Back in October, I wrote the following:

I’ve got an iPhone. In fact, my wife and two of my three kids have iPhones. The iPhone is absolutely wonderful as a portable computer, camera, music player and casual gaming device. I use it to check on stocks, keep notes, view maps, find where I am, figure currency conversions, send instant messages, play Scrabble and more. But the iPhone is a disappointment as a phone . . . and the problem is getting worse, because every new iPhone user (Apple (AAPL) sells roughly 80,000 iPhones a day) puts greater demands on AT&T’s (T) network.

The following 10 European ADRs have daily trading volume of over 2.5 million shares:

1. Nokia (NOK)
2. Alcatel-Lucent (ALU)
3. ArcelorMittal (MT)
4. Ericsson (ERIC)
5. ABB
6. UBS
7. ING
8. Vimpel Communications (VIP)
9. Banco Santander (STD)
10. Statoil (STO)

While many tech stocks are up this year, Nokia is still down 18% YTD. The financial giant ING has lost 15% YTD. Due to the strong rebound of the Russian market, Vimpel Communications has soared over 167% so far this year.

• GM ousts CEO, vows progress. Faced with large challenges, General Motors said Tuesday CEO Frederick "Fritz" Henderson will step down and Chairman Edward Whitacre will take his place until a permanent replacement is found. Whitacre, the former AT&T chief installed by the Obama administration, said GM needs "to accelerate our progress," and that the next step is to return the company to profitability and repay tens of billions of dollars in loans owed to U.S. and Canadian taxpayers. GM will presumably focus on selling off brands it has struggled to shed outside its four core brands, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.
• Data suggest fragile recovery. A medley of economic data Tuesday suggested the U.S. recovery is still alive, but fragile. Manufacturing rose for the fourth straight month in November, though at a slower pace. And even as the housing market bounced back in October, construction spending was flat. The ISM said its index of national factory activity slipped to 53.6 in November from 55.7, below economist calls for 55 (readings above 50 indicate expansion). The report's employment index slipped to 50.8 from 53.1 in October, which had been the strongest showing since April 2006. New manufacturing orders rose to 60.3 from 58.5. Pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose for the ninth consecutive month to the highest level in 3.5 years. Signs of strength were also evident in U.S. auto sales, which edged higher in November, led by an outsized gain for Hyundai (HYMLF.PK) and mixed results for rivals.
• Another suitor calls as clock ticks for Saab. Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, a possible bidder for GM's Saab, is only interested in parts rather than all of the automaker, sources say. GM said Tuesday it will review all bids for the brand and decide by month-end whether to sell or kill the Swedish unit after Koenigsegg reneged on an agreement to buy the automaker last week. Spyker Cars, Merbanco, and Renco Group have also expressed interest, sources say. Beijing Auto was part of Koenigsegg's bid.
• Google bows to publisher pressure. Under fire from publishers who want to yank their news from its search engine, Google (GOOG) said Tuesday it will allow publishers to set a daily limit on how many articles readers can see for free. The change will let publishers, who have complained that Google is earning revenue off their free content, limit readers to five free articles per day. News Corp.'s (NWS) Rupert Murdoch has been one of the most vocal critics of Google's excerpting from its content.
• Nokia Siemens ups Nortel bid. Nokia Siemens (NOK, SI) is challenging Ciena (CIEN) in bankruptcy court after the U.S. networking gearmaker won an auction for Nortel's optical networking and carrier ethernet business. Nokia Siemens said it's upping its offer to $810M in cash from a prior offer of $770M, which was trumped by Ciena's $769M offer of cash and debt. The court will decide Wednesday whether to approve the deal. If Ciena wins, the deal would vault the company to No. 3 in the optical network equipment market, behind rivals Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) and Huawei Technologies.
• Candidates to BofA: Break it up. Bank of America (BAC) has been told by two prospective CEO candidates that it should consider breaking itself up, sources say. So far, the board overseeing the search has stood fast against such a move, a snag that could delay the replacement process even longer. The search to fill departing CEO Ken Lewis' shoes has already gone beyond several self-imposed deadlines. One of the candidates who suggested a breakup is Michael O'Neill, a Citigroup (C) director and CEO of Bank of Hawaii Corp. (BOH), sources said.
• Cisco plays chicken with Tandberg shareholders. Cisco Systems (CSCO) said Wednesday it now controls 84% of shares in Norway videoconferencing developer Tandberg, and said it will not extend its $3.4B offer past Dec. 3 after pushing it off from a previous Dec. 1 deadline yesterday. If it does not gain control of 90% of Tandberg's shares (which would force the other 10% to sell) by Thursday, Cisco said it will decide whether to withdraw its offer (and watch shares plunge) or waive the 90% condition. Analysts say Cisco would gain operational control of Tandberg at current levels.
• Morgan draws up CICC short list. Morgan Stanley (MS) has shortlisted KKR, Bain, Carlyle, General Atlantic and TPG as bidders for the firm's stake in CICC, one of the most successful investment banks in China, sources say. One foreign buyer - Taiwan's Fubon Financial - was also selected to conduct due diligence, despite possible tensions around cross-border investments. Morgan paid just $37M for a 34.3% stake in CICC 13 years ago. The stake has been profitable for Morgan, but it doesn't like that it lacks control of management decisions at the Chinese bank. Sources say Morgan is seeking $1.2-1.5B for its stake.
• SEC intensifies insider trading probes. The SEC, itself under fire for being lax in its oversight duties, has reportedly delivered at least 36 subpoenas to hedge funds and brokerages over the past month alone. One investigation is said to focus on Sears' (SHLD) aborted pursuit of home-furnishings retailer Restoration Hardware in 2007. Others focus on the role of Goldman Sachs (GS) bankers in roughly a dozen healthcare deals since 2006. It's unclear if the subpoenas are linked to the insider-trading case involving New York hedge fund Galleon Group.
• GE wins pay delay in NBC sale. GE (GE) will delay paying Vivendi (VIVDY.PK) cash for its $5.8B purchase of the French media group's stake in NBC Universal, a move that will help boost GE's cash flow, sources say. The stake purchase is needed for a NBCU joint venture GE plans with cable operator Comcast (CMCSA). Sources said Tuesday that GE and Vivendi agreed to a $5.8B valuation, though the payment schedule was unclear. Now sources say Vivendi will only get its money once the Comcast (CMCSA) deal closes, which could take more than a year due to regulatory reviews. If the deal doesn't close by late 2010, Vivendi would be entitled to a payment of up to $2B from GE. Separately, sources say Comcast and GE agreed to value Comcast's cable channels at as much as $7B, potentially lowering the amount of cash the cable company would have to pay into the JV.
• Mortgage apps inch up. Mortgage applications rose 2.1% last week, including a 1.7% increase in refinancing, MBA said Wednesday. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell three points to 4.79%, the lowest rate since May.
• Northrop yanks Air Force tanker bid. Northrop Grumman (NOC), the third-largest defense company in the U.S., appears ready to pull its bid for the $35B Air Force refueling tanker program, complaining of "financial burdens" over the draft request for proposals, although some analysts think the threat may be a play for more negotiating power. Northrop and partner EADS had been competing since September against Boeing (BA) to build the refueling tankers. The Air Force plans to buy 179 tankers starting in 2011, at the rate of about 15 planes a year.
• Investors gain China foothold. China said it will allow foreign firms and individuals to establish limited partnership firms in the country starting March 2010, a move that could encourage some overseas investors to enter the domestic market. The State Council didn't specify how extensive the change would be, saying only that it would not apply fully to "investment-oriented" partnerships in China. Right now, foreign-invested private equity funds can be structured as limited partnerships through complex offshore platforms, but must be structured as corporations or unincorporated entities if investing onshore through yuan-denominated funds.
• BoJ buckles down on deflation. Just one day after saying it would initiate a new loan program to pump more liquidity into the system, the Bank of Japan injected ¥1T ($11.5B) into short-term money markets Wednesday. On Tuesday, Japan's central bank called a surprise policy meeting to unveil steps to fend off deflationary pressures and a surging yen, saying it will arrange a new ¥10T ($120B) facility. "While Japan's economy is picking up, there is not yet sufficient momentum to support self-sustaining recovery in business, fixed investment and private consumption," the BoJ said.
• Actively managed funds: wheel of fortune? A new study says investors casting their fortune with "active" fund managers in the hope of beating cheaper index funds tend to lose out. "People don't understand the effects of chance [on returns]," said Eugene Fama, co-author of the study and professor of finance at the University of Chicago. Based on 10,000 simulations of what investors could expect from actively managed funds, Fama and Dartmouth professor Kenneth French found that outside the top 3% of funds, active management lags results that would be delivered due simply to chance.

Earnings: Wed. Before Open

• Charming Shoppes (CHRS): Q3 EPS of -$0.42 misses by $0.29. Revenue of $460M (-16.8%) vs. $486M. SSS -13%. (PR)

Earnings: Tue. After Close

• Shanda Games (GAME): Q3 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.03. Revenue of RMB1.27B ($186M, +45%) in-line. Shares +1.3% AH. (PR)
• Shanda Interactive Entertainment (SNDA): Q3 EPS of $1.08 beats by $0.20. Revenue of RMB1.38B ($203M, +48%) vs. RMB1.35B ($198M). Shares +2.2% AH. (PR, earnings call transcript)

Today's Markets

Asia stocks were mostly higher Wednesday, but Europe markets have moved lower and futures are slightly in the red.

The complete list of French ADRs traded in the U.S. is listed below:

4:13 PM, Oct 30, 2009 --

• DJIA down 249.85 (2.5%) to 9,712.73.
• S&P 500 down 29.92 (2.8%) to 1,036.19.
• Nasdaq down 52.44 (2.5%) to 2,045.11.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Economy surges back to growth. Stocks logged their best one-day gain in three months on Thursday after the U.S. economy returned to growth in Q3. The government's first estimate of GDP showed the economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.5%, the first growth quarter in more than a year, and well ahead of Street estimates of 3%, sending Treasury prices and the dollar lower as traders exited safe havens. As recently as last week economists had called for a 3.3% gain, but they pared their estimates in the past couple days after week durable goods sales data came up short. "The economy has emerged with gusto from the deepest recession since WWII," one economist said. "The short-term prospects for the economy remain good."
• Private sector must lead the way - Geithner. The return to GDP growth is encouraging but the recovery is still fragile, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said at a Q&A session Thursday evening following yesterday's Q3 GDP announcement. "The number today was really encouraging... it was broad and strong and it wasn't just cash-for-clunkers and it wasn't just economic stimulus... but it's important to remember that it's very early," he said. Geithner stressed that a robust recovery would have to be led by the private sector, saying the U.S. can't borrow-and-spend its way to health.
• Repsol strikes again. Repsol (REP), long derided as the oil company with no oil, will today announce a "fairly sizeable" discovery in the Gulf of Mexico's Shenzi field that it says will help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Today's discovery comes on top of big finds in Brazil and West Africa, and leaves Repsol with the unexpected challenge of developing a sudden surge in oil and gas resources. "We've had some success in exploration," CEO Antonio Brufau said.
• CIT, Goldman adjust $3B credit line. CIT Group (CIT) reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs (GS) to amend a $3B loan facility, ending their dispute over a $1B "make whole" payment CIT would have owed Goldman if it files for bankruptcy. Goldman will reduce the loan size to $2.13B, wiping out the unused portion of the facility, for which CIT will pay Goldman a $285M penalty, and post an additional $250M of collateral. The announcement, made in an 8-K filing, comes two days after CIT raised an additional $4.5B to bolster its restructuring.
• Rio Tinto doubles capex. A confident Rio Tinto (RTP) doubled its planned 2010 capital spend to at least $5B after it cut debt and saw signs of economic recovery. Rio had planned to cut capex to $2.5B - just enough to sustain current mines. "We will continue our program of cost reduction and debt repayments, but our renewed strength enables us to focus on disciplined capital expenditure on premier growth options," CEO Tom Albanese said. Rio, the world's #3 mining group, said it had cut its debt by 42% so far this year to $22.3B. (statement)
• EDF/Constellation deal at risk. State-owned nuclear power operator EDF is facing pressure from the French government to abandon its $4.5B deal to buy 49.9% of Constellation Energy Group's (CEG) nuclear assets and build four reactors with the U.S. company. "For us, the priority strategy for EDF is indeed in Europe, notably the U.K. and Italy, and everything outside Europe is less essential to EDF's expansion," an unnamed government official said.
• Credit crunch continues. Loan defaults by small and medium-sized U.S. businesses rose in September to 0.85% from 0.81% in August, according to risk management firm PayNet, but accounts in moderate (30 days plus) and severe (90 days plus) delinquency decreased to 4.22% (from 4.35%) and 1.4% (from 1.48%) respectively, the lowest since January. PayNet's Small Business Lending Index, which measures the volume of financing, is down 22% from a year ago, a sign lenders remain reluctant to extend credit to small and medium-sized businesses. "It's hard to imagine a robust recovery when you see numbers like this," PayNet founder Bill Phelan said.
• BoJ holds steady. The Bank of Japan left its key rate unchanged at 0.1%, but said it would discontinue its corporate bond and commercial paper purchase program at the end of December, as scheduled - "given that issuing conditions in the CP and corporate bond markets have been improving markedly, and thus the purpose of the purchases to restore market functioning has been achieved." Still, the BoJ stressed that this doesn't signal the beginning of its exit strategy, and extended its special lending facility to provide three-month funds at 0.1% until the end of March. Remarking on the decision to scrap its corporate funding support, Japan's PM Yukio Hatoyama remarked that it's hard to be as optimistic as the BoJ. (statement)
• House Energy and Commerce Committee OKs consumer agency. A second House panel voted Thursday to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to oversee mortgages, credit cards and other financial products, with a full House vote expected in November. The House bill falls short of the administration's original proposal, exempting auto dealers, credit, mortgage and title insurers and banks with less than $10B in assets, among others - exceptions some worry will weaken the agency's power.
• Sands gets OK for $2-3B IPO. Sources say Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has received approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange for a $2-3B IPO of its Macau unit. Sands will kick off pre-marketing next week, and launch its roadshow on Nov. 9, with a trading debut set for the end of November. Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C) and UBS (UBS) are coordinating. LVS rose 12% Thursday after posting a surprise Q3 profit; shares are up another 12% premarket.
• Junk bond rally becomes self-fulfilling. Demand for junk bonds hit record highs last week, with investors pouring another $207M into junk bond funds, pushing YTD inflows to a record $27.8B. Junk bond indexes are up more than 50% YTD, as investors become more comfortable with risk. The growing cash flow enables shaky companies to head off default - adding more fuel to the rally.
• AIG won't sell Japan units. AIG (AIG) says it will not sell its two Japanese insurers, AIG Edison Life Insurance and AIG Star Life Insurance, reversing its decision from a year ago at the height of the crisis. AIG said in a statement it now believes it would improve its corporate value to keep the two Japanese units, which have a very firm financial base and strong sales network.
• Energy IPO runs out of steam. Former Enron unit AEI, which operates power and gas distribution lines in Latin America, canceled its IPO Thursday hours after it slashed the size of the deal by two-thirds in the face of weak demand. The IPO, managed by Goldman Sachs (GS), Credit Suisse (CS), Citigroup (C) and JPMorgan (JPM), is the first U.S.-listed IPO this year to be withdrawn after an attempt to price the offering. AEI faulted market conditions for the withdrawal, but analysts say its debt load, risk exposure and expected payout to its private-equity owners also raised concerns.
• ChiNext soars on debut. China's Nasdaq-lookalike ChiNext stock market launched trading Friday with strong gains. An initial 28 companies listed, and shares gained 46-123% from their IPO prices, in line with expectations. The listees priced their IPOs at a hefty 56x 2008 earnings.

Earnings: Fri. Before Open

• Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): Q3 net loss of €182M vs. -€174.4M consensus. Sales of €3.69B (-9.3%) vs. €3.88B consensus. Says it has achieved 80% of its goal to reduce annual expenses by €750M. Shares -2.9% premarket. (PR)
• Ameren (AEE): Q3 EPS of $1.16 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $1.82B (-11.9%) vs. $2.1B. (PR)
• American Axle & Manufacturing (AXL): Q3 EPS of -$0.18 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $410M (-22.4%) vs. $420M. Shares -1.4% premarket. (PR)
• Aon (AOC): Q3 EPS of $0.65 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $1.81B (-2.1%) in-line. (PR)
• Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIV): Q3 FFO of -$0.35 in-line. Revenue of $319M (-7.3%) vs. $313M. (PR)
• Arch Coal (ACI): Q3 EPS of $0.16 beats by $0.12. Revenue of $615M (-20.1%) vs. $605M. Shares +3.9% premarket. (PR)
• Chevron (CVX): Q3 EPS of $1.72 beats by $0.25. Revenue of $46.63B (-40.9%) vs. $47.84B. "In our downstream operations, we continued to experience weak margins on the sale of gasoline and other refined products. Weak demand and plentiful supply affected all our major markets." Shares +0.7% premarket. (PR)
• CMS Energy (CMS): Q3 EPS of $0.32 misses by $0.02. (PR)
• Constellation Energy Group (CEG): Q3 EPS of $1.23 beats by $0.16. Revenue of $4.03B vs. $4.48B. Sees full-year EPS of $3.25-3.45 vs. consensus of $3.10. (PR)
• Coventry Health Care (CVH): Q3 EPS of $0.68 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $3.44B (+17.7%) in-line. Shares +2.4% premarket. (PR)
• Cummins (CMI): Q3 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.19. Revenue of $2.53B (-31.5%) in-line. “While we saw improvement in some markets in the third quarter, we expect the economic climate to remain challenging until late 2010 - especially in the U.S. and Europe.” (PR)
• Dominion Resources (D): Q3 EPS of $0.99 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $3.65B (-16.4%) vs. $3.94B. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.55-0.65 vs. $0.67. (PR)
• Duke Energy (DUK): Q3 EPS of $0.40 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $3.4B (-3.2%) vs. $3.8B. "Industrial sales volumes continued to show signs of stabilization." (PR)
• Estee Lauder (EL): FQ1 EPS of $0.85 beats by $0.51. Revenue of $1.83B (-3.7%) in-line. Shares +4.5% premarket. (PR)
• ITT Industries (ITT): Q3 EPS of $1.03 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $2.7B (-6.3%) in-line. (PR)
• NYSE Euronext (NYX): Q3 EPS of $0.53 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $1.05B (-9.6%) in-line. Announces equity investment in its U.S. futures exchange by Citadel, GETCO, Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and UBS (UBS), with NYX to remain largest shareholder. (PR I, II)
• Penske Auto Group (PAG): Q3 EPS of $0.34 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $2.59B (-12.9%) in-line. Shares (PR)
• Progress Energy (PGN): Q3 EPS of $1.22 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $2.82B (+4.7%) in-line. (PR)
• Regency Centers (REG): Q3 FFO of $0.69 in-line. (PR)
• Simon Property Group (SPG): Q3 FFO of $1.38 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $925M (-1.1%) vs. $892M. Shares -0.4% premarket. (PR)
• Sony (SNE): FQ2 net loss of ¥26.3B ($287.5M) vs. consensus of -¥40.4B. Revenue of ¥1.66T (-20%). Sees full-year net loss of ¥95B, up from a previous forecast of -¥120B and -¥98.9B last year. Sees sales -5.6%, unchanged. (PR)
• Tim Hortons (THI): Q3 EPS of C$0.34 misses by C$0.12. Revenue of C$564M (+10.7%) vs. C$552M. (PR)
• Ultra Petroleum (UPL): Q3 EPS of $0.57 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $155M (-47.8%) vs. $239M. (PR)
• Weyerhaeuser (WY): Q3 EPS of -$0.26 beats by $0.19. Revenue of $1.41B (-33.2%) in-line. (PR)

Earnings: Thur. After Close

• AllianceBernstein (AB): Q3 EPS of $0.67 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $806M (-5%) vs. $737M. AUM down 16% Y/Y to $498B. Shares +3.8% AH. (PR)
• Bally Technologies (BYI): FQ1 EPS of $0.53 in-line. Revenue of $197M (-17%) vs. $206M. Shares +0.6% AH. (PR)
• BMC Software (BMC): FQ2 EPS of $0.66 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $462M (-1%) vs. $463M. Raises full-year EPS guidance to $2.55-2.65 vs. $2.51. Shares +1.8% AH. (PR)
• Callaway Golf Company (ELY): Q3 EPS of -$0.25 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $191M (-11%) in-line. Sees full-year EPS of -$0.30 to -$0.35, vs. -$0.21. (PR)
• Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF): Q3 EPS of $0.45 may not compare to estimate of -$0.07. Revenue of $666M (-44%) vs. $535M. Shares +4.5% AH. (PR)
• DTE Energy Company (DTE): Q3 EPS of $0.96 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $2B (-16%) vs. $2.1B. Sees full-year EPS of $2.75-3.05 vs. $3.19. Shares -7.7% AH. (PR)
• Eldorado Gold (EGO): Q3 EPS of $0.08 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $82M (-20.3%) vs. $85M. Shares +0.7% AH. (PR)
• Genworth Financial (GNW): Q3 net income available to common shareholders of $0.04 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $2.4B (+10%) vs. $2.5B. Shares +9.7% AH. (PR)
• Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ): Q3 EPS of $0.15 misses by $0.09. Revenue of $2B (-16%) in-line. Raises full-year EPS guidance to $0.21-0.23 from $0.12-0.15, vs. $0.20. Shares +2.9% AH. (PR)
• Human Genome Sciences (HGSI): Q3 EPS of -$0.32 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $19M (+61%) vs. $24M. Shares +0.9% AH. (PR)
• Ingram Micro (IM): Q3 EPS of $0.25 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $7.4B (-11%) vs. $6.7B. Shares +2.4% AH. (PR)
• KLA-Tencor (KLAC): FQ1 EPS of $0.15 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $343M (-36%) vs. $332M. Shares +0.8% AH. (PR)
• Las Vegas Sands (LVS): Q3 EPS of $0.03 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $1.1B (+3%) in-line. Shares +8.4% AH. (PR)
• Manitowoc (MTW): Q3 EPS of -$0.04 misses by $0.12. Revenue of $882M (-20%) vs. $934M. Shares -7.2% AH. (PR)
• Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM): FQ1 EPS of $0.13 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $449M (-12%) vs. $438M. Shares -4% AH. (PR)
• McAfee (MFE): Q3 EPS of $0.62 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $485M (+19%) vs. $487M. Shares -5.8% AH. (PR)
• MetLife (MET): Q3 EPS of $0.87 in-line. Revenue of $12.4B (-1%) vs. $12.3B. Shares -2.3% AH. (PR)
• Mohawk Industries (MHK): Q3 EPS of $0.64 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $1.4B (-22%) in-line. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.28-0.38 vs. $0.45. Shares -5.3% AH. (PR)
• PEPCO Holdings (POM): Q3 EPS of $0.44 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.5B (-17%) vs. $2.9B. (PR)
• PerkinElmer (PKI): Q3 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $437M (-9%) vs. $430M. Sees full-year EPS of $1.23-1.26 vs. $1.22. (PR)
• RealNetworks (RNWK): Q3 EPS of $0.00 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $140M (-8%) vs. $141M. (PR)
• Regal Entertainment Group (RGC): Q3 EPS of $0.05 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $674M (-11%) vs. $702M. Shares +0.3% AH. (PR)
• SBA Communications (SBAC): Q3 EPS of -$0.43 misses by $0.17. Revenue of $139M (+17%) in-line. Sees 2010 sales of $512M-532M vs. $604M. Shares -1.3% AH. (PR)
• Southwestern Energy Company (SWN): Q3 EPS of $0.34 in-line. Revenue of $503M (-26%) vs. $387M. Shares +0.2% AH. (PR)
• Standard Pacific (SPF): Q3 EPS of -$0.01 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $327M (-18%) vs. $285M. Shares +3.4% AH. (PR)
• Varian Medical Systems (VAR): FQ4 EPS of $0.78 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $642M (+8%) vs. $593M. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.52-0.56 vs. $0.60, and full-year EPS of $2.65-2.75 vs. $2.61. Shares -2.3% AH. (PR)

Today's Markets

Overseas markets were mixed Friday, with strong gains in Japan and China, but some weakness in Europe early on. Futures have moved lower overnight.

The following Twelve European ADRs are up more than 100% year-to-date as of October 23, 2009:

Company: Mechel Steel (MTL)
Country: Russia
YTD Change: 412%

By Jeff St. John

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) is taking a page from the playbook of networking competitor Cisco Systems (CSCO) and getting into smart grid projects.

The much-hyped next-generation (4G) technology of WiMAX is quickly losing ground to the alternative technology of Long-Term Evolution (LTE). Large telecom infrastructure equipment makers are gradually shifting from WiMAX to LTE, and as a result the WiMAX field is getting less crowded day by day.

This gives the smaller gear makers like PureWave Networks and Airspan Networks a chance to enter the WiMAX market.

Massive deployment of high-speed wireless networks throughout the world has opened up a new market for telecom outsourcing and managed services for several telecom equipment manufacturing firms. The next-generation (3G/4G) wireless networks are aiming to cope with substantial demand for high-speed wireless data services and mobile video.

Telecom service providers are now typically looking at providing the converged IP-based network, offering bundled solutions for triple play voice, video and data. This requires the implementation of complex network architecture.

The short interest (as measured by Percent Shares Outstanding On Loan) for Alcatel Lucent Sa (ALU) is up 8.27% over the past week and now stands at 10.17%. This is down 2.43% from the 52 week high hit on July 17, 2009. When compared to other Europe Communications Equipment companies, the short base is well above the average of 2.75% for the sector.

Over the past week the Negative Sentiment Indicator (DNS) for ALU was unchanged. It remains in the tenth decile, indicating a high amount of negative short sale sentiment for the security. The Price Squeeze Indicator (DIPS) remained unchanged and continues to be in the first decile which indicates a low probability of a price squeeze.

On September 9, Scott McElroy, VP of Technological Realization at AT&T (T), announced HSPA would be available in six markets by the end of the year. HSPA is a software and infrastructure upgrade that doubles capacity for wireless devices from 3.6 Mb/s to 7.2 mb/s. AT&T has been adding cell sights instead of upgrading software and fiber. HSPA software upgrades require copper lines to be upgraded to fiber because the copper backhaul simply cannot carry the amount of traffic that the HSPA software can process.

An upgrade path that included HSPA+ with 21 Mb/s capacity was previously announced, but was conspicuously absent from this speech. On September 15, Kris Rinne, VP of Architecture and Planning explained why: AT&T has decided to "focus on LTE rather [than] HSPA+." In other words, AT&T is going straight to LTE for a 2011 rollout that matches the Verizon's (VZ) LTE upgrade path. This is big news for investors because the inevitable LTE buildout is going to be sooner and faster, thus more expensive than previously thought.

Hardware

• Sony Corp.’s (SNE) PlayStation 3 video game console’s weekly sales jumped to a record in Japan following the introduction of a slimmer, cheaper model. The new PlayStation 3 sold 150,252 units. Sony cut the price of the PS3 in Japan by 25 percent to 29,980 yen (US$323) with similar reductions worldwide and introduced a model that is one-third the size of the original and consumes 34 percent less power. Microsoft (MSFT) followed with a US$100 reduction for its most expensive Xbox 360 player to US$300. Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) kept the price of the Wii at US$250.

Hardware

• NEC Corp. (NELTY.PK), Hitachi Ltd. (HIT) and Casio Computer Co. (CSIOY.PK) plan to merge their mobile handset operations. This will create the country's second-largest cellphone maker by shipments after Sharp Corp. (SHCAY.PK). The Japanese cellphone makers aim to boost profitability by consolidating operations to save money in a domestic market nearing saturation. A consolidation of the three players would help lessen their spending on development costs and ride out the tough local market. This would also trigger an expansion overseas. That prospect encouraged the investors to snap up shares in the three companies.

4:16 PM, Sep 2, 2009 --

• NYSE down 13 (0.2%) to 6,474.78.
• DJIA down 29.9 (0.3%) to 9,281
• S&P 500 down 3.3 (0.3%) to 994.75.
• Nasdaq down 1.82 (0.1%) to 1,967.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

It doesn’t take much to spook investors on the first day back in school. After a stonking ISM number that 2 months ago would have been worth a triple digit gain, we end up the day off 2% (led by a 5%+ dump in financials) on some vague rumour of a “West Coast Bank” in trouble, hedge funs collapsing, (Cerberus, who have big holdings in GMAC and Chrysler, formally denied that some of their funds were in trouble), chatter of Wells Fargo (WFC) doing a rights issue to repay the TARP (very unlikely and later denied) and a rather sobering outlook of what the “new normal” may be like from the bouffant Bill Gross of PIMCO. And this down move came in the heaviest traded volume since May 7th, with the VIX ratcheting up to levels not seen since early July.

Is the post stimulus sugar high going to leave investors with the shakes? As I pointed out the other day, the US tax system encourages mutual fund managers to sell loss-making stocks to offset capital gains on their portfolios as the tax year for them is the end of September.

4:12 PM, Sep 1, 2009 --

• NYSE down 155.44 (2.3%) to 6,487.80.
• DJIA down 185.7 (1.9%) to 9,311.
• S&P 500 down 22.5 (2.2%) to 998.04.
• Nasdaq down 40.2 (2%) to 1,969.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

4:20 PM, Aug 26, 2009 --

• NYSE down 9 (0.1%) to 6,687.94.
• DJIA up 4.23 (0.04%) to 9,544.
• S&P 500 up 0.12 (0.01%) to 1,028.
• Nasdaq up 0.20 (0.01%) to 2,024.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Bullish Calls:

Cisco Systems (CSCO), Tellabs (TLAB), Ciena (CIEN), ADC Telecom (ADCT): "Are all superior to your House of Pain stock. (Alcatel Lucent)."