MAJOR PAPERS:

• Once thought to be extremely safe, action rate securities have proved difficult to sell in this credit crisis. Tech companies are big holders of them and are taking charges left and right, including MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE: PCS), Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) and Earthlink Inc (NASDAQ: ELNK), according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: ERTS) is again urging Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ: TTWO) to negotiate after it recommended that its stockholders not sell any of its shares to EA and help its $2B takeover bid, the Financial Times reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

• NYSE Euronext Inc (NYSE: NYX) will look to increase its stakes in India's National Stock Exchange and the country's Multi Commodity Exchange, the Business Standard reported, once foreign ownership rules are eased. NYSE Euronext also intends to partner with the two Indian exchanges in order to help them develop their business.

WEB SITES:

• Business Week reported that Brian Marckx of Zacks Investment Research said Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) may be an attractive takeover candidate for a larger pharma such as Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) or France's Sanofi-Aventis SA (NYSE: SNY), both of which have been partners with Bristol on some of its products.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Siemens , Siliconware Precision and Palm were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) to Buy from Neutral and views shares as defensive in the current environment.
  
• Merriman upgraded shares of Siliconware Precision (NASDAQ: SPIL) to Buy from Neutral on valuation, as they believe the negative sentiment regarding the U.S. economy is already priced into shares.
• JP Morgan upgraded Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) to Overweight from Underweight citing new smart-phone products expected in 2008 and stronger-than-expected Centro sales.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Jefferies upgraded Pioneer Drilling (NYSE: PDC) to Buy from Hold.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) to Buy from Hold.

Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) reported weak smartphone sales, weak average selling prices and weak gross margins last night. A triple whammy for the struggling device maker. Investors will need to see if new board members from Elevation Partners will have any impact on Palm.

Palm reported Q1 smartphone sell-through up 21% to 689K units; however, sell-through declined 8% versus the previous quarter, with average sales prices (ASPs) declining 7%.

Current guidance is for $370 to $380 million in revenue as the company cuts prices to remain competitive. Revenue estimate was for $414 million. As per the Palm-Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) announcement last week, if Palm wants to hit the mass market, its ASPs are going to have to come down for quite a while. Gross margins came in at 36.3% versus estimates of 37%.

Also, Palm's next generation software will not be ready until the end of 2008.

All told, there is not much for investors to do here except wait. Any catalyst to drive this stock higher will have to come from the actions driven by Elevation Partners. The one positive for Palm is that it can produce some pretty high-quality products for relatively low cost, meaning it has some staying power. But this is one company that is in search of a product and a serious marketing strategy.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) will likely announce at 12:15 today that it will market a new Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) smartphone. It certainly does not carry the same buzz as the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone-AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) announcement.

As a reminder, Sprint never caught on to the importance of Motorola Inc's (NYSE: MOT) Razr, only beginning to market the slim-downed phone after the fad had run its course.

Yesterday, Goldman Sachs downgraded Sprint Nextel shares to Neutral from Buy, citing the company's ongoing struggles to turnaround its business.

There was nothing pretty about the downgrade "The near-term trajectory appears more challenging. Visibility into improvement and tangible milestones for investors to use as benchmarks are also missing. While the company has a great set of assets and operates as a near pure-play into secular growth of the U.S. wireless end market, we cannot recommend buying the stock at this point," the report says.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Palm (PALM), Fuel Tech (FTEK), Weyerhaeuser (WY), and John Wiley & Sons (JW.A) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by Morgan Keegan, who expects PALM's recapitalization to bring more financial discipline, better growth from new products, and views the valuation as compelling.
• FuelTech Inc (NASDAQ: FTEK) was upgraded to Buy from Accumulate at ThinkEquity, which believes the company technologies are well-positioned as the U.S. Clean Air Act takes effect.
• Bank of America upgraded Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) to Buy from Neutral, citing valuation and their prediction that the company's restructuring will create value for shareholders.
• John Wiley & Sons Inc (NYSE: JW.A) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Stifel Nicolaus & Co, which views the company as a consistent performer with emerging catalysts and reasonable valuation.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Circuit City Stores Inc (NYSE: CC) was added to the SMid Money List at JP Morgan.
• Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
• United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by Bernstein.
• BreitBurn Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ: BBEP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by AG Edwards.

Private equity and investors in general are beginning to open up their pocketbooks for technology. Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) announced a deal with Elevation Partners which agreed to invest $325 million for a 25 percent stake in Palm.

Also, Avaya Inc (NYSE: AV) is being picked up for a nice premium, $17.50 per share or $8.2 billion by Silver Lake Partners and TPG Capital.

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) went to market and issued $450 million in convertible debt. And earlier this year, Sun Microsystems Inc (NASDAQ: SUNW) picked up cash from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in the form of a convertible stock.

Slowly but surely, private equity and investor interest in technology is picking up. This could be the very early stages of a big bull market run for tech stocks.

Heading to Memorial Day, there's certainly no moratorium on the number of talked about potential deals. Receiving a fair amount of attention over the last few days include the companies below. There's more, of course, but hey, it's a three-day weekend.

LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION (NASDAQ: LRCX)

This supplier of tools that makes microchips keeps seeing its stock move up. Up about 13% over the last few months. And it may be more than speculation that it will soon be acquired. Investors looking for a deal are snapping up equity calls, some are then selling them, and keeping both eyes on the stock price. Others are looking out to see which private equity firms or "strategic" buyers come calling.

AMDOCS LIMITED (NYSE: DOX)

As Alltel Corporation (NYSE: AT) goes, so goes Amdocs? Well, not quite. Yes the Alltel sale has pushed Amdocs' stock upward. Some say this maker of software products for telecom services firms may want to continue to go forward by themselves. But that hasn't stopped that list of potential buyers from being passed around. Best bet: International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM).

CIRCUIT CITY STORES (NYSE: CC)

Again, here we go: Is it going to take a buyout? (Read: private equity buyer.) Or a miracle? (Read: new management) There are profit warnings. (Read: red flags everywhere) The stock is in miserable shape. (Read: cheap) Tough competition. (Read: Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT)). Think there's a book to be written about all of this? (Read: who'd want to?).

APPLEBEE'S INTERNATIONAL INC (NASDAQ: APPB)

Food for thought. Kangaroo Holdings wants to buy OSI Restaurant Partners Inc (NYSE: OSI). Not surprisingly, Applebee's stock goes up. Are they cooking up a sale price for themselves as they "evaluate" offers? You betcha.

PALM INC (NASDAQ: PALM)

Going, going...almost gone. Even we're beginning to tire of this one. But it never gets old if you like to watch. Now, they're canceling conferences. The CEO is selling shares. The CFO has a bad back. Come on! The latest product review - Palm Treo 755p - is terrible. Market share is going down the tubes. R&D? Forgetaboutit. Sound like a company on the go? Right. Right into someone else's lap. And to think what they once were. Great job all around, everybody.