Research In Motion (RIMM) recently announced the fiscal year Q4 2011 earnings, in which it gave a disappointing revenue outlook for FY Q1 2012 quarter. Its shares tumbled by 10% in the after-market hours after the announcement and opened around these levels Friday morning. RIM, which competes with Apple (AAPL), Nokia (NOK) and Motorola Mobility (MMI) in the smartphone market, stands to lose further ground in the near-term as suggested by the weak outlook. However, we still believe there is value for long term holders of the stock despite the disappointing guidance.

We have updated our price estimate for RIM stock to $69.59, which is about 25% higher than market price.

The fast moving world of investing can turn on a dime, especially if you own technology stocks. Research In Motion (RIMM) was a smartphone darling. But then came the iPhone and now the iPad. Then we have Google's (GOOG) Android following on Apple's (AAPL) heels.

RIM suddenly woke up a found that it had fallen off its perch. Now the company is scrambling to do catch up. BlackBerry is losing North American market share and the company expects to ship only 13.5 to 14.5 million Blackberry's this quarter, down from 14.9 million last quarter, according to Reuters.

Analyst Upgrades

• Akamai (AKAM) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Las Vegas Sands (LVS) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Aetna (AET) to Outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Hot Topic (HOTT) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Colonial Properties (CLP) upgraded to Outperform from market perform at FBR Capital and to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Altera (ALTR) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• American Reprographics (ARC), CarMax (KMX) and American Campus (ACC) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Zebra Tech (ZBRA) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• IMAX (IMAX) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Basic Energy (BAS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Mednax (MD) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• UTi Worldwide (UTIW) to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

The shares of Research In Motion (RIMM), which I first wrote about on May 5, 2009, at a price of $77.07, remain a stock that's decidedly not for the squeamish.
RIM's roller-coaster rebound continued during the winter, with the stock rising from $61 to test $70 resistance, before retreating back to $62.

RIM's 2011 revenue will likely jump 35% to 40% on strong sales of BlackBerry wireless email devices -- a device that has become the standard in large corporations and public institutions, and that is gaining traction in the consumer segment. Unit sales and subscriber growth remain adequate, but average selling prices are likely to continue trend lower amid increased competition. Revenue from tablets also should begin to make their presence felt in 2011. In 2010, Research's revenue surged 35%.

This post is part of Japan: A Special Report for Investors.

"Japan's tsunami has struck worldwide," says Richard Moroney, the editor of Dow Theory Forecasts, which has maintained a model portfolio of blue chip stocks for over 50 years.

Here, he reviews a number of the top buy recommendations in the newsletter's portfolios to determine the potential risk posed by the recent tragic developments in Japan.

Stocks cited as "Focus List Buys" are are those issues that the service expect to significantly outperform the market over the next 12 months.

Intel (INTC) competes with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) in the PC microprocessor and graphics businesses. We estimate that notebook microprocessors are the most important product segment for Intel, generating roughly 39% of its equity value.

Google's (GOOG) mobile operating system, Android, is an example of how acquisitions have made a big difference. This technology came from a deal struck in 2005. Then, after lots of internal development, Google launched Android in 2007. Since then, the growth has been sizzling.

In fact, according to the most recent report from comScore, Android's market share hit 31.2%. Yes, it is now the number one mobile operating system.

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.

Analyst Upgrades

• Research In Motion (RIMM) to buy from sell and Gap (GPS) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Archer Daniels (ADM) and Airgas (ARG) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Valero Energy (VLO) to top pick from sector perform and Western Refining (WNR) to outperform from underperform at RBC Capital.
• Fred's (FRED) to overweight from neutral at JP Morgan.
• Marsh & McLennan (MMC), Willis Group (WSH) and Brown & Brown (BRO) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Host Hotels (HST) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• La-Z-Boy (LZB) to strong buy from market perform at Raymond James.

Lately, Research In Motion (RIMM) has been ramping up its dealmaking. Some of the recent transactions include QNX, Dash Navigation and Torch Mobile.

Tthe latest deal came this week: RIM agreed to buy Gist (the price tag was not disclosed). The company develops a service that prioritizes incoming messages. It even provides the user with helpful research information on contacts, such as from social networks and blogs. The app is currently for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Google's (GOOG) Android devices.

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 Upgrades

• Tiffany (TIF) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Kellogg (K) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Citizens Republic (CRBC) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Research in Motion (RIMM) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• MWI Veterinary Supply (MWIV) and Elster (ELT) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Paetec Holding (PAET) and Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• New Gold (NGD) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• Aviat Networks (AVNW) to buy from hold at Needham.
• Abiomed (ABMD) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Animal Health (AHII) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• PNM Resources (PNM) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

It's not enough to be on every metropolitan street corner; now Starbucks (SBUX) is trying to be even bigger (in one sense of the word) -- and faster, too. Thirsty folks longing for a Big Gulp­-style coffee beverage are in luck as the Seattle-based coffee chain is set to roll out its new "Trenta" size for iced drinks.

The new size, seven ounces bigger than the Venti, will be 31 ounces. Trenta, by the way, means "thirty" in Italian. It's also a valley in Slovenia and a small town in the Italian province of Cosenza. This new size trumps Dunkin Donuts, which offers its iced beverages in 24-ounce serving sizes.

Share of Oracle Corporation (ORCL) are up sharply in after hours trading following this afternoon's fiscal second quarter earnings report.

As we noted in our earnings preview earlier today, analysts had been expecting to see Oracle report Q2 earnings of $0.46 per share. Actual earnings came in above expectations at $0.51 per share, excluding special items.

Analyst Upgrades

• Amgen (AMGN) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Tutor Perini (TPC) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Covidien (COV) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Sara Lee (SLE) and Comcast (CMCSA) to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Research In Motion (RIMM) to outperform from sector perform at FBN Securities.