Syniverse Holdings (NYSE: SVR) provides a variety of technology services to wireless telecommunications companies. Those services enable phone number portability; fraud management; the invoicing and settlement of wireless roaming calls; and the routing and translation of services between carriers. The company also offers data clearing and financial clearing services. Customers include AT&T (NYSE: T), Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ).

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported Q1 EPS of 37 cents and revenues of $115.6 million. Analysts had been looking for 26 cents and $102.4 million. In discussing the quarter, the CEO noted particular strength in messaging and mobile data. Management also guided FY08 revenues to $455-$465 million ($435.83M consensus). JP Morgan subsequently upgraded the shares to "overweight". Wedbush Morgan reiterated its "strong buy," Lehman Brothers its "overweight" and Brean Murray its "buy." Price targets ranged between $24 and $26.

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) is recently up $6.77 to $139.55.

RIMM announced the introduction of BlackBerry Bold smartphone.

Smith Barney says: "We expect its 3G capability will help drive strong international growth for RIMM. We expect AT&T (NYSE: T) will be the first domestic carrier to offer the Bold."

RIMM call option volume of 77,745 contracts compares to put volume of 45,526 contracts. RIMM June option implied volatility of 45 is below its 26-week average of 57 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing movement.

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

Before the bell: Futures lower ahead of data

News Corp (NYSE: NWS) is scheduled to report earning Wednesday and is estimated to post a profit of 31 cents a share in the fiscal third quarter.

In its attempt to answer consumer demand, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) said Wednesday it plans to greatly increase the use of more fuel-efficient six-speed automatic transmissions. The six-speed automatic transmission, which offers 4-6% better fuel economy, will be in 98% of its North American vehicles by 2012.

Seems that after the recent dealing with Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates has had enough. He said the company isn't pursuing other deals for now and that Microsoft and Yahoo! should pursue "independent paths." Microsoft still has to show shareholders improvement in Vista and its struggling internet business.

Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q), a company whose competitors include Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T (NYSE: T) and Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), issued its Q1 results on Tuesday, and they weren't inspiring to me at all. Revenues declined 1% to $3.4 billion. Net income took a dive to the tune of 25%, coming in at $0.09 per diluted share. Those are year-over-year declines -- the sequential-quarter comparisons also told a tale of decline. Adjusting the earnings for some tax considerations did, however, yield a net-income increase of almost 6%.

But then there's one of my favorite measures of growth -- free cash flow. Qwest didn't hit this metric. Free cash, on an adjusted basis, was $56 million this time around versus $156 million last time around (I give Qwest credit for increasing its operating cash flow, however). Qwest was able to carve out some double-digit gains in its broadband and video subscribers, but that seemed to be of little help right now.

Overall, I came away from the earnings report -- which told a complex story of adjustments, EBITDA, and such -- not wanting to add this stock to my watch list. According to Briefing.com, Qwest missed expectations by a penny, and its revenues failed to go beyond what Wall Street was looking for. Considering the low price of the shares, and the fact that the dividend yield isn't one I'd chase, I'll feel free to leave this one alone.

Disclosure: I do not own shares in any company mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

So The Wall Street Journal reports today -- according to its favorite "people familiar with the situation" sentence -- that wireless provider Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is considering spinning off or selling its Nextel unit. This is when I hear the screeching sound of a needle scraping a record. Say what? Should we play that again?

I guess I shouldn't really be that surprised since the $35 billion acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. in 2005 has always seemed, to say it mildly, challenging. This would be, as the Journal puts it, "a dramatic acknowledgment" that the merger has actually been a failure.

Well, only Monday we heard that Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) may be interested in Sprint. Could it be that either Deutsche Telekom demanded such an action, or that Sprint management decided such an action could entice DT to indeed go forward with an offer (despite the probable problems such a merger could face, as Jonathan Berr outlined in his post Monday)? Without Nextel, Sprint would rid itself of much debt. It is also considered to have better handsets and fewer dropped calls, making it a more attractive target.

Mobile TV is just getting launched in some parts of Europe and the US. AT&T (NYSE: T) will kick off its new offering in the US later this week. According to The New York Times, "Mobile operators across Europe and the United States are investing in new broadcasting towers, mobile devices, and television programming and promotions, even though it is not yet clear that profit will follow."

Just how many devices are people going to use to view video? There is the TV, powered by the Unbox, cable, telecom fiber, AppleTV (NASDAQ: AAPL) and digital recording devices. TV users can also get satellite TV. All of this costs a lot. Are people going to add another $25 a month for broadcasts to their cellphones?

People just walking around town can use their iPods or iPhones.

The PC is now a good place to watch movies. On a typical airline flight or train ride dozens of people are plugged into their computers watching the Scottish defeat the English in Brave Heart.

Cell TV has two problems. It is late to the video device game meaning it faces huge competition. And who wants to watch movies or the news on a one-inch square screen? The battle scenes are very hard to make out.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and writes the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) are rising on a Wall Street Journal (subscription required) report that Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) is poised to make a bid for the wireless telecommunication company. If the report is accurate, Sprint's long suffering shareholders should do as the Steve Miller Band song suggests "take the money and run" because the deal may not happen.

For Sprint, though, this may be its only hope. Sprint shares have slumped almost 40% this year as the Overland Park Kansas-based company tried in vain to gain marketshare against larger rivals including Verizon and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T). The commercials starring the company's affable CEO Daniel Hesse haven't helped much either. Remember when Hesse was named CEO last December, board member Irvine O. Hockaday Jr. remarked that Hesse "has the board's full support to take decisive actions necessary to improve our performance."

Does that mean a sale to the former German telecom monopoly? The deal makes sense in theory because combining Sprint and Deutsche Telekom would create the top wireless company with more than 82 million customers. Verizon, which is a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone Group Plc. (NYSE: VOD) has 67.2 million customers while AT&T has about 71 million wireless subscribers.

But as Bloomberg News points out, analysts argue that integrating the Deutsche Telekom and Sprint Nextel networks wouldn't be easy. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security may not look kindly on a foreign company taking over a U.S. telecom provider for national security reasons, the news service notes.

Even so, the arguments for the merger are so compelling that it might be worth the risk.

There are probably some hurdles to Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT), the German phone giant, buying Sprint (NYSE: S), but the deal does make sense for a number of reasons. Reuters writes that Der Spiegel, one of Germany's most prominent publications, reported that "Deutsche Telekom is looking at a possible purchase of U.S. wireless company Sprint Nextel."

DT has a very significant problem in the U.S., and it is one that the company cannot overcome on its own. The firm's U.S. wireless venture, T-Mobile, runs a distant fourth among carriers in the U.S. The two leaders, AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless seem to have the top spots cemented and are adding new customers every quarter. Sprint is in third place with about 50 million subscribers to over 60 million served by each of the two leaders.

Sprint has deep troubles of its own. It has run into subscriber retention issues since the NexTel merger. The company's financial position is weak. Its share price is under $8. Less than two years ago, it was almost $23. Sprint's plan to build a nationwide 4G network using WiMax is all but dead. The company simply does not have the financing to complete it.

T-Mobile has nearly 28 million subscribers. Combined with Sprint, it would take the lead in U.S. wireless customers with about 78 million. Integrating the wireless platforms of the two companies would be extremely difficult. But, the alternative is being the fourth horse in a three-horse race.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

With the current challenging market conditions probably many of us are wondering which are those reliable stocks that could offer us a big profit in the next coming years. In the light of those questions, Gene Marcial's new book, 7 Commandments of Stock Investing, reveals his perspective over seven stocks that are considered to be worth buying and holding for the next seven years (check out BusinessWeek's slideshow of his seven picks).

Taking advantage of the experience he gained over the past 30 years, BusinessWeek's Gene Marcial shares his opinions related to investors' strategy to use market meltdowns for their own benefit, being able to turn the stock market panic into success.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

"I'm like Ma Bell, I got the ill communication." -- Beastie Boys

When considering these two particular companies, it is important to note their roots as offspring of the famous "Ma Bell" network. The Bell System, which has produced the most complex ongoing series of mergers and break-ups in the history of the United States, is the origin of the companies that are now AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), as well as competitor Qwest Communications International (NYSE: Q). A lot has changed since those early times -- remember, after all, that the second "T" in AT&T stood for Telegraph. Now phones are the latest devices to be made supercomputers. AT&T has its exclusive deal with the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, while Verizon slings the Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry.

Since wireless is the way of the future, the wireless divisions of these companies is the most hotly contested, and the focus of this "Battle of the Brands." It is important to note that despite Verizon Wireless bearing solely Verizon's name, it is not owned by just them, it is a 55%-45% joint venture between Verizon and Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD). It is also important to note that AT&T Mobility is the service formerly known as Cingular, which was acquired by AT&T in 2006 when it bought BellSouth for $86B.

Video is available on a number of small devices including the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPod and several Verizon (NYSE: VZ) phones. Verizon even offers mobile TV.

AT&T (NYSE: T) doesn't want to miss out on the opportunity. It will launch its own mobile TV product. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The service, which will be available in 58 markets, including most big cities, will offer programs from several major TV networks, including CBS, Comedy Central, NBC and Fox." As the paper points out, the phones set up to carry TV are expensive and the service costs $15 a month.

Video is not doing too well on phones and other portable devices. The reasons are clear, even if the people at the phone companies do not want to hear them. Video is hard to watch on a one-inch square screen. Viewers may be able to hear the dialog but a video of "The Matrix" can't look good without the picture detail.

The other reason that cellular TV is unlikely to work is that cellular service in the US is still fairly poor. Dropped calls are a part of the life of the cellular phone consumer.

It is one thing to lose a call and have to redial. It is another to drop a signal in the middle of your favorite program. The cellular companies are just going to make people mad.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and the author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter,

Sell in May and Go Away?
As Wall Street comes to the end of what is often called the 'best six months' of the year, investors may be feeling cheated. And concerned. If that was the market at its best, what does the market at its worst look like? The past six months was the worst 'best six months' performance for stocks since 1973. And if market indicators hold up, May through October could be a tough period, as per the old Wall Street saw 'sell in May and go away.' But, in an unusual period on Wall Street, the old seasonal standby doesn't apply. But the opposite might.
Sell what in May and go away? - CNNmoney

Trading Strategies for May
MarketWatch offers advice on how to get your portfolio off the ground this month.
Trading Strategies - MarketWatch

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are trading higher today as rumors swirled that partner AT&T (NYSE: T) will offer Apple's 3G, or next generation, iPhone for only $200, much cheaper than the retail cost of these phones. This discount would go straight onto Apple's bottom-line from the pockets of AT&T, who is hoping that these cheaper prices will lure more subscribers to their network. AAPL is also getting support from a Commerce Department report that GDP grew by 0.6 percent in the first quarter, ahead of the 0.5 percent growth expected by economists. If you think that the stock 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 AAPL.

After hitting a one-year low of $98.55 in May, the stock hit a one-year high of $202.96 in December. AAPL opened this morning at $176.19. So far today the stock has hit a low of $175.80 and a high of $180.00. As of 12:40, AAPL is trading at $177.45 up $2.40 (1.4%). The chart for AAPL looks bullish and steady, 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 a June bull-put credit spread below the $140 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. For this particular trade, we will make a 4.3% return in just seven weeks as long as AAPL is above $140 at June expiration. Apple would have to fall by more than 21% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

Recovery? Not These Stocks
Not all stocks in battered sectors will bounce back in a second-half economic upturn. Here are some that could be left behind.
Recovery? Not for These Stocks - BusinessWeek

Egypt's Bread Lines Highlight Dangers of Food Crisis
Well before 8 o'clock on a late April morning, a line of about 30 eager customers forms at a modest bakery in this working-class neighborhood. With a global food crisis roiling countries from Asia to the edge of Europe, at least 11 people have been killed recently in such lines here, struggling to get their daily bread.
Tension in Egypt shows potency of food crisis - USATODAY.com