Safeway (SWY) overall option implied volatility of 28 is near its 26-week average of 29, according to Track Data, suggesting nondirectional movement into its March 9 analyst meeting.

Nokia (NOK) volatility is near ten-month lows. Nokia April and July put option implied volatility is at 38, below its 26-week average of 44, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Google's (GOOG) Android smart phone operating system has seen tremendous adoption over the past year as its market share has increased from a mere 6% in 2009 to around 24% by 2010. This has come at the expense of smart phone operating systems from Nokia (NOK), Research in Motion (RIMM) and Microsoft (MSFT). The other main competitor, Apple's (AAPL) iPhone OS, saw a slight increase during this time period from 26% to 28%.

We believe that Android's success has to do with the fact that it partnered with smart phone makers like Motorola Mobility (MMI), Dell (DELL), LG and Sony Ericsson (SNE) in providing its OS. Higher Android adoption helps Google by enabling more mobile searches from Google's platform as Google is the default search engine on Android phones.

Analyst Upgrades

• Molycorp (MCP) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Humana (HUM), HealthSpring (HS) and UnitedHealth (UNH) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Williams Cos. (WMB) to conviction buy from neutral and UBS (UBS) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• China Kanghui (KH) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Armstrong World (AWI) to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Time Warner (TWX) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Calpine (CPN) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• 3M Company (MMM) to neutral from underperform and Kirby (KEX) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Microsoft (MSFT) and Nokia (NOK) recently announced a strategic partnership in which Nokia will adopt Windows Phone 7 as the main operating system for its smart phones. Microsoft competes with other tech bellwethers like Google (GOOG), Research In Motion (RIMM) and Apple (AAPL) that make smart phones and tablets, as well as the corresponding operating systems for mobile phones and tablet devices.

We believe the Nokia deal presents upside for Microsoft, as it provides an opportunity to gain share in both the smart phone operating system market and the search advertising market by leveraging Nokia's large global presence.

So, I'm sitting here in front of my screen, watching the market action. Kind of a boring day, at least for my portfolio. In particular, one of my holdings, Microsoft (MSFT), is acting in a very boring manner. I was hoping to see some interest on the part of Wall Street in that name today following the stock's recent weakness, but alas, there is none to be had. At the time of this writing, shares are down fractionally to $27.15.

Investors have been digesting the news concerning the deal between the maker of Windows and Nokia (NOK). The plan is to generate some competition in the smartphone business. Success with this initiative would be nice for shareholders of both companies.

Analyst Upgrades

• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Trinity Industries (TRN) to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Cameron (CAM) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Expedia (EXPE) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Micron (MU) to buy from hold at Lazard Capital.

This is probably one of the most interesting stories of the Internet revolution. Microsoft (MSFT) jumped out the starting gate with its Windows operating system and took the world by storm. Then for some unknown reason, Microsoft missed the entire search engine revolution and Google (GOOG) raced to first place. Now Microsoft has again missed the next leg -- the iPhone and iPad revolution, and Apple (AAPL) holds first place in this segment.

Nokia (NOK) was a pioneer in the smartphone revolution, but with Apple's drive to the top, Nokia lost its momentum. Once Nokia had 50% of the handset market. Now that share has fallen to just 29%. It's hard to believe but Microsoft has only 2% of the global phone software market.

U.S. stock futures are lower this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 39 points to 12,155, while those for the S&P 500 index declined 6.1 points to 1,313. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index lost 7.75 points to 2,354.

Shares of Nokia (NOK) dropped in pre-market trading as the company unveiled partnership with Microsoft (MSFT).

Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.42%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.27%.

First we had the iPhone revolution. Now, The Financial Times reports that Apple (AAPL) is planning to expand the iPhone to handle mobile commerce, giving the company access to the multibillion-dollar transaction industry.

You are probably wondering what and how this will be done. The iPhone 5, due out this year, likely will incorporate technology called Near Field Communication (NFC). NFC incorporates financial account information and ties the data to specific devices.

Analyst Calls

• Medtronic (MDT) to buy from neutral and 1-800-Flowers.com (FLWS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• CarMax (KMX) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Points International (PTSEF) to buy from neutral at Merriman.
• Nokia (NOK) to market perform from underperform at Morgan Keegan.
• Amdocs (DOX) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Western Alliance (WAL) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Carbo Ceramics (CRR) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• Rackspace (RAX) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Brinker (EAT) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.