Shares in Countrywide Financial Corp., which went up 25 percent Tuesday, continued to gain early Wednesday after the company was upgraded by Wachovia Securities analyst Jim Shanahan. Shares in the Calabasas-based lender were up more than 4 percent early Wednesday to $5.32 after Shanahan narrowed his first-quarter loss estimate for the company. Shares in Countrywide are up 30 percent so far this week.

Cereplast Inc. named Randy Woelfel as president and chief operating officer, the company said Wednesday. The Hawthorne-based plastics manufacturer said Woelfel brings more than 29 years of experience in the plastics and chemical industries and has held executive positions at The Netherlands-based Basell International and Shell Oil. Woelfel holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Rice University and Masters in management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Shares in Cereplast were up 2.8 percent to 58 cents in early trading Wednesday on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board.