We are just a few hours away from the official start to first-quarter earnings season (when Alcoa Inc. (AA) reports its quarterly results after the close), and with the major indices in the red today, it looks like investors are treading lightly. If today’s trading action is any kind of indication for what’s to come, we should be prepared for some additional near-term bumpiness. Investors have finally figured out that the S&P 500’s earnings are expected to stall to just a 1.5% annual pace, so we’re seeing a flight to quality stocks.
The first few weeks of earnings season are going to be crucial, and we’ll likely see a lot of changes in my Portfolio Grader stock rating system. When a company reports earnings, I import the latest financial results; the new data have a big impact on each stock’s Fundamental Grade. So I strongly recommend that you to continue running your stocks through Portfolio Grader; you can do this quickly and easily by saving your portfolio to the system.
In the meantime, we’re seeing plenty of upgrades and downgrades among Wall Street’s most popular stocks. So let’s look at the 55 big blue chips that have been upgraded and downgraded this weekend. After taking a close look at the latest data on institutional buying pressure and each company’s fundamental health, I decided to revise my Portfolio Grader recommendations for each of the stocks listed below.
Upgrades
Last Week’s Holds, Now Buys
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| AGN | Allergan Inc. | B | C |
| BA | Boeing Co. | B | B |
| BTI | British American Tobacco PLC ADR | B | B |
| CHT | Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. ADS | B | C |
| GE | General Electric Co. | B | C |
| GGP | General Growth Properties Inc. | B | C |
| GS | Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | C | A |
| LYG | Lloyds Banking Group PLC ADS | B | C |
| NLY | Annaly Capital Management Inc. | B | C |
| NMR | Nomura Holdings Inc. ADS | B | C |
| OMC | Omnicom Group Inc. | B | B |
| PSA | Public Storage | B | B |
| SPG | Simon Property Group Inc. | B | C |
| SYK | Stryker Corp. | B | C |
| TM | Toyota Motor Corp. ADS | B | D |
Last Week’s Sells, Now Holds
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| ALXN | Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | C | B |
| AMAT | Applied Materials Inc. | C | C |
| AVB | AvalonBay Communities Inc. | D | C |
| CAH | Cardinal Health Inc. | C | B |
| CS | Credit Suisse Group AG ADS | D | C |
| ETR | Entergy Corp. | C | C |
| FE | FirstEnergy Corp. | C | D |
| FMS | Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA ADS | C | C |
| GM | General Motors Co. | C | D |
| JPM | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | D | B |
| KSS | Kohl’s Corp. | D | C |
| KYO | Kyocera Corp. ADS | C | D |
| LTD | L Brands Inc. | D | C |
| MS | Morgan Stanley | C | C |
| PH | Parker-Hannifin Corp | D | C |
| SNDK | SanDisk Corp. | C | C |
| STJ | St. Jude Medical Inc. | C | C |
| TXN | Texas Instruments Incorporated | D | B |
| UNH | UnitedHealth Group Inc. | C | B |
| VNO | Vornado Realty Trust | C | C |
| WLP | WellPoint Inc. | D | B |
Downgrades
Last Week’s Buys, Now Holds
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| ADP | Automatic Data Processing Inc. | C | C |
| APH | Amphenol Corp. Cl A | C | B |
| EMN | Eastman Chemical Co. | C | C |
| ENB | Enbridge Inc. | B | C |
| ETP | Energy Transfer Partners L.P. | C | C |
| KORS | Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. | C | A |
| RAI | Reynolds American Inc. | C | C |
| SIRI | Sirius XM Radio Inc. | B | C |
| VRX | Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. | B | C |
| WM | Waste Management Inc. | B | C |
Last Week’s Holds, Now Sells
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| AMTD | TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. | D | C |
| BBBY | Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. | F | B |
| CSX | CSX Corp. | D | C |
| ESRX | Express Scripts Holding Co | D | B |
| HPQ | Hewlett-Packard Co. | D | D |
| KMI | Kinder Morgan Inc. | D | C |
| LO | Lorillard Inc. | D | C |
| MFC | Manulife Financial Corp. | D | B |
| YUM | Yum! Brands Inc. | D | C |
Sincerely,
Louis Navellier