Carl Icahn put some real money on the table when he bought 8.5% of business software provider BEA Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAS). The company has a market cap of over $5.2 billion. It trades at just over $13 and moved up after hours on the news. Icahn had previously held a much smaller number of shares.

In an SEC filing quoted at MarketWatch "A sale of [BEA Systems] to a strategic acquirer will maximize the price of the shares," Icahn said, adding that he intends "to seek to meet with management of the Issuer to discuss the potential for such a transaction, as well as the Issuer's business and operations generally."

Although the company has posted good revenue growth around its core business of transaction tracking software, the company has not been able to report earnings because of an ongoing investigation into stock option grants. For the quarter ending July 31, BEA said revenue rose to $364.6 million from $339.6 million in the 2006 quarter.

The late SEC filings due to options problems has also put the company's Nasdaq listing at risk.

BEA has been the subject of takeover rumors. In July, a Credit Suisse analyst floated the idea that Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) might buy the company.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS) September call volume & volatility Up on Icahn position. BEAS, a leading supplier of service-oriented architecture (SOA) and middle-ware software, is recently up .50 to $13.27. BEAS has market cap of $5.1 billion. Dow Jones reported Carl Icahn owns 33.4 million shares of BEAS stock including 16.2 million options. BEAS September option implied volatility is at 58; October is at 40; above its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Macy's (NYSE: M) is recently up .90 to $30.25 on renewed takeover chatter. M is expected to report EPS on November 14. M September 30 straddle is priced at $2. M October option implied volatility of 50 is above a level of 47 from 9/13/07 and above its 14-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Nordstrom (JWN), Monster Worldwide (MNST), Lockheed Martin (LMT) and the U.S. Financials markets were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Piper upgraded shares of Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) to Outperform from Market Perform, citing valuation, and expects the company to have an upbeat tone on Thursday's quarterly report.

• Wachovia upgraded shares of Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and strength in its international business. The firm believes North American weakness is largely confined to the e-commerce channel while enterprise growth is ongoing and international business remains strong.

• Banc of America upgraded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) to Buy from Neutral on valuation.

• Deutsche Bank upgraded JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) to Buy from Hold and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) & Comerica (NYSE: CMA) to Hold from Sell. The firm said JPMorgan's financial conglomerate structure gives it strength to gain share in times of stress. U.S. Bancorp was upgraded based on valuation and okay credit quality. Comerica was upgraded based on valuation and upcoming HQ move to Texas, which could make it a takeover target...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• JP Morgan upgraded Valueclick (NASDAQ: VCLK) to Overweight from Neutral.

• Bear Stearns upgraded BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

• Stifel raised Career Education (NASDAQ: CECO) to Buy from Hold.

• CL King upgraded Gap (NYSE: GPS) to Strong Buy from Neutral.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

The most expensive home in the country, at $135 million, is on the market in Aspen, CO. according to the New York Times [registration required]. The seller? None other than Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former ambassador to the United States from Saudi Arabia, a.k.a., Bandar Bush.

You'll recall the Prince walking hand-in-hand with George W. Bush during a 2005 meeting in Texas. Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post, GOP congressman Peter King recently introduced Bush to a soldier injured in one eye. Bush teared up and asked the young man to take off his dark glasses so he could see the wound, King recalled. "Human instinct is when someone has a serious injury to look the other way," King said. "He actually asked him to take them off. He actually touched the eye a little. It was almost as if he felt he had to confront it."

Bandar Bush's home is modest. At 56,000 square feet, Hala -- which means 'welcome' in Arabic -- is bigger than the White House, with a staff of 12. It has 15 bedrooms, 16 baths, a private barbershop and beauty salon just off the master suite and enough space for a party of 450 people. Hala's broker has received 1,000 requests to tour the home since last October when it went on sale but only 11 were deemed wealthy enough to tour the house.

Bandar Bush reportedly received $2 billion secretly from a major British arms contractor, BAE Systems plc (LSE: BA). It's a nice little club and must be a great house -- you can see it if you're one of 947 billionaires and your eyes haven't been blown out by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has has no financial interest in BAE Systems.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) implied volatility flat into EPS and unconfirmed chatter. YHOO is recently trading up $0.55 to $27.85. YHOO is expected to report EPS on 7/17. YHOO is frequently mentioned as a merger candidate with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and upper level management changes. Unconfirmed chatter is circulating this morning that CEO Terry Semel may resign. YHOO option implied volatility of 34 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting flat risk.

BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS) volatility and July call volume elevated on renewed chatter. BEAS, a leading supplier of middleware software, is recently up 15 cents to $13.28. Unconfirmed chatter is circulating that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) having an interest in BEAS for $18.50 a share. ORCL and IBM have been frequently mentioned as interested in BEAS. BEAS will be at NXTcomm this week, a global forum of information, communications, entertainment and technology companies. BEAS July option implied volatility of 43 is above its 26-week average of 36 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Option volume leaders today are: Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).

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

BEA Systems (NASDAQ:BEAS) has had a very rough month. The company makes software that allows different hardware and software products to communicate with one another. Wall Street would think that these products would be useful.

However, growth at the tech company has been tepid, and its guidance seems to offer more of the same. For the quarter ending January 30, 2007, revenue rose 15% from the same quarter a year ago to $391 million. For the current quarter, however, revenue will actually be down from the previous quarter and well below analyst estimates.

BEA Systems is yet another tech company caught up in the options scandal, so it will be a long time before investors will know what the firm's actual earnings are.

The company therefor has two strikes against it: no revenue growth and an SEC issue.

To avoid strike three, the company needed a bit of good luck. That came the form of a Nasdaq extension for filing its last two quarters of earnings. The extension is good until March 12 but the alternative would be a delisting and a trip to the Bulletin Board. Many institutional investors cannot own shares in companies that are not traded on major exchanges, which might have caused an exodus from the stock.

BEAS now has bit of time to show that it has a business that merits some attention and buying from investors. The stock has dropped from $16.77 last October to the current $11.80. Missing the Nasdaq deadline could cut that price down much further.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St., LLC.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: RealNetworks, Inc (RNWK), The Boeing Co (BA), L-3 Communications Holdings (LLL) and Research in Motion (RIMM) were some of today's most notable upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded RealNetworks, Inc (NASDAQ: RNWK) to Hold from Underperform with an $8 target on valuation.

• JP Morgan raised The Boeing Co (NYSE: BA) and L-3 Communication Holding's (NYSE: LLL) rating to Neutral from Underweight citing valuation.

• Yesterday's "China Effect" on the U.S. markets have created a buying opportunity in Research in Motion Ltd; ThinkEquity upgraded shares of Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Buy from Accumulate with a $165 target.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Ciena Corp (NASDAQ: CIEN) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

• Wachovia upgraded Fresh Del Monte Produce inc (NYSE: FDP) to Market Perform from Underperform based on an improving banana outlook and cost environment.

• Citigroup upgraded Nestle (OTC: NSRGY) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's improved cash flows.

• Bear Stearns upgraded BEA Systems Inc (NASDAQ: BEAS) to Peer Perform from Underperform.

• Stephens upgraded Sanderson Farms Inc (NASDAQ: SAFM) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $35 target.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Monday February 19

• U.S. markets closed for President's Day holiday

Tuesday February 20

• Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 7:30am. Analysts will review Wal-Mart's same store sales, overall traffic, new products displayed, overall product mix, employee retention rates, sector position, and margins, along with Wal-Mart's overall global new store opening timetable, including store square footage expansion targets.
• Hewlett Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 5pm. Analysts will be focusing on HP's overall revenue, the performance of their various divisions, and any comnent's HP makes about the effect of the launch of Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Vista on sales.
• Caremark Rx (NYSE: CMX) had scheduled a special shareholder meeting regarding the CVS Corporation (NYSE: CVS) merger today. It was postponed until at least March 9 by the Delaware Chancery Court to allow more time for dissemination of information.

Wednesday February 21

• Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK), Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) and Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ: QCOM) to hold press conference, according to PhoneNews.com, which speculated that the conference could be the end of patent disputes between Nokia and Qualcomm, meaning Nokia may announce a return to CDMA handset distribution, with EV-DO chipsets.

Thursday February 22

• BEA Systems Inc (NASDAQ: BEAS) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 5pm. Note that BEA Systems just concluded a stock options review that did not result in a breakup in management, which Pacific Crest Securities believes removes an overhang on the company.

Friday February 23

• CVS Corp had scheduled a shareholder meeting today, but it has been postponed in light of the Delaware Chancery Court's decision to enjoin the February 20, 2007 shareholder meeting of Caremark Rx.

Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) reported a sharp deceleration in applications growth in its Q2 earnings release last night. Apps growth was 28% versus some 80% in the previous quarter.

However, the core of Oracle's strategy remains in place: using middleware as a platform to strengthen its position against SAP (NYSE:SAP) and BEA Systems (NASDAQ:BEAS) and, in addition, using acquisitions to enter new vertical markets.

Oracle said that it continues to gain market share against BEA and is having very good success entering the retail vertical with revenue tripling in this space.

Oracle provided a relatively sluggish outlook for the February quarter which might lead to this stock being dead money for a while, but investors should stay with this stock. The global economy is growing nicely and demand for Oracle's products should remain solid. In addition, there is still little euphoria for tech stocks which often signifies a top in the tech sector.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: BEA Systems (BEAS) and Lowe's (LOW) were today's notable upgrades:

• Piper Jaffray upgraded BEA Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAS) to Outperform from Market Perform, citing secular growth trends in Service Orientated Architecture and VoIP; the analyst also said that given its strong products and costumer base, BEA Systems could be an acquisition target.
• Bear Stearns upgraded Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE:LOW) to Outperform from Peer Perform, as the firm believes the end of Lowe's downward EPS revisions are nearing an end; additionally, based on expectations for a stabilization in housing, Bear Stearns thinks that an upward EPS revision cycle will start in the second-half of 2006.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ:CIEN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold with a $36 target at Deutsche Bank, citing better-than-expected fourth-quarter guidance, deal exposure and a solid pipeline.
• The Cooper Companies Inc. (NYSE:COO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Matrix USA, citing valuation for the move.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

BEA Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAS) raised to Outperform at Piper Jaffray.

Monsanto Co. (NYSE:MON) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) downgraded to Neutral at First Albany on valuation and spending issues in the next few quarters.

Paper Upgrade: Temple-Inland Inc. (NYSE:TIN) and Weyeheuser Co. (NYSE:WY) were both raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

PRA International (NASDAQ:PRAI) was cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs and at Baird after the company warned and announced top officer resignations.

Full list of analyst calls here.

Jon Ogg is a partner in 24/7 Wall St., LLC; he down not own securities in the companies he covers.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ford (F) and Circuit City (CC) were the most notable companies upgraded today:

• Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Merrill Lynch based on the company's liquidity-raising efforts;
• Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE:CC) was upgraded to Accumulate from Neutral at CL King.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• BEA Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAS) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at JMP Securities based on valuation.
• JP Morgan upgraded Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE:BTU) to Neutral from Underweight as they believe the company is protected against lower prices in 2007, having already sold most of its planned production for next year.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ) to Neutral from Underperform citing improved fundamentals and earnings visibility.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Palm Inc. (PALM) and SiRF Technology (SIRF) topped today's list of upgrades.

• ThinkEquity upgraded Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) to Buy from Accumulate and said that the delay in 750 certification, Palm's shortfall, should be resolved by the early part of the third quarter.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRF) to Equal-Weight from Underweight; they now believe consensus estimates are in-line with their own.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• The Bombay Co. (NYSE:BBA) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Friedman Billings Ramsey; they believe management has worked hard to turn the company around and that Bombay has the ability to make money over time.
• Pacific Crest upgraded BEA Systems (NASDAQ:BEAS) to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $16 target and said BEA System's sell-off is overdone.
• Harmony Gold (HMY) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight and Newmont Mining (NEM) to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC.
• Lehman Bros. upgraded Electronic Data Systems (EDS) to Overweight from Equal-Weight with a $32 target; following discussions with management, Lehman's confidence in the company's ability to cut costs and increase margins have improved.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: JetBlue (JBLU) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM) top today's list of downgrades.

• JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at UBS, citing valuation for their downgrade.
• Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Morgan Keegan, citing their weak outlook.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• PetsMart (NASDAQ:PETM) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, citing valuation and upcoming comps that look difficult.
• Merrill Lynch downgraded BEA Systems (NASDAQ:BEAS) to Sell from Neutral, citing overvalued shares. The firm also believes BEA Systems is losing market share to IBM Corp (NYSE:IBM) and Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL).
• Following parent company Clear Channel's (NYSE:CCU) acquisition by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bear Stearns downgraded Clear Channel Outdoors (NYSE:CCO) to Peer Perform from Outperform due to the lack of clarity regarding the company's fate.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).