x

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded American Capital (NASDAQ: AGNC) to Outperform from Market Perform on expectations the company's book value and earnings are trending higher. The firm raised its target price to $22.
• Jefferies upgraded Spartan Stores (NASDAQ: SPTN) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company's EPS and sales momentum will return with the Michigan economy likely bottoming out. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target price to $18 from $24.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Steel (X) to Overweight from Equal Weight due to its favorable product mix and leverage to improving operating rates.
• CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Mueller Water (NYSE: MWA) was raised to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at JMP Securities.

The whole world watches China when it comes to the natural resource play. Iron ore and steel companies have watched their share prices swing wildly based on news coming out of the Middle Kingdom in terms of what Chinese mills will be buying and how much they are willing to pay (particularly for the annual iron ore negotiations). Of late, the steel and iron sector has bounced nicely based on rising Chinese demand. Now noises coming out of China's government imply the steel bounce might have been inflated demand numbers. (via FT Alphaville).

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says it's hard not to capitulate when your clients demand irrationality.

When I was weighted short and we would have these seemingly endless days of rallying, it was the mornings that would get me. The mark-ups of the futures, the refusal of Asia or Europe to go down, the "tone." It was relentless.

Then I would get to the office and, after a long period in which all I heard were downgrades, I would be greeted by upgrades, where I would always scream, "Now? Now they upgrade Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) (Cramer's Take)?" Or, "He's putting Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) (Cramer's Take) on the list now, after this run?" Or, "Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) goes from hold to buy? After it ran up 4 points? What is he thinking?"

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) Q1 profit fell despite strong sales of Plavix and Abilify.
• Check Point Software Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CHKP) was downgraded based on its guidance.
• Domino's Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) strong Q1 results were boosted by early debt retirement.
• DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) strong Q1 results were driven by Madagascar 2.
• Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ENDP) Q1 results led to an analyst's downgrade.
• E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) widened its Q1 loss, sending shares sharply lower.

The worldwide decline in the demand for steel sent U.S. Steel's (NYSE: X) fortunes tumbling in the first quarter of 2009. The company reported today a decline in net sales of $1.75 billion over the previous quarter and $2.4 billion over the same quarter in 2008. This resulted in a net loss of $439 million, or $3.78 per share.

The company blames weak demand for its flat-rolled steel, a drop in tube steel usage in the drilling industry as a result of declining oil prices, and "unfairly traded and subsidized tubular imports from China." The industry has benefited from trade protections in the past after claiming that foreign competitors were being subsidized.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says opportunities will arise, but it's still too early.

You can't fight the unseen. Whether it be a local E. coli outbreak for Taco Bell or Chernobyl or SARS or swine flu, you have to let the epidemic run its course before the obvious buying opportunity. What do we know about this swine flu now? 1) It is not under control, and 2) We haven't had fatality counts yet in this country that will freak people out.

Does it matter that the president says it is not out of control? Not to investors. This is a convenient excuse to sell everything consumer, including anything that needs people to go out and do something that is not at home.

US Steel is another one of those infamous, history-making stocks that investors aren't likely to forget any time soon.

Amid the robust growth and euphoria of emerging market economies, United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) soared first past $100, then $150, then above $196 per share in the summer of 2008, only to come crashing down when the leveraging bubble burst and many momentum traders exited the market.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says economic fundamentals haven't changed enough to make last week's rally a lasting force.

Stocks are the tools to tell the tale, and last week made you want to own stock. The banks showed you they need not be wards of the state, GM (NYSE: GM) (Cramer's Take) acted as if didn't need to be a ward of the state and oil held its own. Drug companies, among the enterprises with the best balance sheets, decided to "give up" and combine in the face of diminishing returns courtesy of changes in governments worldwide, but particularly in the United States, that would impinge on long-term profitability.

Most important, the backtracking of Obama in his position toward business, something that would never be articulated but most surely occurred as the stock market was no longer ignored -- a Bill Clinton moment in a tone-deaf White house -- set a better tone for risk-taking.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says stocks you'd sell on America alone are buys when you consider that great engine in Asia.

Here's some real tension. The best stocks to play China with may be the worst stocks to own here. Look at Freeport (NYSE: FCX) (Cramer's Take) yesterday, which did that giant and hugely successful secondary. There is no doubt in my mind that housing starts won't even get to 600,000 this year, not after that travesty of a stimulus bill -- or when considering the reaction expressed by the stocks of Lennar (NYSE: LEN) (Cramer's Take) and Pulte (NYSE: PHM) (Cramer's Take) and, perhaps most hobbled, Centex (NYSE: CTX) (Cramer's Take).

There is also no doubt that China's stock market being up 35% means that Freeport's Asian arm, the biggest, will soon be getting huge orders.

Amazingly, this week is about to end with stock markets logging gains. Not grim earnings, not glum retail sales, not dismal car sales, nor even weaker-than-expected jobs report seemed able to put a dent in investors' hopes the stimulus bill would pass.

And it's not even the Dow stocks that are leading the advances. As of noon today, the Dow was up about 3% for the week, while the S&P 500 gained about 4.5% and the Nasdaq composite soared some 7%. If you're sorry you didn't take part of this rally, and think perhaps there's more to come after the Senate finally approves the stimulus plan, then BloggingStocks contributors have some ideas for long-term holdings, as well as a few warnings:

You can't talk about the Steelers and the stock market without thinking about U.S. Steel (NYSE: X).

The company's headquarters pierces the Pittsburgh skyline like the Steelers' defense pierces opposing offensive lines.

The U.S. steel industry has been dramatically affected by the global economic slowdown, as demand for autos, buildings and other steel-based products has declined rapidly.

As a result, X is now trading at $30 after hitting a high of almost $200 in June 2008. That's an 85% decline in seven months.

But X has been trying to root out a bottom around $25 for the past three months, and the long-term potential for X is becoming more positive.

And, for what it's worth, X gained 25% in the three months following the Steelers' last Super Bowl victory.

Chris Johnson is a contributor to OptionsZone.com.

It's Super Bowl time.

This day of the year has almost reached holiday status where families and friends gather in front of big-screen TV to spend six hours watching a typically boring football game and stuffing themselves with nachos, wings and beer.

With all of the hoopla surrounding the event, this is a good time for investors to go for some Super Bowl profits.

Why? Looks like it's not just a pseudo-holiday -- it's a tradition:

"President Obama's proposed rebuilding plans are great news for steel and other industrial metals makers," says resource sector specialist Larry Edelson, who recommends a pair of beneficiaries: U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) and Alcoa (NYSE: AA).

The editor of Real Wealth newsletter explains, "Obama has pledged to give the U.S. economy a massive shot in the arm with the biggest public works spending package this nation has seen in more than 50 years.

"Besides spending on road, bridge, school improvements and construction, the plan is likely to include upgrading our deteriorating electrical grid and greater investments in public transportation, among other infrastructure projects. The plan is also expected to create about 2.5 million jobs.

"While steel and other base metal prices have tanked sharply this year on slumping global demand, companies that produce the metals have staged some massive cutbacks in production and many have shuttered large chunks of their operations.

Oct. 28: Dow 9,065 (up 889 points); trading range, 958 points

Try to figure this one out:

Consumer confidence reaches the lowest levels on record since the survey began 41 years ago ...

Home prices in 20 major metro areas fall 16% year-over-year and have been falling for 20 consecutive months ...

And the market rallies to post its second-largest gain of the year.

Huh?!?

The volatile session ended with the benchmark index almost 900 points higher as bargain hunting and short-covering ruled the day, with some help from strength in the overseas markets.

A labor agreement at Boeing (NYSE: BA), and better-than-expected earnings at U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) and energy sector names Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) and BP (NYSE: BP) also added fuel to the market's fire (pun intended).

Greg Tucker is the executive editor of OptionsZone.com.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says we're in a relentlessly terrible market.

Slew of bad news to wake up to. Freeport (NYSE: FCX) (Cramer's Take) eliminates its dividend to conserve cash as copper has had an unmitigated decline. Impairments coming; ugly, but somewhat predictable given the stunning stock drop. Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) (Cramer's Take) overnight becomes Nokia (NYSE: NOK) (Cramer's Take) or maybe even Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN), (Cramer's Take) as the commoditization of tech continues apace. We can sell everything cell-phone-related off that. Tech down again.

Too bad, because it wrecks the rally from yesterday and confirms -- endlessly -- how bad this market is.

It's also too bad because China was up big last night, which I believe will put in a bottom to the mineral and steel market components someday. Pricing will get tight eventually as U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) (Cramer's Take) and Freeport are taking out a huge amount of capacity. They have to; the pricing falls are that devastating. There will be plenty of companies in these industries that simply won't survive because of the pricing.