Can anyone explain to me who is allowed to issue an UG or DG on a stock? What are the rules? How is it legal that a firm can load up 3 mill shares of a stock and then broadcast an upgrade on it soley for their own profit. I know its not because they care about me, and want me to know that the stock is a good buy. I fall victim to this nearly every day in my trading career. I think it is absolutely the largest source of market manipulation in the world and it is totally legal. The only thing I hate more is that Fat F#@# Cramer. I am going to commit the rest of my professional career to putting a stop to this, or opening a brokerage firm and and then going on CNBC and taughting my own 3 mill share positions. Its a CRIME.. McGruff
Upgrades and Downgrades are based on whether the company's stock price right now is underpriced or overpriced with respect to the expected earnings. If the stock price is low, you get an upgrade.. and when the prices are high you get a downgrade. I remember SIRI getting upgrade which send it to $9, and a downgrade the same week which brought it back down. That was some crazy shit yo.. They also factor in some expected revenue growth for the whole industry etc, but those are trivial.. The most important thing is the expected income flow.