For the past few years, Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) has tried to enter the markets of its affiliate, iPCS (NASDAQ: IPCS). The result has been extensive litigation.

Well, in such matters, money is often the solution. So this week, Sprint agreed to purchase iPCS for $831 million (which includes the assumption of $405 million in debt). As a result, the litigation has been suspended.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) sent a letter to its Everything Data customers recently informing them that they could now call any mobile phone number in the U.S. -- at any time -- for free.

Sprint's new Any Mobile, Anytime calling plan gives those customers with at least a $70/month bill this new capability.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the bizarre rules these days make it worth looking at stocks through a different lens.

How much should we care about low-dollar speculation? How much should we care about the incessant trading in CIT (NYSE: CIT) (Cramer's Take) and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) (Cramer's Take), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) (Cramer's Take), or Vonage (NYSE: VG) (Cramer's Take) and Sprint (NYSE: S) (Cramer's Take)? Or even Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take)?

First, I have to tell you that I worry about it less than I used to. Why? Because when we used to have rules and government officials that were willing to speak the truth about stocks, we wouldn't have these single-digit players out there every day. But without it, how in heck can people not believe that Fannie and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) (Cramer's Take) are the biggest and best bets on a turn in housing?

A day after Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) agreed to purchase 100% interest in prepaid wireless company Virgin Mobile, the third-largest wireless company in the U.S. reported that it lost almost a million valuable postpaid wireless customers in its most recent quarter.

Sprint, which has bled millions and millions of customers over the past two years, has managed to offset that blow in the past few quarters by signing up record customer numbers to its Boost Mobile prepaid unit, which shook the industry up at the start of the year with a $50 per month unlimited everything wireless plan.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) first spun off its landline telephone business with the company Embarq years ago, and it will now be joining up with Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) to take on the two larger competitors in the long-distance arena. This would pit a joint Sprint-L3 venture in the race with perennial long distance champs AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).

Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) closed at $12.06. Sprint announced pricing and nationwide availability for the Palm Pre phone on June 6. PALM June call option implied volatility is at 79, puts are at 85; below its 26-week average of 99, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Sprint (NYSE: S) closed at $5.32. S June option implied volatility of 77 is below a level of 93 from May 4 and below its 26-week average of 117, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

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

Along with the May flowers, the coming week will bring plenty more disappointing earnings reports. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate that Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS), Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT), and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) will all post lower earnings for the most recent quarter. American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) and Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) are expected to report losses.

But which companies are doing well? Here are a few reporting this week that analysts are optimistic about.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) was the worst telecom merger in recent memory. The $35 billion merger in 2005 was intended to keep Sprint from becoming a smaller player in the wireless market as competitors were combining and becoming wireless powerhouses.

The only problem was that Sprint and Nextel merged but appeared to keep everything separate. In effect, very little "merged" at all.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) recently posted another dismal quarter as the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. lost over a million customers while finally writing off the last $1.6 billion from the disastrous Nextel merger of 2005. The company continues to have slick marketing, a first-class nationwide wireless network and improved customer service. None of these mean a thing if it can't retain customers and recruit new ones from the competition.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) has spent the last two years losing its valued post-paid wireless customers, even as CEO Dan Hesse has tried to stop the bleeding. Sprint has re-invented its marketing and those black and white television commercials are attention getting. But regular and business consumers are not the only users of the Sprint Nextel nationwide wireless network.

Virgin Mobile, one of the first mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in the U.S., is also one of the last. The virtual carrier uses Sprint Nextel's network exclusively throughout the U.S. Other MVNOs like Amp'd Mobile, ESPN Mobile and Disney Mobile have folded in the last few years, leaving Tracfone, Virgin Mobile and Net10 to pick up the slack. Even Virgin Mobile itself purchased Helio, one of the upper-tier MVNOs that also folded. With Sprint wanting as many customers -- its own or from partners like Virgin Mobile -- on its network, the struggling company recently doubled the commission to Virgin Mobile for each new subscriber it signs up.

Instead of paying Virgin Mobile $2.50 per prepaid subscriber, Sprint Nextel has been paying $4.50 per subscriber as of July 2008. The information was just released when Sprint Nextel filed documentation with the SEC, and the increased commission agreement lasts throughout 2009. Is Sprint having success using partners to sign up customers to its network, even it they are not Sprint Nextel customers?

In many ways, they are -- and Sprint Nextel has seen gains from all the customers Virgin Mobile has signed up. Sprint, who lacks a real prepaid service outside the Boost Mobile brand (which is very limited), should look into just buying Virgin Mobile and be done with it. Its larger competitors already have a complete prepaid wireless solution for those customers without stellar credit -- is Sprint ready to get serious about joining that club? It should be.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) has taken a huge amount of heat in recent years for having some of the most inefficient customer service in any industry. In fact, there are many who have concluded that Sprint Nextel has had trouble retaining customers because of its customer service levels -- not so much about its prices and product selections.

When CEO Dan Hesse took the reigns over a year ago, he quickly initiated a series of marketing campaigns and redid pricing on much of Sprint Nextel's calling plan lineup. Ever seen those black and white television commercials? Oddly, they seem to be effective. Almost anything in black and white garners attention from the television viewer. Back to customer service -- Hesse also made a few statements stating that customer service would be back on track. It seems to be just that.

Pali Capital, a customer service measurement firm, ranked the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. at the top of its list for customer care. Sprint Nextel was able to answer 89% of calls to its customer service line in an average of 30 seconds, according to the measurement survey. By comparison, the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. -- AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) -- answered its customer service lines within 30 seconds only 43% of the time.

Though this is not exactly a measurement of customer service quality, it seems the long waits to speak to a Sprint Nextel customer service rep are gone. Perhaps there are not too many customers needing help these days? From looking at all the customers Sprint Nextel has lost recently, there may be an inkling of truth there. Still, it's the third-largest wireless company in the U.S. with more than 50 million customers.

As though we needed another reason to be disgusted with corporate governance in the United States, here's a gem from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required): "So far this year, 46 outside directors who are CEOs or chief financial officers left the boards of 42 companies in three struggling industries -- financial services, retail and residential construction -- concludes an analysis for The Wall Street Journal by Corporate Library in Portland, Maine."

Directors at companies like Ford (NYSE: F), General Motors (NYSE: GM), Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), and American International Group (NYSE: AIG) have been resigning, citing the huge amount of time required to be a director at a company faces extinction.

Oh where to begin. First of all, isn't it a little bit messed up to go along collecting a salary in the $150,000 per year range (which is what GM directors are paid) to go to a few meetings a year when times are good, and then head for the hills when the going gets tough? Isn't that like working for ten years as a security guard at a posh country club without incident and then calling in your resignation at the first sight of a burglar?

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) easily beat Q1 estimates due in part to higher prices.
• Bankrate Inc. (NASDAQ: RATE) posted strong Q3 numbers due in part to financial market volatility.
• Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) Q3 results were hurt by derivatives loss and hurricane damage.
• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) had a brutal Q3 due to writedowns and a scarcity of deals.
• BMW Q3 earnings tumbled due to slower vehicle sales brought on by the economic downturn.
• Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) fell short of Q3 estimates but reaffirmed its full-year guidance.
• Ford Motor Corp. (NYSE: F) reported a modest Q3 loss and a quickly dwindling stockpile of cash.
• Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) first-ever quarterly loss is predicted by at least one analyst.
• Kenexa Corp. (NASDAQ: KNXA) was downgraded by one analyst following its Q3 report.
• MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) easily beat analysts' Q3 projections, sending shares soaring.
• Move Inc. (NASDAQ: MOVE) reported solid Q3 results on cost cutting and website revamp.
• Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) price-target cuts since its Q3 earings report continue.
• Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) broke even in Q3, but Wall Street had been expected a modest profit.
• Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) net profit plunged due to the economic slump and strength of yen.
• Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) fell short of Q4 expectations despite popular High School Musical.
• World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) Q3 profits tumbled and revenues were flat.

The focus of last week's preview was on oil and energy companies, and we saw that big oil had a good week, reporting better-than-expected results and record profits driven by high prices in the third quarter. Energy-related companies are well represented again this week and expectations in general remain high.

Early in the week, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that the big earnings gainers will include EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), and Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC), which are expected to post profits of $2.24 per share (up 64.7% from a year ago), $1.48 per share (up 52.7%) and $2.26 per share (up 61.1%) respectively. All three of them have offered positive surprises in recent quarters, and analysts on average recommend buying EOG and Anadarko. Other expected big earnings gainers early in the week include Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD), Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK), and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA). The earnings of phosphates producer Innophos Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: IPHS) are expected to have risen 92.3% to $3.37 per share. Innophos beat estimates in the previous quarter by a whopping 210%, and analysts have been impressed with Innophos's lack of debt and pricing gains despite the slowing economy, so, on average, they recommend buying IPHS.

Also early in the week, analysts expect Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT), Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU), and Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) to report that their profits fell 52.9% to $0.33 per share, 45.1% to $0.67 per share, and 41.2% to $0.67 per share, respectively. These companies have tended to beat estimates in recent quarters, and the consensus recommendations of analysts are to buy them. However, PMI Group Inc. (NYSE: PMI), one of the largest private mortgage insurance providers in the U.S., is expected to take another hit as the housing slump drags on. The California-based company is expected to have widened its net loss from $1.04 per share a year ago to $2.43 per share in the most recent quarter. Its shares are down 84.5% from a year ago, and have been trading recently near their 52-week low.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), even as it loses hundreds of thousands of customers, continues to pay its executives astonishingly high salaries and overall pay packages. This according to analyst group Glass Lewis & Company.

Top managers at the telecom company were awarded pay valued at $74 million in 2007, even as the company saw massive customer defections to the competition and was preparing to toss out former CEO Gary Forsee in the process. Sounds like some recent AIG shenanigans, doesn't it? No wonder Main Street no longer trusts Wall Street. Although corporate compensation abuses are almost the norm recently, it's amazing shareholders don't stand up and scream when companies not doing well are lavishly rewarding management.

Of course, Sprint spokesperson James Fisher defended his employer by stating "It's very important to consider that 2007 was a highly unusual year because of compensation that was paid to an exiting CEO, as well as sign-on compensation paid to a new CEO ... we had significant other severance charges for executive changes during the year." Severance charges -- for a management team that ran the company into the ground. I guess all those contracts signed by incompetent management were too hard to bypass since shareholders can't blow holes in those golden parachutes.