American Water Works (NYSE: AWK) closed at $19.13. AWK announces on August 11 a secondary offering of 30M shares of common stock by selling stockholder, a subsidiary of RWE AG. AWK options were active on August 13 with volume of 15,064 contracts trading according to Track Data.

St. Mary Land Exp (NYSE: SM) closed $28.75. SM options were active on August 13 on volume of 7,195 contracts. SM September and November option implied volatility of 51 is below its 26-week average of 64, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Omnicare, Coca-Cola and OptionXpress were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded Omnicare (NYSE: OCR) to Outperform from Perform citing their analysis that indicates the Rx market is stronger than expected in the LTC channel, which is largely overlooked by investors due to the legacy focus on beds. The firm expects solid Q2 results will increase confidence in the company's ability to achieve mid-point or better EPS guidance.
  
• Deutsche upgraded Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) to Buy from Hold based on favorable currency impact, international growth, and valuation.
  
• OptionXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) was raised at Merriman to Neutral from Sell as they see little downside to risk estimates, following several rounds of cuts, and valuation.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Fresh Del Monte (NYSE: FDP) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Kellogg (NYSE: K) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Delta Petroleum (NASDAQ: DPTR) and St. Mary Land & Exploration (NYSE: SM) were upgraded at Merrill to Buy from Underperform.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Iberdrola, Research in Motion and St. Mary Land & Exploration Co were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded shares of Iberdrola (IBDRY) to Buy from Neutral and added the company to its European Conviction Buy List on valuation following the recent weakness.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) to Outperform from Perform citing lowered expectations and strong demand.
  
• Suntrust raised its rating on St. Mary Land & Exploration (NYSE:SM) to Buy from Neutral, citing valuation and higher oil price estimates.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Broadpoint upgraded Cerner (CERN) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Wrigley (WWY) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded Brookfield ASset Management (BAM) to Outperform from Neutral.

Today may be seen as a watershed moment in carmaking -- at least in the last decade and for the largest full-line automaker (Hyundai and Kia already have this). General Motors - currently the world's largest automaker, has announced a standard 100,000-mile, five-year powertrain warranty with no deductible on all new vehicles and light-duty trucks for the 2007 model year. The rumor on this from a few hours ago over at 24/7 Wall St. has now been confirmed by Autoblog here.

Will this rather radical departure for GM spell certain victory for the embattled automaker as it tries to seal off its debt sinking ship and regain lost sales to the resilient and powerful Toyota Motor Corp.? The proof will be in the customer pudding -- will new car shoppers consider GM vehicles again with such a powerful warranty available on its vehicles? Is GM supremely confident on the reliability of its vehicles that this new change of pace won't become a huge cost center rather than a huge incentive to new car buyers?

What happens if perceived reliability leader Toyota decides to follow suit and also offer 100,000-mile, five-year no-deductible powertrain warranty? How about Ford or Daimler Chrysler? Although, I agree with John at Autoblog -- this move was probably years in the making. Although Ford already has a five-year warranty on newer vehicles (but not 100,000-mile coverage), and Korean brands Hyundai and Kia offer a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, GM's new five-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty is different -- because it is fully transferable. Hmm -- does GM expect its cars to be sold within five years or 100,000 miles? This sets off a weird vibe in my book, kind of like a funky engine shake before a gasket blows.

If a competitor does somehow manage to respond, talk about stealing GM's thunder big time. Don't put this past Toyota as it tries to capture the #1 automaker crown from GM later this year and into 2007. Bob Lutz, GM Vice Chairman, puts out a rather audacious blog headline talking about GM's bold new move -- he says "Because We Can". Shrewd, Bob. Very shrewd.