Russian business runs on different rules. News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Rupert Murdoch, who has been doing business in China for years, is nervous about his Russian enterprises. This morning, the FBI announced it had rounded up a ring of data thieves, many from former Soviet Union countries. And then there's the little matter of BP-TNK, a joint venture between BP (NYSE: BP) and a Russian company, whose Russian shareholders are booting out its Western executives so they can take over the operation.

Here's what Silicon Alley insider reports Murdoch had to say about doing business in Russia: "We have great growing business there but just -- this is purely me, I'm sorry, I'm -- the more I read about investments in Russia, the less I like the feel of it. The more successful we'd be, the more vulnerable we'd be to have it stolen from us, so there we sell now."

In case you missed it, The Detroit Free Press reports that an international ring of data thieves used wardriving -- the practice of stealing data from unprotected Wi-Fi networks -- to take 40 million identities, use the information to print fake ATM cards, and steal millions of dollars. The corporate victims include customers of TJX (NYSE: TJX), Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), and OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX). Five of the 11 defendants are from former Soviet Union countries -- "one is from Estonia, three are from Ukraine, and one is from Belarus."

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Norfolk Southern, OfficeMax and PetroQuest Energy were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) to Overweight from Neutral based on leverage to export coal and the tighter truckload market.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded OfficeMax (NYSE:OMX) to Outperform from Neutral citing the company's clean balance sheet, positive cash flow, and limited downside.
  
• UBS upgraded PetroQuest Energy (NYSE:PQ) to Buy from Neutral citing valuation and production catalysts. The company's target was raised to $30 from $25.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) was upgraded to Market Weight from Underweight at Thomas Weisel.
  
• Corning(NYSE:GLW) was upgraded at Merrill to Buy from Neutral.
  
• HSBC lifted BP Plc (NYSE:BP) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Calgon Carbon (NYSE:CCC) was raised to Hold from Sell at Morgan Joseph.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: iRobot, Felcor Lodging and Office Max were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Stanford initiated iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) with a Buy rating and $18 target and believes better-than-expected military robot sales will allow the company to beat 2008 consensus estimates.
  
• Felcor Lodging (NYSE: FCH) was initiated at Keefe Bruyette with a Market Perform rating and $12.50 target. The firm believes material upside is unlikely given the company's above average suburban and airport exposure.
  
• Soleil assumed Office Max (NYSE: OMX) with a Hold rating and $17 target, as they believe macroeconomic challenges and heightened competition will limit near-term upside in the stock.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM), Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) were initiated with Outperform ratings at Cowen.
  
• Knot Inc. (NASDAQ: KNOT) was started with an Outperform rating at William Blair.
  
• Deutsche Bank initiated Cardtronics (NASDAQ: CATM) with a Buy rating and $13 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Verizon, AT&T, Invitrogen and General Electric were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• UBS downgraded Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) to Neutral from Buy citing the weak economy and increased wireless competition.
  
• Banc of America downgraded shares of Invitrogen (NASDAQ: IVGN) to Neutral from Buy as the company's acquisition of Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI) alters their investment thesis. The company's target was cut to $38 from $50.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded General Electric (NYSE: GE) to Neutral from Overweight citing further risk to earnings and dislocation from necessary portfolio management in 2009.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Office Max (NYSE: OMX) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  
• Goldman lowered Ryanair (NASDAQ: RYAAY) to Sell from Buy.
  
• WebMD Health (NASDAQ: WBMD) was downgraded to Sell from Source of Funds at ThinkPanmure.

Here are a few highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• CEC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: CEC) reported a profit loss and flat revenue for the fourth quarter.
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) raised its third-quarter and full-year earnings forecasts.
• Forward Air Corp. (NASDAQ: FWRD) beat earnings estimates and offered guidance.
• General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) raised its 2008 and 2010 earnings forecasts on strong sales.
• Hewlett-Packard Co. (NASDAQ: HPQ) reported better-than-expected earnings and offered bullish guidance.
• Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) second-quarter profits fell and it offered meager guidance.
• JC Penney Inc. (NYSE: JCP) reported a smaller-than-expected profit decline for the fourth quarter.
• Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) third-quarter profit and revenue beat analysts' expectations.
• OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) easily beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations on lower costs.
• TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) fourth-quarter profit beat estimates and helped raise the retail outlook.
• Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) earnings were dragged down by the Wild Oats acquistion.

Also, Douglas McIntyre examines how a slowdown in orders is likely to affect the earnings of Airbus and Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), and Brian White looks at how HP might "do better" for the rest of this year.

Upcoming results to watch for include Lowes Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW), Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP), Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD), AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO), Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA), and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) shares are trading higher this morning after the company reported a 24% rise in fourth-quarter profit, helped by lower costs and expenses. Excluding one-time items, OMX earned 65 cents per share, well above Wall Street forecasts of 52 cents per share. If you think that the company 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 OMX.

After hitting a one-year high of $55.40 in last February, the stock hit a one-year low of $17.12 in January. OMX opened this morning at $23.87. So far today the stock has hit a low of $23.25 and a high of $24.90. As of 10:30, OMX is trading at $23.75, up $1.61 (7.3%). The chart for OMX looks bullish but deteriorating slightly, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an April bull-put credit spread below the $17.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. This particular trade will make a 4.2% return in just two months as long as OMX is above $17.50 at April expiration. OfficeMax would have to fall by more than 26% before we would start to lose money.

OMX hasn't been below $17.50 by more than a few cents in the past year and has shown support around $23 recently. This trade could be risky if the US economy continues to worsen, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find at its 50-day moving average, which is around $23.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in OMX.

Computer equipment maker Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) and the number three office products retailer OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) are scheduled to report earnings later today. Here's a quick peek at them ahead of results.

HP hasn't missed quarterly earnings expectations since 2004. When the company reported fourth-quarter results back in November, earnings came to 86 cents per share, beating the consensus forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Financial by four cents. Full-year EPS of $2.93 beat analyst estimates of $2.88. For the current quarter, analysts expect 81 cents per share, compared to 65 cents in the year-ago quarter.

HP's 15.4% earnings per share growth forecast for the next year is less than the industry average of 33.7%. The analysts' consensus recommendation is to buy HP, with 11 of 27 analysts rating its a strong buy. Shares have fallen from the 52-week high of $53.48 in November, and closed Friday at $43.87.

For news on HP and its rivals that could influence the earnings results, see BloggingStocks' Hewlett-Packard coverage.

While earlier this month, OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) reported a solid third quarter due largely to cost-cutting and the weak dollar, office supply leader Staples' (NASDAQ: SPLS) third quarter report this week was more like that of second-place rival Office Depot (NYSE: OPD)'s third-quarter report last week. That is, profits and domestic same-store sales fell. However, Staples managed to beat expectations (low expectations though they were), sending share prices up after being dragged down with OfficeMax and Office Depot following their reports.

Staples reported Q3 net income of $274.5 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with $289.9 million, or 39 cents per share, in the same period last year. A $38 million charge from the settlement of an employee class-action suit shaved 4 cents per share from Staples' earnings, yet the latest quarter's profit was still 42 cents per share, beating the consensus EPS forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who had expected 40 cents per share.

As Office Depot executives did last week, Staples executives said they expect weak consumer spending due to the housing slump and credit market difficulties to continue into the new year. Yet so far Staples' share price has risen, from a 52-week low of $19.69 before the Q3 report, to close at $23.51 on Wednesday. That's about seven cents shy of halfway from that low back to the 52-week high of $28.00 from mid December of 2006.

The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial is for earnings of 48 cents per share for the fourth quarter (up from 46 cents a year ago), or $1.42 per share for the year (up from $1.28 a year ago). The consensus recommendation is to buy Staples, with forecast growth of 20.4 percent over the next three to five years.

For more news on Staples and its rivals, see BloggingStocks' Staples coverage.

Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) -- volatility up into delay of 3Q EPS on audit committee review. ODP announced the delay of third quarter EPS due to an independent review by the audit committee of the company's vendor program funds. ODP is recently trading at $18.60 in pre-open trading, below its close of $20.29. ODP had 1,186 retail stores in North America and another 369 stores owned, licensed or franchised in other parts of the world as of June 30, 2007. ODP November option implied volatility of 56 is above its 26-week average of 36 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

FMC Corp (NYSE: FMC) was trading at $59.19 in pre-open trading, above its close of $53.81. Barron's reported "FMC still looks like a tempting target for one of the big rivals or a private-equity shop." FMC is a diversified global chemical company with a market cap of $4 billion. FMC is expected to report EPS on 10/31. FMC November option implied of 33 is above its 26-week average of 25 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

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

This morning, office goods retailer Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) reported its second quarter earnings results, matching analyst estimates for its most recent quarter. Analysts had been expecting to see the company earn 25 cents per share, and that was exactly what Staples came through with, as net income was $178.8 million.

While it is good to see the company hit analyst estimates, the stock is still going to be under some pressure this morning after offering a lower full year earnings growth forecast from its previous estimates. In earlier statements, the company had put forth full year guidance of somewhere in the range between 15% and 20% growth. Now the company is predicting that earnings will grow at "about" 15%.

In premarket, the stock is trading down 1.3%, dropping 31 cents to $23.00.

OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) opened at $36.00. So far today the stock has hit a low of $35.61 and a high of $36.87. As of 11:00, OMX is trading at $35.98, up $0.87 (2.4%).

After hitting a one year high of $55.40 in February, the stock fell to a year low of $32.08 late last week. Shares rose yesterday following a better than expected earnings report, and the stock continues to climb today after JP Morgan upgraded OMX from neutral to overweight. Technical indicators for OMX are bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a September bull-put credit spread below the $30 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk and leverage returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 8.7% return in just seven weeks as long as OMX is above $30 at September expiration. OMX would have to fall by more than 16% before we would start to lose money.

OMX has not been below $30 at all in the past year and has shown support around $32.80 recently. This trade could be risky if OMX continues to slide, but after a positive earnings report yesterday, this stock could possibly see some upward momentum build.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. DISCLOSURE: At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in OMX.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: British Airways (BAIRY), Symantec (SYMC), OfficeMax (OMX), Qwest (Q) and Metlife (MET) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• ABN Amro upgraded British Airways (OTC: BAIRY) to Hold from Sell on valuation.

• Friedman Billings believes Symantec's (NASDAQ: SYMC) fundamentals are about to show significant improvement over the next year and upgraded shares to Outperform from Market Perform.

• JP Morgan raised OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) shares to Overweight from Neutral on valuation.

• Qwest (NYSE: Q) was upgraded to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer, expecting revenue growth to be driven by the improving enterprise business. JP Morgan added Qwest to its Focus List.
  

• Metlife (NYSE: MET) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill, based on valuation...
  

OTHER UPGRADES:

• ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at Pacific Crest.

• Penn West (NYSE: PWE) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital.

• Friedman Billings upgraded Cubic (AMEX: CUB) to Market Perform from Underperform.

• Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jones Apparel (NYSE: JNY) to Equal Weight from Underweight.

• Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) was raised to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

The market spent most of the day in the red, but shot up in the last hour to close in the green. The NYSE had volume of 4.1 billion shares with 1,398 shares advancing while 1,906 declined for a gain of 18.55 points to close at 9,573.05. On the NASDAQ, 2.9 billion shares traded, 1,263 advanced and 1,810 declined for a gain of 7.6 to 2,553.87.

Jones Apparel Group (NYSE: JNY) plummeted $3.10 (-12%) to $21.86 after a second quarter net loss. Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) rose $10.85 (12%) to $99.19 as second quarter profit doubled. Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP) lost $0.48 (-7%) to $6.22. OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) gained $2.23 (7%) to $35.11 on a small increase in net profit.

In options there were 9.0 million puts and 7.2 million calls traded for a put/call open interest ratio of 1.25. Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) saw heavy volume on the December 32.50 calls (BMYLZ) with over 52,000 options trading. ALCOA Inc. (NYSE: AA) saw heavy volume on the August 47.50 calls (AAHW) with over 35,000 options trading. Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) saw heavy volume on the August 75 calls (ZPYHO) with over 34,000 options trading. General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) saw heavy volume on the September 32.50 puts (GMUZ) with over 53,000 options trading.

The CBOE S&P 500 Volatility Index (NASDAQ: $VIX) saw heavy volume on the August 25 calls (VIXHE) with over 55,000 options trading. The CBOE Volatility Index is a measure of option volatility and effectively a fear index of the market. The VIX jumped from 15.00 area in the beginning of July to a recent reading of 23.67 (see chart). The index being up indicates that there is still fear in the market. The heavy call option activity at the 25 strike represents a bet that fear will increase or a large insurance policy against further market downturns.

Kevin Kersten is an Options Analyst with InvestorsObserver.com. Disclosure note: Mr. Kersten owns and or controls a diversified portfolio of long and short positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.

While the market plummeted 311 points today on loan worries; it is easy for people to forget the market is still up. Last week when the Dow broke 14,000; it was up 12.3% for the year. Now the market is up 8.1%. But are we really in a crisis? Market corrections are a normal part of the action and we will live through it. People celebrate when their favorite retail stores have a sale and drop prices; but when the stock market has a sale they panic.

The NYSE had volume of 4.2 billion shares with 313 shares advancing while 3,036 declined for a loss of 275.98 points to close at 9,654.38. On the NASDAQ, 3.5 billion shares traded, 553 advanced and 2,583 declined for a loss of 48.83 to 2599.34.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) fell $8.91 (-19%) to $38.27 on outlook. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT) fell $2.87 (-9%) to $29.18 on cut forecasts. Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) fell $5.60 (-11%) to $45.50. OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) fell $3.1 (-8%) to $33.65 after Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) weighed down the sector with lower results.

The options market saw about two and have time normal activity with 11.3 million puts and 8.6 million calls for a put call ratio of 1.3. A lot of this volume was on the indexes we usually ignore index option volume because it isn't that interesting by the PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQQ) saw heavy volume on the August 50 calls (QQQHX) with over 109,815 options trading and the 49 calls (QQQHW) moved over 84,000 contracts. On the put side of things there were a lot of people buying insurance with the August 48 puts (QQQTV) moving 147,000 options trading and the August 49 puts (QQQTW) counted over 122,000 options traded. Apple Computer (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw heavy volume on the August 150 calls (APVHJ) with over 74,816 options trading as the stock moved up 6% today. General Motors (NYSE: GM) saw heavy volume on the January 40 calls (GMAH) with over 33,000 options trading.

Kevin Kersten is an Options Analyst with InvestorsObserver.com. Mr. Kersten does own Office Depot Stock.

Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) warned that its quarter would be disappointing due to weak economic conditions in the U.S. and slow sales of PCs because Vista adoption is anemic.

It would be tempting to view the Office Depot warning as isolated, but it probably is not. The first line of companies that are likely to be having similar problems are Office Max (NYSE: OMX) and Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS). The three companies are already doing badly. Office Depot's shares are down 20% over the last year, and the shares of the other two companies are flat.

Sales at the companies may well be something of an economic indicator of how business in general is doing. They sell a wide range of products from PCs to office furniture. If these purchases are being delayed it means that a lot of the corporate economy across the country is being pinched.

The poor sales at Office Depot and its competition is also probably a sign that PC sales and Vista adoption are weaker then is thought in some circles. With Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NASDAQ: HPQ) trading near 52-week highs, Wall Street clearly assuming there is a pick-up in computer sales. And, if Vista sales are indeed slow, Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) next quarter could be soft.

Look out below.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.