Tesoro (NYSE:TSO) Downgraded by Raymond James

Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) was downgraded by Raymond James from "Market Perform" to "Underperform."

Along with others in the industry, Tesoro is fighting to have a California law suspended which calls for greenhouse gas emissions to be slashed, which has wreaked havoc on the jobs market.

Tesoro and other energy companies from outside California say enforcing the regulations will result in thousands of jobs in the state being lost, something their opponents don't deny.

So-called green jobs would supposedly eventually replace the lost jobs over time, but that's far from proven in an industry that's build mostly on hype and faith, rather than reality.

A ballot to vote on the issue will be held on November 2.

Patterson-UTI (Nasdaq:PTEN) Upgraded by Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy (Nasdaq:PTEN) from "Outperform" to "Strong Buy," increasing their price target from $20 to $22.

Patterson-UTI, among onshore drillers, is among the favorites of a number of commentators and analysts, as Jefferies also upgraded the stock earlier in September.

Because operators released land rigs during the recession to safe capital, Patterson was significantly weakened. Now almost all the market share they lost at that time has been regained.

Since August 25 when the stock stood at $13.90, it has made a nice upward move, although it is still almost level with the $16.23 it was at on July 30.

Patterson closed Thursday at $16.45, gaining $0.05, or 0.30 percent. Volume was almost identical to the 3-month daily average.