Stock Upgrades, Downgrades From TheStreet.com Ratings

Each weekday, TheStreet.com Ratings updates its ratings on the stocks it covers. The proprietary ratings model projects a stock's total return potential over a 12-month period, including both price appreciation and dividends. Buy, hold or sell ratings designate how the Ratings group expects these stocks to perform against a general benchmark of the equities market and interest rates.

While the ratings model is quantitative, it uses both subjective and objective elements. For instance, subjective elements include expected equities market returns, future interest rates, implied industry outlook and company earnings forecasts. Objective elements include volatility of past operating revenue, financial strength and company cash flows.

Energy Transfer Partners(ETP Quote), which operates midstream natural gas transportation and storage businesses, has been downgraded to a hold from a buy. The company shows mixed results, some indicating strength, others showing weakness. Its revenue increased by 20.7% in the third quarter of 2007, compared with the same period last year, and it has demonstrated a pattern of positive EPS growth over the past two years. ...