They may not be the big mergers investors were hoping would fire off another winning week, but today’s movers help prove there is upside potential left in the market.

Even though the “Merger Monday” trend is not continuing this week, we have a Monday morning filled with positive news and upgrades. The action is putting new wealth into the pockets of plenty of investors.

One of the morning’s biggest movers comes close to the form of a merger. With the news the Swiss technology company Kudelski has raised its tender offer price for OpenTV (NASDAQ:OPTV) to $1.55, shares of the American digital-television software manufacturer have surged ahead by nearly 20%.

Earlier this year, Kudelski offered to purchase the 87% of the company it does not own for $1.35. But a shareholder committee bulked at the offer and the Swiss backed out.

This morning OpenTV shareholders are glad they shook off the last potential deal. Kudelski’s offer is doing what the markets could not accomplish, raise the share price above $1.55 and keep it there.

While it is too soon to know for certain, I’m thinking the deal will be finalized this time.

Food? Where’s the value?

Another company worth paying attention to today is Manitowac (NYSE:MTW). Thanks to an upgrade by the folks over at Deutsche Securities, shares of the crane manufacturer and foodservice operator are up by nearly 15%.

Interestingly, the upgrading analyst does not cite the company’s heavy-manufacturing exposure as the catalyst for earnings growth. Instead, he feels the foodservice division will “dominate” over the next couple of years, providing some 45% of Manitowac’s revenue and 65% of its pre-tax earnings.

The chief reason for the predicted boost in profitability is a sizeable increase in margins, a theme certainly not prevalent in a “de-inflationary” economic environment.

It will be interesting to see how this one works out. After surging by nearly 300% from its March lows, I am not expecting this stock to soar much further anytime soon.

Finally, we have all heard the fairly decent news out of the nation’s computer manufacturers over the past couple of months. Now it is trickling down the supply chain.

After a four-fold share price increase over the past seven months, Ultra Clean Holdings (NASDAQ:UCTT)was the recipient of a late-inning upgrade from Needham this morning. The equity research team switched their outlook from “hold” to “buy.”

Better late than never?

Again, potential investors may be a few months late if they want to get in on the big money potential.

Shares of the $120 million company, which specializes in subsystems for the semi-conductor industry, are just shy of 52-week highs, fully recovered from the meltdown of the past 12 months.

While it is easy to sit behind my desk and pick on analysts for being late to the party, there are plenty of investors reliably profiting from investing contrary to analyst upgrades or downgrades.

After the ultra-bullish quarter we just put into the books, this looks like as good of a time to investigate the strategy as ever. The more top-heavy this market becomes and the faster it moves, the more smart investors will look at downside strategies.

OpenTV investors are likely to sell their stakes at today’s offering price in order to lock in gains. I would be surprised if Manitowac and Ultra Clean investors do not follow in kind over the next week or so.

It won’t take much for investors to start selling once again.

Source: Three Big Movers to Start the Week