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Wall Street is a funny place. The concoction of fear, greed, a lot of money, and the potential to be humiliated at any time from a random event causes smart people to do silly things. While I often read analyst reports and tend to believe they can offer value for certain situations, every once in a while I come across a pretty bizarre upgrade or downgrade.

As Kevin Shult reported on BloggingStocks earlier, Hambrecht downgraded Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) from a buy to a hold. Normally I wouldn't really think much of such a subtle downgrade, but it seems like this downgrade goes against any logic.

If you look at the chart to the right, shares of Akamai have been killed during the last month. Off more than 40% from their highs, it would only seem logical that shares have become more attractive for new money than they were at a price 60% higher than the current quote.

But according to Hambrecht, this isn't the case. As I said before, this seems to go against any logic, especially if someone looks at a stock as a share in a business.

So why do I think they downgraded the stock? In my opinion, they probably wanted the poor performer off their buy list because it's currently humiliating them due to its poor performance. Once the stock trades back up 20-30%, they will re-add the stock to their buy list with the hopes of continued momentum.

With the price of fuel growing each week, the search for America's next energy alternative grows even stronger. WR Hambrecht looked at Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE), a California-based supplier of liquid & natural gas for vehicles, and they think they found a hidden gem.

Clean Energy provides solutions for fleets to run on natural gas as an alternative to gasoline or diesel. The company currently operates in 10 states and Canada, with plans to begin operation in Peru later this year. The first quarter of 2007 was the company's first profitable quarter since 2001, generating revenues by selling compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas, and to a lesser extent, by building, operating and maintaining fueling stations. They currently serve over 200 commercial fleets with 13,000 natural gas vehicles, including Waste Management Inc (NYSE: WMI), Enterprise Rent-a-Car, UPS Inc's (NYSE: UPS) fleet in Dallas and the Port of Los Angeles.

The key to Clean Energy's success lies in the continued increase in crude prices and the public's desire for cheaper alternatives. According to Hambrecht, natural gas vehicles emit "50-70% fewer emissions, save $5,000-$17,000 in fuel costs annually and use widely distributed and domestically available natural gas" compared to the standard vehicles used to day.

Not a bad start.

Clean Energy is currently in its growth phase and Hambrecht initiated coverage of the alternative energy stock with a Buy rating and an $18 target. They project the company to earn $0.03 in 2007 and $0.23 in 2008. Hambrecht believes Clean Energy's valuation, currently up $0.12 to $13.00 in mid-day trading, doesn't take into account the upside potential from the natural gas vehicle roll-out and estimates an addressable market over $20 billion.

With gas prices rising so fast, there's no reason natural gas should not be outfitted for commercial vehicles, but for the general populace as well.