Motorola (MOT) will separate Motorola Mobility Holdings through a tax-free dividend involving the distribution prior to the market open on Jan. 4, 2011. Motorola stockholders of record will receive one share of Motorola Mobility common stock for every eight shares of Motorola common stock they hold. Following the distribution, Motorola will effect a 1-for-7 reverse stock split of Motorola. Overall option implied volatility of 37 is near its 26-week average, according to Track Data, suggesting nondirectional price movement.

Wisdom Tree Dreyfus Chinese Yuan Fund (CYB) seeks to earn current income reflective of money market rates in China available to foreign investors, and to provide exposure to movements in Chinese yuan relative to the United States dollar. Over all option implied volatility of 8 is near its 26-week average, according to Track Data, suggesting nondirectional price movement.

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

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded BP (BP) to buy from neutral.
• STEC (STEC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Needham.
• MCG Capital (MCGC) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Corporate Office (OFC) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Citigroup upgraded K-Sea Transportation (KSP) and Post Properties (PPS) to hold from sell.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Embraer (ERJ) to buy from underperform.
• Wilmington Trust (WL) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• Parkway Properties (PKY) was upgraded to hold from sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

Analyst Upgrades

• BB&T (BBT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.
• Amylin (AMLN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Morton's Restaurant (MRT) to outperform from market perform.
• Check Point (CHKP) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Excel Maritime (EXM) to buy from hold.
• JinkoSolar (JKS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Compellent (CML) to overweight from neutral.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Crane (CR) to buy from neutral.
• Goldman upgraded Wisconsin Energy (WEC) to conviction buy from buy and American Electric (AEP) to buy from neutral.
• Motorola (MOT) was upgraded due to increasing carrier support by MKM Partners.
• Under Armour (UA) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.

The earnings crunch continues this week, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating lots of strong quarterly reports.

For example, year-over-year earnings growth from big oil Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), ExxonMobil (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) are expected to be in double digits. The same is true of many other energy and mining concerns reporting this week: Allegheny Technologies (ATI), Alliant Energy (LNT), Arch Coal (ACI), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), CMS Energy (CMS), CONSOL Energy (CNX), DPL (DPL), Hess Corp. (HES), Minerals Technologies (MTX), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), PPL Corp. (PPL), Southwestern Energy (SWN), Total (TOT), Whiting Petroleum (WLL), Williams Companies (WMB) and Wisconsin Energy (WEC).

Investors always look for good things to happen in stocks they own. Things like better than expected earnings, new contracts or a breakthrough discovery that will convert to better sales and profits. But they should also look for red flags, troubling developments within a company that could spell lower earnings in the future, even if they start with the opposite intent.

I'm reminded of that as I read about Microsoft (MSFT) getting into the mobile phone business. Of course, management thinks it will create more sales and profits, else why would they enter one of the most competitive markets on the planet? The problem (the red flag) is that there are already too many mobile phones with every type of application available and profit margins are much slimmer than in software. What can Microsoft add to this market that doesn't exist?

Analyst Upgrades

• BMO Capital upgraded Procter & Gamble (PG) to outperform from market perform as it views P&G's valuation as attractive and expects growth to pick up in the March quarter. The firm has a $74 price target for shares.
• Goldman upgraded Tupperware (TUP) to buy from neutral and raised its target for shares to $60 from $48.
• Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scansource (SCSC) to buy from hold. The firm believes that the company's growth is poised to accelerate, allowing the stock's multiple to expand or even rise slightly. The firm has a $43 target for shares.
• CA Technologies (CA) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Brady (BRC) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at BMO Capital.
• Lukoil (LUKOY) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

Analyst Upgrades

• RBC Capital upgraded Syniverse (SVR) to outperform from sector perform based on strong secular growth in mobile data and roaming. The firm raised its price target to $28 from $23.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded PG&E (PCG) to buy from hold with a $49 price target due to valuation.
• Jefferies assumed coverage on Sierra Wireless (SWIR) with a buy from a hold and raised its price target to $12 from $9. The analyst expects the M2M market to experience 25% growth over the next two years.
• Affiliated Managers (AMG) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• EastGroup Properties (EGP) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Gammon Gold (GRS) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.

The dealmaking for mobile location-based services (LBS) companies heated up this week. First, high-end audio maker, Harman (HAR), agreed to buy Aha Mobile. The company essentially turns your smartphone into an in-vehicle infotainment system.

And today, we got another deal: Motorola (MOT) purchased Aloqa, which develops software to stream event and digital coupons to smartphones.

Apple's (AAPL) buzz machine continues to crowd-out rivals like Research in Motion (RIMM) and Nokia (NOK). Yet, Google's (GOOG) Android is still able to stand out -- and get more and more traction in the market.

For example, this mobile operating system is seeing a whopping 160,000 activations every day. In fact, this growth helped supercharge HTC's latest quarter, with a 63% spike in revenues to $1.88 billion. At the same time, Motorola (MOT) and Verizon (VZ) are getting ready to launch the Droid X. And yes, this device is getting strong reviews.