investment (22.63%), Return on Equity (23.89%) and Revenue per Employee ($129k) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutional investors hold about 95% of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 500 Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $17.51 and $26.24. A stop-loss of $21.25 looks good here. Note that firm is expected to report Q3 results in early November.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• CIBC downgraded shares of Toronto Dominion (NYSE: TD) to Sector Performer from Outperformer following the Commerce Bancorp (NYSE: CBH) acquisition, as they see integration risks and believes the deal will limit the company's ability to buyback stock.
  
• Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, as they believe near-term risks to demand and margins could bring a better entry point by 1H08. Target lowered to $75 from $79.
  
• Collins Stewart downgraded shares of Ceragon Networks (NASDAQ: CRNT) to Underperform from Buy on valuation and uncertainties surrounding the stock, which include the NEC infringement issue and increased competition.
  
• Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) was downgraded to Accumulate from Buy at ThinkEquity. The firm is cautious on the sustainability of PC related demand and questions component order levels relative to PC sell through.
  
• Banc of America downgraded shares of Navteq Corporation (NYSE: NVT) to Neutral from Buy following Nokia's (NOK) proposed buyout.

• JP Morgan downgraded Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO) to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• Goldman removed Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) from its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Citigroup downgraded GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) to Neutral from Outperform.

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When you make a product that people need and allow them to save money by fine-tuning its properties to suit themselves, your business is liable to do well. That's the way it has gone for the inventor of the user-programmable integrated circuit.

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) sells high-density programmable logic devices and associated development tools. PLDs are integrated circuits that clients can program themselves. This allows them to provide their customers with special-purpose chips that cost less than equivalent custom-designed devices. Altera's circuits reach end users in a wide variety of computing, telecommunications, industrial and automotive products. Clients include Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Honeywell (NYSE: HON), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN). For the second year in a row, Altera has been named to the Business Week Hot 100.

The company pleased investors late last month, when it announced Q2 EPS of 22 cents and revenues of $319.7 million. Analysts had been looking for 19 cents and $313.2 million. Management also guided Q3 revenues to $320-329 million ($322.60M consensus).

Brokers recommend the issue with four "strong buys", four "buys" and eighteen "holds". Analysts see a 32% growth rate, through the next year. The ALTR PEG ratio (1.28), Operating Margin (24.17%), Net Profit Margin (26.72%), Return on Assets (16.37%), Return on Investment (22.63%), Return on Equity (23.89%) and Revenue per Employee ($129k) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages.

Institutional investors hold about 95% of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 500 Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $17.51 and $26.24. A stop-loss of $19.70 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

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• SPX Corp (NYSE: SPW), a North Carolina auto manufacturer that once earned 90% of its revenue from auto-related businesses, now earns less than 3% from auto-related businesses after multiple divestitures and acquisitions. SPX Corp is now an infrastructure-related products and service manufacturer for the global power market.

• Pittsburgh-based glass and coatings manufacturer PPG Industries Inc (NYSE: PPG) has put its windshield business up for sale. The company instead will rely on its high-tech coatings business and optical & specialty material segments that offer long-term growth potential.

• Eaton Corp (NYSE: ETN), of Cleveland, has been very successful in expanding into the aerospace business. To reduce its exposure to the auto-parts industry, the company recently sold its automotive mirror controls business for $111M to Englefield Capital LLD. Eaton also acquired a host of electrical businesses including Marina Power Lightening, Senyuan Int'l Holdings in China and selective assets of Catalytica Energy Systems.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup cut Statoil (NYSE: STO), BG Group (NYSE: BRG) and Repsol SA (NYSE: REP) to Sell from Hold due to valuation and the difficult operating environment.

• Matrix USA downgraded Flow International (NASDAQ: FLOW) to Strong Sell from Hold, citing weak demand from Asian customers that led to slowing sales growth.

• Bernstein downgraded the refining sector to Underperform and refiners Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) and Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) to Underperform from Market Perform...

• Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse; RBC Capital downgraded CP shares to Sector Perform from Outperform.

• Goldman downgraded Taiwan Semi (NYSE: TSM) to Neutral from Buy.

• Buckingham lowered Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) to Accumulate from Buy.

• Credit Suisse downgraded Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) to Neutral from Outperform.

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Construction tends to be a business conducted by local outfits, but a limited number of firms have managed to establish international reputations. One of them is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Emcor Group (NYSE: EME) is a leader in mechanical and electrical construction, energy infrastructure, and facilities services. It installs, operates and maintains electrical, mechanical, lighting, air conditioning, heating, communications, plumbing, security and power generation systems for a diverse range of businesses and government entities. The firm employs some 27,000 skilled workers, operating locally from 140 locations worldwide. Clients include Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) and the U.S. Senate. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) is a major competitor.

The company pleased investors earlier in the week, when it boosted FY07 EPS guidance from $2.45-$2.80 to $2.75-$3.00 ($2.86 Street consensus) and raised FY07 revenue guidance from $5.3-$5.5 billion to $5.5-$5.7 billion ($5.6B consensus). Management said the improved figures reflected continuing indications of strong demand patterns within many of the firm's markets. Emcor also declared a 2-for-1 stock split, payable July 9th. Friedman Billings subsequently reiterated its "outperform" rating on the issue. The stock popped above 30-day/50-day moving average support into a bullish "pennant" consolidation pattern on the news. Prices frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with two "strong buys" and three "holds." Analysts expect a 21% growth rate, through the next year. The EME Price to Sales ratio (0.43), Price to Book ratio (3.10), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (10.68), Sales Growth rate (14.51%), EPS Growth rate (50.00%) and Return on Investment (11.01%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages.

Institutional investors hold about 95% of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 600 Small Cap Index. Over the past fifty-two weeks, it has traded between $42.45 and $71.78. A stop-loss of $62.50 looks good here. Note that the firm is next expected to report quarterly results in late July.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

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The European Central Bank raised rates overnight and US labor costs rose 1.8% while productivity growth was revised down to 1.0%. This caused a bearish day in US markets. The NYSE had volume of 2.5 billion shares with 635 shares advancing while 2,648 declined for a loss of 106.46 points to close at 9,895.01. On the NASDAQ, 1.5 billion shares traded, 962 advanced and 2,070 declined for a loss of 24.05 to 2,587.18.

Stocks moving today included: Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) rose $1.21 (6%) to $22.60. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) rose $4.31 (4%) to $112.76 on an upgrade. TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD) rose $0.75 (4%) to $20.71 after feeling the heat for a merger.

In options there were 5.2 million puts and 5.2 million calls traded for an oddly balanced put/call open interest ratio of 1.00. Apple Computer (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw heavy volume on the June 125 calls (APVFE) with over 38,000 options trading. Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) saw heavy volume on the September 35 calls (BMYIG) with over 32,000 options trading. Neurochem (NASDAQ: NRMX) saw heavy volume on the June 12.50 calls (KQMFV) with over 25,000 options trading.

Kevin Kersten is an Options Analyst with InvestorsObserver.com. Do you have any deadwood in your portfolio? Check out the 18 Warning Signs That Tell You To Dump A Stock.

Disclosure note: Mr. Kersten owns and or controls a diversified portfolios of long and short positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Morgan Keegan upgraded Natural Gas Services Group Inc (AMEX: NGS), Basic Energy Services Inc (NYSE: BAS) and Complete Production Services Inc (NYSE: CPX) to Outperform from Market Perform and Patterson-UTI Energy Inc (NASDAQ: PTEN) to Market Perform from Underperform, as the firm has a bullish outlook for drilling activity in the back half of 2007 and into 2008.
• JP Morgan upgraded shares of both Compania de Minas Buenaventu (NYSE: BVN) and Goldcorp Inc (NYSE: GG) to Overweight from Neutral on valuation.
• Moody's was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, citing increased confidence in revenue outlook and growth drivers.

• Inverness Medical Innovations Inc (AMEX: IMA) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• Credit Suisse upgraded shares of Johnson Controls Inc (NYSE: JCI) to Outperform from Neutral, citing growth outlook in the company's building efficiency business.
• Allianz SE (NYSE: AZ) was upgraded to Buy from Add at WestLB on valuation and the company's strong Q1 results.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Prudential downgraded shares of Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) to Neutral from Overweight with a $29 target to reflect concerns about competition from generic medications and a lack of new products.

• Deutsche Bank cut both ExxonMobil Corp (NYSE: XOM) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

• Citigroup downgraded shares of Xerox Corp (NYSE: XRX) to Sell from Hold as the firm believes the acquisition of Global Systems could hurt profits in the short-term. The broker recommended trimming positions of Xerox on any strength.

• Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) was cut to Underperform from Market Perform at Piper Jaffray based on valuation...

• Stifel lowered its rating of Jones Soda Co (NASDAQ: JSDA) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX) to Sell from Hold based on valuation.

• CIBC downgraded shares of Coventry Health Care, Inc (NYSE: CVH) to Sector Performer from Outperformer on valuation.

• Needham downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: VRTX) to Hold from Buy.

• Adtran, Inc (NASDAQ: ADTN) was cut to Sell from Hold at Brean Murray.

• JP Morgan removed Johnson Controls, Inc (NYSE: JCI) from its Focus List citing recent share strength.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Prudential initiated the automotive manufacturers industry and automotive retail industry with Favorable ratings and the automotive parts and equipment industry with an Unfavorable rating. The firm initiated coverage on following stocks:
  
• Overweight-rated names included Autoliv Inc (NYSE: ALV), Group 1 Automotive, Inc (NYSE: GPI), Honda Motor Co, Ltd (NYSE: HMC), Johnson Controls, Inc (NYSE: JCI), Sonic Automotive, Inc (NYSE: SAH), & Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE: TM).
  
• Neutral Weight-rated names included AutoNation, Inc (NYSE: AN), DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX), Magna International Inc (NYSE: MGA) and United Auto Group, Inc (NYSE: UAG).
  
• Underweight-rated names included Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F), General Motors Corp (NYSE: GM) and