Analyst Downgrades: Tesla Motors Inc, Regulus Therapeutics Inc, and Dow Chemical Co

Analysts are weighing in on automaker Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), biotech Regulus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RGLS), and chemical stock Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on TSLA, RGLS, and DOW.

• TSLA is up 1.5% at $201.56, in spite of a downgrade from Argus to "hold" from "buy," after the brokerage firm said TSLA's proposed acquisition of SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) "comes at an inappropriate time in the life of Tesla Motors, as the company still struggles to become a profitable firm." Technically, TSLA is down nearly 25% year-over-year, and struggling to close the bear gap that resulted from the company's SCTY bid. Tesla Motors Inc's 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 36 currently hovers near "oversold" territory, suggesting a short-term bounce may have been in the cards. On the options front, long puts have been more popular than usual, with TSLA's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 1.03 sitting higher than 67% of all other readings within the past year.

• RGLS is down 49.3% at $2.54 -- and just off a record low of $2.48 -- after the biotech's hepatitis C treatment, RG-101, was put on clinical hold by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Following the news, BMO Capital issued a downgrade to "market perform" from "outperform," and cut its price target to $4 Wedbush also obliterated its price target, to $15 from $35. RGLS is now down nearly 70% year-over-year, and even prior to today, had underperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 33.2 percentage points over the last 60 sessions. While Regulus Therapeutics Inc's short interest fell 25.7% over the last two reporting periods, these bearish bets still account for 17.1% of the stock's total available float -- meaning plenty of skeptics are likely cheering today.

• DOW is down 1.5% at $48.79, after announcing it would be cutting 2,500 jobs worldwide, as part of its plan to restructure Dow Corning. J.P. Morgan Securities also downgraded Dow Chemical Co to "neutral" from "overweight," and issued a price-target cut to $50 from $57, citing major economic risks. DOW -- which is also tied up with DuPont (NYSE:DD) -- is down 5.2% for the year, and is poised to end beneath its 200-day moving average for the first time since early March. Prior to today, six of 12 analysts rated the stock a "buy" or better, without a single "sell" recommendation to be found.