nok

Nokia (NOK - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced that its Nokia N900 is now on sale in the United States. The phone retails for $649. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on NOK.

NOK opened this morning at $13.95. So far today the stock has hit a low of $13.85 and a high of $14.04. As of 11:45, NOK is trading at $13.95 up 27 cents(2.0%). The chart for NOK looks neutral and S&P gives NOK a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says taking down all of software on the back of this outlook is a mistake.

And on the fifth down day, we decided that SAP's (NYSE: SAP) (Cramer's Take) butt getting kicked means the industry is faltering? This is the thought that went through my head when I saw SAP's disappointing news and its alibi that business is weak. That's why it stumbled. Of course, SAP's comments immediately took all of Europe down. Nobody said, "Hey, maybe it is SAP's fault because Oracle's (NASDAQ: ORCL) (Cramer's Take) kicking their butt." No one said, "Sure it is weak, because in the end Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) (Cramer's Take) got a better mousetrap."

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) has been losing market share in the mobile phone business to faster and more innovative companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Korea's Samsung Electronics. Although Nokia is still the world's largest mobile phone maker by volume, the company's most recent quarterly results don't speak highly of its efforts as of late.

And, when you start suing competitors, your back must be against a pretty hard wall. What is Nokia going to do? Try to innovate again and manufacture wireless handsets that carrier partners are glad to have on shelves and customers seek to purchase? Sorry, the iPhone already has beaten you -- for a few years now -- to the punch. A potential $1 billion judgment against Apple is proof in the pudding. But if Nokia thinks some of its newer phones can compete with Apple as easy as other competitors, Nokia is dead wrong.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) higher Q3 earnings topped expectations but revenue was in line.
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) posted better-than-expected Q3 results, but shares sold off.
• Allegheny Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ATI) was downgraded on concerns about its Q4 guidance.
• Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) shares fell after it posted a deeper-than-expected quarterly loss.
• Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) fell victim to profit taking despite reporting better-than-expected earnings.
• CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) better-than-expected Q3 earnings sent shares higher, despite a decline in revenue.

Even for a company the size of Nokia (NYSE: NOK), a quarterly loss of $834 million is still a big deal. And, this is what the company posted for its Q3 report (it's the first net loss since 1996).

OK, the main reason for the red ink was the write-down of a joint venture with Siemens that develops network equipment. No doubt, the business has been brutal. But, Nokia somehow thinks there's potential for growth.

In the online music world, there is a trail of dead companies. But, some have somehow found ways to not only survive -- but thrive. One is Shazam, which builds applications for mobile phones.

This week, the firm hit 50 million users. And, it was also able to secure venture funding from the premier VC firm, Kleiner Perkins (the other investors include Acacia Venture Partners and DN Capital). The amount was not disclosed.

What explains the success of Shazam? First of all, the company has cool technology that lets your phone hear a song and then it will figure out its name as well as the artist.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $265 from $170, citing higher iPhone expectations, new partnerships, and likely upward revisions to Street estimates driven by gross margins.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm views a possible deal between end General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal positively, as it thinks NBC will provide higher-margin growth for Comcast.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Michael Baker (AMEX: BKR) to Buy from Neutral after the company completed the sale of its Energy business. The firm raised its target on shares to $46 from $40.
• Jefferies assumed coverage of Endo Pharma (NASDAQ: ENDP) and upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold. The firm cites valuation, a strong base business, and solid cash flow for the upgrade, and has a $30 target price on shares.
• Marten Transport (NASDAQ: MRTN) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
• U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) closed at $14.71. NOK is expected to report Q3 EPS on October 15. NOK options were active on September 29 on volume of 63,852 contracts. NOK average daily volume is 18,770 according to IVolatility. NOK October option implied volatility is at 60, November call volatility is at 54, puts at 43; verses its 26-week average of 48, according to Track Data, suggesting larger near term price movement.

Nike (NYSE: NKE) reported Q1 revenue of $4.8B, down 12% versus the prior year. NKE is recently trading at $63.55 in pre-open trading, above its close of $60.09. NKE over all option implied volatility is at 31 according to Track Data.

Steel Dynamics (NYSE: STLD) closed at $15.87. STLD October option implied volatility is at 51, November is at 59, below its 26-week average of 73 according Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says Research In Motion's troubles are an exception to the greatness of the mobile Internet theme.

No, this isn't meant to be a bullish article. I am just trying to put Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) (Cramer's Take) in perspective because I think that people will confuse the greatness of the mobile Internet theme with the hazards of investing in the BlackBerry maker.

First, you have to ask yourself, what really went wrong with RIMM? Was it demand? No, demand was strong. They actually guided to the upper end of units. The issue was average selling price because it has gotten more competitive out there.

Analyst upgrades:

• FBR Capital upgraded Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect a recovery in the missy sector and the company's product improvement. The firm raised its target on shares to $19 from $13.
• Roth Capital upgraded Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) to Buy from Hold based on product cycle strength in wireless and Ethernet, HDD share gains, and a return of PC growth. Target is $22.
• Goldman upgraded Colgate (NYSE: CL) to Buy from Neutral citing valuation and expectations for a pick-up in unit growth. The firm raised its price target to $85 from $83. Note that Goldman downgraded Clorox to Neutral from Buy.
• Cadbury (NYSE: CBY) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at HSBC.
• Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) was upgraded to Buy from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Qwest (NYSE: Q) was upgraded to Market Weight from Underweight at Thomas Weisel.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) earnings prospects and declining sales resulted in a downgrade.
• America's Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT) stronger-than-expected Q1 results led shares to a four-year high.
• ArcSight Inc. (NASDAQ: ARST) reported strong Q1 numbers on increasing demand for cyber security.
• Brown-Forman Inc. (NYSE: BF.B) Q1 results easily topped expectations despite a decline in revenue.
• Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) posted a Q3 loss but revenue improved sequentially, and shares rose.

I thought the idea behind the netbook was for it to be a smaller, cheaper option to a laptop computer. Well, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has decided that it doesn't want to leave out those who prefer to pay a lot for their tech products, announcing that its new Booklet 3G netbook will carry a price tag of $820!

Therein lies the problem that NOK is going to face when selling the new Booklet. The allure of netbooks is that they can provide the power of a computer, without all the bells and whistles. You basically buy a netbook so you can have the internet, and that is about all. No hard drives are included because of the ability of web-based applications, so you have a drive-free way of connecting to the internet.

Analyst upgrades:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Outperform from Neutral after the close Monday. The firm believes Motorola's devices segment will approach breakeven in 2010 while operating margins in nonhandset segments will expand, and that a break-up story will reemerge. Credit Suisse raised its target on shares to $9.50 from $7.
• UBS upgraded BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) to Buy from Neutral. The firm cites BHP's leverage to iron ore, coking coal, copper, and oil for its upgrade after raising its commodity price forecasts.
• Merriman upgraded Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) to Buy from Neutral to reflect higher met coal price forecasts. The firm believes Chinese demand is strong and has a target range of $66-$72 on the stock.
• Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Coach (NYSE: COH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

Soon, you may be able to throw away your wallet. That's the vision of Nokia (NYSE: NOK), which announced that it will launch a mobile payments service.

The service is called Nokia Money (the platform is based on Obopay, in which Nokia recently made an investment). For the most part, it is geared for simplicity, which is definitely crucial for the consumer market. Essentially, you'll be able to send a payment by using another person's phone number. There will be other helpful features, such as the viewing of account balances in real time.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK - option chain) shares are rising today after the company unveiled its new Nokia Booklet 3G mini-laptop. The device uses Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows software, Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) Atom processor, and will be a "full-function" personal computer with high-speed mobile Internet access capability. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on NOK.

NOK opened this morning at $12.73. So far today the stock has hit a low of $12.66 and a high of $12.87. As of 12:20, NOK is trading at $12.65 up16 cents (1.3%). The chart for NOK looks neutral and S&P gives NOKa neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.