Before the bell: Futures higher with Lehman, AIG in focus

Futures reversed course and are now lower as investors still await Lehman's results.

Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT)'s T-Mobile will sell Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s 3G iPhone for as little as 1 euro ($1.54) for the 8-gigabyte version together with a 69 euro monthly contract, it said on Monday. Under the new agreements where carriers don't have to share call revenue with Apple, iPhones sales might increase as carriers would subsidise them. It's interesting to note that some carriers have said iPhone users consume 30 times as much data as users of other Internet-enabled phones.

The New York Times reported that Kirk Kerkorian will meet with top executives of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) next week to show support for management and the automaker's turnaround plan. This is after, of course, Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp completed a tender offer on Friday to acquire 20 million shares of Ford for $170 million.

Shares of General Electric (NYSE: GE), already under pressure lately, are down 1.3% in premarket trading after J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded the industrial conglomerate to Neutral from Overweight and cut its 2009 earnings forecast from $2.40 to $2.30 saying GE has more earnings risk and lack of visibility.

With Bear Stearns now part of J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), concerns arose that possible indictment against two former Bear managers could affect JPMorgan. But it seems JPMorgan would not be part of broader charges while criminal charges of fraud could be the managers of two bond portfolios.

Meanwhile Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) shares are climbing 10% each after new outlets reported the FCC may approve the deal where Sirius would buyout its larger rival, XM.