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Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN), American Express (AXP), Allegheny Technologies (ATI), Analyst initiations

Analyst upgrades:

Interpublic Group (IPG) is following other global agency holding companies WPP and Publicis in forming its own venture capital arm, Mediabrands Venture Fund. IPG has already made some considerable new-media investments, including positions in Facebook, Spot Runner, and online marketing firm Huge. The new fund will invest in both business ideas generated inside the company, as well as outside startups:

We didn't expect this week's Yahoo shareholder meeting to be that interesting, and we were right. The interesting part happened the night before, when Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes told former employee Jon Miller that he couldn't get out of his non-compete and join the Yahoo board. He-said/he-said promptly ensued.

It's been a dismal year for ad-supported businesses, but not everyone is getting hurt. A look through recent public company statements on their ad businesses shows a trend: those worst off are (a) exposed primarily to the U.S. ad market, and (b) have the most print and TV in their portfolios.

That's double trouble for many newspaper companies, which spent much of the 90s buying up local TV stations. And it isn't helping those with big cable TV portfolios, either -- but at least those businesses also get revenue from cable subscriber fees, which remain strong for companies like Viacom.