Before the bell: Futures lower ahead of data, earnings, despite Intel

Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) shares are trading nearly 8% higher in premarket action after announcing earnings forecast that was better analysts had expected.

Seagate (NYSE: STX) shares, however, dropped over 9% in after-hours trading Tuesday, after it forecast first quarter earnings below Street's estimates.

Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) saw its shares jump 9.44% Tuesday. Reports say that SK Telecom is in talks with Sprint over potential deals.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) said it's going to buy Alpha Natural (NYSE: ANR) for $10 billion in cash and stock, putting a 35% premium on Alpha's stock. ANR shares are trading 27% higher in premarket action. CLF's, 4.5% lower.

U.S. securities regulators issued an emergency rule Tuesday to limit certain types of short selling in major financial firms, including Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE). Following the demise of Bear Stearns, the SEC wants to make sure company stocks are not being manipulated. The emergency rule applies to 19 financial firms.

Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed Wall Street's biggest firms and hedge-fund advisers including Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) as it tries to crack down on suspected manipulation of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) and Bear Stearns Cos. shares.

Staying with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they may cut common stock dividends to preserve capital, according to Bloomberg. It's probably about time!

Finally, after an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 3G launch marred with technical difficulties and glitches, O2 said its system is back to normal.