Third-quarter earnings season is just now picking up, so it’s not too late to reposition your portfolio for maximum profits. This quarter, annual earnings growth for the S&P 500 could be as high as 10%, and sales should be up around 3%. That’s a dramatic improvement over the last quarter. The U.S. dollar has “cracked” in recent months, and a weaker dollar tends to foster windfall profits for multinational companies. With the flight to quality intensifying by the day, the stakes are higher than ever to isolate the best buys on the market right now.
And you can do just that by running your positions through Portfolio Grader. I’ll get you started by reviewing the 50 big blue chips that were just upgraded and downgraded this week in Portfolio Grader. If you hold any of the stocks below, you may want to take note because they are making big moves.
Upgrades
Last Week’s Holds, Now Buys
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| A | Agilent Technologies, Inc. | B | C |
| AVGO | Avago Technologies Limited | B | B |
| BMO | Bank of Montreal | B | B |
| CHKP | Check Point Software | B | B |
| MHFI | McGraw Hill Financial, Inc. | C | B |
| NBL | Noble Energy, Inc. | B | B |
| PEP | PepsiCo, Inc. | B | B |
| PH | Parker-Hannifin Corporation | B | C |
| STJ | St. Jude Medical, Inc. | B | C |
| UPS | United Parcel Service, Inc. | B | C |
| VIP | VimpelCom Ltd. | B | C |
Last Week’s Sells, Now Holds
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| ABT | Abbott Laboratories | D | B |
| CXO | Concho Resources Inc. | C | D |
| FRX | Forest Laboratories, Inc. | C | C |
| GOOG | Google Inc. Class A | C | C |
| INTC | Intel Corporation | C | C |
| PRGO | Perrigo Company | D | C |
| VZ | Verizon Communications Inc. | D | C |
Downgrades
Last Week’s Buys, Now Holds
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| BAC | Bank of America Corporation | C | C |
| CLX | The Clorox Company | C | C |
| COP | ConocoPhillips | C | C |
| DOW | The Dow Chemical Company | C | B |
| HES | Hess Corporation | C | B |
| HMC | Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | B | D |
| HUM | Humana Inc. | C | B |
| IR | Ingersoll-Rand Plc | C | C |
| KEY | KeyCorp | C | C |
| KORS | Michael Kors Holdings Ltd | C | B |
| LO | Lorillard, Inc. | C | C |
| MFC | Manulife Financial Corporation | B | D |
| NJ | Nidec Corporation | B | D |
| NVS | Novartis AG | C | C |
| PGR | The Progressive Corporation | C | B |
| REGN | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | C | C |
| SDRL | Seadrill Ltd. | C | B |
| TRV | The Travelers Companies, Inc. | D | B |
| UNP | Union Pacific Corporation | C | C |
| WYNN | Wynn Resorts, Limited | B | C |
Last Week’s Holds, Now Sells
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| AZN | AstraZeneca PLC | D | C |
| BCS | Barclays PLC | D | C |
| COF | Capital One Financial Corporation | D | B |
| DTV | DIRECTV | D | C |
| ENI | Enersis S.A. | D | B |
| GS | The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | D | B |
| JNPR | Juniper Networks, Inc. | D | B |
| KSS | Kohl’s Corporation | D | C |
| MET | MetLife, Inc. | D | C |
| NU | Northeast Utilitites | D | B |
| NUE | Nucor Corporation | D | C |
| SNY | Sanofi | D | D |
Sincerely,
Louis Navellier