General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and Chrysler will be in focus today as the Bush administration, convinced the economy could not withstand the demise of Detroit's Big Three, is looking at "orderly" bankruptcy to keep them from collapsing. The decision, they say, on helping the auto industry could come as early as Friday. GM shares are up 14%, Ford's up 8% in premarket trading (8:06 am).

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) reported third-quarter earnings in line with estimates, but surprised investors with a better-than-expected forecast for the current quarter due to strong demand for the new BlackBerry devices. Despite that, RIMM shares are trading about 1% lower in premarket.

Japanese electronic company Panasonic said it would acquire its rival Sanyo for up to $9 billion. The deal will be done through a public tender offer after top shareholders, including Goldman Sachs, agreed to the takeover.

Standard & Poor's lowered the credit ratings and outlooks for 12 major U.S. and European banks Friday, including Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). S&P said the causes for the downgrades are increased industry risk and a deepening economic slowdown.

Panasonic, the main American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.(NYSE:MC) is getting serious about its bet on the next generation of televisions. Panasonic is going with what's known as OEL (organic electroluminescent) or OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TVs. They're vastly thinner---less than a quarter of an inch---and are supposed to faster, sharper and use less energy. (Some have disputed the last point.) But they could wear out quicker than other TVs, and by organic they just mean carbon based.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) already has the lead in the a OLED TV market. But Sony's TV is only 11 inches and it costs $2,500. They plan to release a 27-inch version "fairly soon," according to this blog dedicated to OLED. Matsushita---which is changing its name to Panasonic come fall---is planning a 37-inch screen for around $1,400, according to Reuters, which was picking the story up from the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun. But that's still years away.

Toshiba (TOSBF) is also working on one, but suffered some delays. Samsung just announced they were investing $530 million in OLED production. There have been plenty of delays in this OLED technology--almost as many as there have been with the rival technology SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display). Toshiba and Canon (NYSE:CAJ)is the big backers of SED TVs. After years of delays the battle for the next, thinnest TV is heating up.

InterDigital (NASDAQ: IDCC) volatility elevated as IDCC rallies off lows on contract win.

IDCC, a designer, developer and provider of wireless technologies, is recently up nearly 13% or $2.75 to $23.96. IDCC signed a seven-year licensing agreement with AAPL on 9/6/07. IDCC has customer licensing agreements with LG, NEC, Sharp, Panasonic, NOK & Sony-Ericsson. IDCC call option volume of 5,379 contracts compares to put volume of 222 contracts. IDCC September option implied volatility of 65 is above its 26-week average of 42 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations.

Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) October volatility elevated into early October EPS.

PALM is recently down $0.25 to $15.32. PALM is expected to announce EPS on 10/1. PALM is developing a new handset operating system for its Treo product line. The new operating system is expected to be out in late 2008. PALM announced a strategic recapitalization with Elevation Partners on 6/4/07. PALM option implied volatility of 47 is above its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE: KKD) volatility elevated as KKD trades near historic lows.

KKD operates and franchises 300 doughnut shops with over $450 million in revenue. KKD is down over 27% $1.73 to $4.60. CIBC says, "downgrading to Sector Underperform from Sector Performer on Flagging sales and liquidity concerns." KKD call option volume of 682 contracts compares to put volume of 1,465 contracts. KKD October option implied volatility of 69 is above its 26-week average of 45 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

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