Coca-Cola (KO) has more than $13 billion in cash.

The top five companies (according to market cap) are:

• Exxon Mobil (XOM): $398.3 billion
• Apple (AAPL): $309.0 billion
• Microsoft (MSFT): $237.5 billion
• General Electric (GE): $215.0 billion
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): $202.5 billion

Alpha Natural Resources (ANR - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company announced over the weekend that it will acquire Massey Energy (MEE) in a $7.1 billion cash and stock deal. Under the deal, MEE shareholders will receive 1.025 shares of ANR plus $10 in cash for each MEE share held. Since this deal values MEE about 10% higher than its closing price from Friday, ANR stock is headed lower since it is essentially overpaying to buy Massey.

This kind of movement is typical of a buyout situation, and ANR would not enter the deal if they didn't think it was a good idea in the long-term. However, the short-term is a different story, and if you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a short-term bearish hedged play on ANR.

Analyst Upgrades

• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Fluor (FLR) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Macy's (M) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ), JA Solar (JASO) and HeartWare (HTWR) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Ashford Hospitality (AHT) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• RenaissanceRe (RNR) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• DCT Industrial (DCT) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE) and Silver Standard (SSRI) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Weatherford (WFT), Hercules (HERO), GulfMark Offshore (GLF), Tidewater (TDW) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to buy from hold, and Diamond Offshore (DO) to hold from underperform, at Jefferies.
• Ritchie Bros. (RBA) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• AstraZeneca (AZN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.

Walgreen (WAG) is expected to report Q1 EPS on December 22. January and February put option implied volatility of 27 is near its 26-week average, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Massey Energy's (MEE) board is considering several bids for the company, reports the Wall Street Journal. Overall option implied volatility of 36 is below its 26-week average of 51, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

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

Massey Energy (MEE), which is a major coal producer, continues to be the subject of lots of rumors. Of course, the catalyst was a mine explosion in early April, which killed 29 miners. It marked the worst such event in over 40 years.

Since then, Massey Energy has been exploring "strategic alternatives." This is corporate-speak for when a company is looking to sell out.

But will this really happen? Well, Massey's CEO, Don Blankenship, has resigned. As a result, investors are now betting that the company may actually buy a rival. Confusing, huh?

Analyst Upgrades

• SanDisk (SNDK) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• JPMorgan resumed Potash (POT) at overweight, up from neutral.
• Ariba (ARBA) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Cirrus Logic (CRUS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Tesoro (TSO) to overweight from equal weight.
• Solarfun Power (SOLF) was upgraded to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Barclays upgraded Ciena (CIEN) to overweight from equal weight.
• Optimer Pharm (OPTR) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Argo Group (AGII) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Green Mountain (GMCR) to buy from underperform and Southern Company (SO) to neutral from underperform.

Massey Energy (MEE) closed up $4.80 to $46.94 on reports that Alpha Natural (ANR) may buy the company, DJ says. December and January 55 calls are active on total call volume of 58K contracts, compared to put volume of 23K puts. November call option implied volatility is at 53 and January is at 48, compared to its 26-week average of 52. Increasing option volume suggests traders are positioning for price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) closed down 29 cents to $18.23, near a six-month low after EPS, elections, FOMC meeting and October employment report.

CBOE option volume leaders today: Bank of America (BAC), Las Vegas Sands (LVS) JPMorgan (JPM) and Citigroup (C).

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

Analyst Upgrades

• HSBC upgraded Massey Energy (MEE) to overweight from neutral based on improved 2011 pricing power given industry supply-side discipline. Despite the upgrade, the firm cuts its price target to $40 from $54.
• Needham upgraded Blue Coat Systems (BCSI) to buy from hold following yesterday's announcement that Michael J. Borman has been named the new CEO. The firm has a $27 price target on the stock.
• Citigroup upgraded Teekay Offshore Partners (TOO) to buy from hold after the company announced shuttle tanker contracts to reflect improved operating performance. The firm raised its target for shares to $26 from $15.
• Prosperity Bancshares (PRSP) was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Ceradyne (CRDN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• CTC Media (CTCM) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Massey Energy (MEE) has received an unlikely reprieve from BP plc (BP), with the oil-spill offender recently taking the title of most-despised commodity company from MEE. But, while BP is currently being cranked through the wringer of the 24-hour news cycle, MEE continues to cope with the after-effects of the mine explosion that grabbed headlines earlier this spring.

As a result, the stock is still wallowing near the $30 level, where it has found a floor consistently for the past month. Although MEE has struggled in its attempts to climb higher from this technical basement, a few investors are still carrying a torch for the beaten-down stock. Just yesterday, one such trader initiated a long call spread on the security.

The shares of Massey Energy (MEE) have dropped substantially since April 6, when news broke of a deadly explosion at the company's Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. As a result of this devastating development, the stock is now trading below several layers of former technical support, including its 10-week and 20-week moving averages.

However, after checking out Monday's option activity, at least one bullish bettor is banking on a short-term recovery for the commodity concern. Shortly after midday, MEE was the target of a moderately optimistic long call spread strategy.

The DJIA managed to finally get back over that ever-elusive DJIA 11,000 mark in the last ten minutes of the trading day today. Shares managed to stay firm most of the day after Greece was given a reprieve by the ECB's Trichet, who offered some reassuring comments. Earnings season is about to gear up with many key players reporting next week.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,997.35 +70.28 (0.64%)
Nasdaq 2,454.05 +17.24 (0.71%)
S&P 500 1,194.37 +7.94 (0.67%)

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The market was down most of they day and it looked might it sell off more into the afternoon. That was until the Federal Reserve issued its Federal Open Market Committee for the meeting held on March 16. The Fed's message was that rates would stay at their historically low levels and would stay there for some time.

The rally after the FOMC announcement was modest, but at least it let traders continue their modest assault on the DJIA 11,000 level.

The horrible news began to leak out late Monday and through the night: A mine explosion in West Virginia killed 25 miners, with four still missing. The mine is the property of Massey Energy (MEE) and is located roughly 30 miles south of Charleston, West Virginia.

Rescuers will attempt to bore holes to allow gas to be ventilated from the mine, which would allow rescue efforts to continue. Unfortunately, it will take roughly 12 hours before the drilling is complete and safety can be established in the mine -- which means that a search for the four missing miners won't start until around 6 p.m. Tuesday. There is a chance that the four miners made it to one of three airtight chambers that are stocked with enough food, air, and water for miners to survive for four days.

U.S. stock futures dropped slightly Tuesday morning as investors took a breather from the recent weeks' runup that had the Dow industrials closing just shy of 11,000 Monday. As traders booked some gains concerns over Greece and the area's stability were renewed. In focus Tuesday are also the Federal Reserve's minutes from its recent meeting.

U.S. stocks and bonds reacted Monday to Friday's significant rise in nonfarm payroll. Traders pushed the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average near 11,000 to 10,974. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 also rose, while the 10-year Treasury yield reached 4% for the first time since June. It's not surprising then that investors may be more cautious Tuesday.

Overseas markets were up on St. Patrick's cheers, or up on continued FOMC promises of keeping rates low. Then a lower producer price index sealed in the day. We are basically back to where the markets are just not wanting to trade off.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,733.67 +47.69 (0.45%)
S&P 500 1,166.19 +6.73 (0.58%)
Nasdaq 2,389.09 +11.08 (0.47%)

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