When is an "Initiates Coverage -- at Equal Weight" not-so-good news?

. . . .When the coverage actually reflects a "downgrade" -- from earlier opinions, by many of the same analysts -- that's when. First, a little refresher, here:

Recall that Barclays Capital purchased the US brokerage businesses of Lehman, in that collapse. Recall also that Lehman had most-recently upgraded Schering from "Equal Weight" to "Overweight" on July 15, 2008 (of course, thus just exactly reversing its downgrade, earlier in 2008). . . .

With me so far? Good.

Well, this morning Barclays Capital -- as sucessor to Lehman's analyst stable -- started coverage of Schering at "Equal Weight". So -- if we look through the little glass windows, we see that most of the same people who upgraded Schering in July, are now starting it (anew), under the Barclays Capital name, at a lower grade -- right back where it was when ENHANCE was first fully-disclosed by CEO Hassan:

. . . .10.20.08: Barclays Capital initiates coverage on Schering-Plough -- at Equal Weight. . . .

Fascinating.