The recent news about Dell, Inc. (DELL), Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ), and 3Par, Inc. (PAR) is pretty interesting. Check out this article to be brought up to speed about the strange bidding war that's taken place. All of it got me thinking about Dell's equity.

At the moment, Dell is closer to its 52-week low of $11.34 than its 52-week high of $17.52. It finished today's session at $12.13. If you look at the narrow range through the perspective of a one-year chart, you'll note that the stock has experienced a pullback, one that began near the end of April.

Occidental Petroleum (OXY) closed up $3.19 to $75.42. WTI Crude futures closed up 2.73% to $75.36 according to Bloomberg. September put option implied volatility is at 29, November is at 33; versus its 26-week average of 32 according to Track Data, suggesting nondirectional price movement.

3Par Inc. (PAR) closed up $6.43 to $32.46. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) announced a revised proposal to acquire 3PAR for $30 per share in cash. PAR options were active on 190K contracts according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement. Paul Foster

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

Today got a boost from a less-bad GDP that came in as a revised 1.6%. Slow growth, but not as slow as what was expected. Even an overdue warning from Intel did not manage to be bad enough to stall the market recovery. After Ben Bernanke said he'd do whatever it took to maintain a recovery, stocks and oil rose, and some of the air came out of the bond bubble.

Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,151.18 +165.37 (1.66%)
S&P 500 1,064.60 +17.38 (1.66%)
Nasdaq 2,153.63 +34.94 (1.65%)

Top Analyst Call

Stocks were indicated weak all morning after a miserable durable goods figure for July showed a large drop in many segments and after new housing sales were about as equally poor as yesterday's existing home sales. Nouriel Roubini even went as far as to call the double-dip recession being above a 40% chance now. Many stocks rallied after being lower all day, including many counter-intuitive sectors. Most likely that was a result of bottom fishing or bargain hunting. No more, no less.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,060.06 +19.61 (0.20%)
S&P 500 1,055.33 +3.46 (0.33%)
Nasdaq 2,141.54 +17.78 (0.84%)

Despite a positive open after much selling last week, the markets could not hang on to gains. The Chicago Midwest manufacturing data was not as negative as the Philly Fed from last week. It was another strong mergers and acquisitions day. Still, investors sold stocks on another dog day of August. The end of day trading showed that sellers still had a bit more power than buyers. Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,174.41 -39.21 (-0.38%)
S&P 500 1,067.36 -4.33 (-0.40%)
Nasdaq 2,159.63 -20.13 (-0.92%)

Top Analyst Calls

It appears that computer firm Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) was not going to sit idly by and allow Dell (DELL) to purchase data storage firm 3Par (PAR). Reportedly, HP is bidding $1.5 billion for 3Par, more than Dell's offer of $1.13 billion.

This potential bidding war between California-based HP and Dell demonstrates that both companies are attempting to find larger profits by moving beyond personal computers. HP's offer comes to $24 per share, which is a 33% premium over Dell's $18-per-share bid.

This was another day mostly in and out of the red. The true closing bell levels were up in the air until the close. Japanese data and Chinese data led the headlines now that China has a larger economy than Japan. Education stocks were weak on steady pressure and many other sectors were seeing a mixed bag as the markets tried to balance between bears and bulls.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,301.86 -1.29 (-0.01%)
S&P 500 1,079.37 +0.12 (0.01%)
Nasdaq 2,181.87 +8.39 (0.39%)

Early Monday morning, Dell (DELL) announced that it is buying data storage company 3Par (PAR). The price tag for the transaction is roughly $1.13 billion in cash, which translates to $18 per share for 3Par. Compared to Friday's closing price ($9.65), Dell is paying an 87% premium for 3Par. 3Par specializes in products that are designed to minimize the costs of greater capacity and energy.

Dell expects the deal to help its adjusted profit during fiscal 2012. The boards of both companies approved the deal, which should close by the end of the year. Obviously, we will see shares of 3Par advance to the $18 region, as Dell has assigned this price on the firm's shares. However, what will we see out of Dell?

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Walmart (WMT) to buy from neutral, citing compelling valuation, margin expansion and expense control. The firm has a $60 target on the stock.
• FBR Capital upgraded Urban Outfitters (URBN) to outperform from market perform on valuation and its belief that sustainable positive comp trends will return in 2010. The firm maintains a $35 price target on shares.
• JPMorgan upgraded Manpower (MAN) to overweight from neutral. The firm cites valuation and improving temp fundamentals in the U.S. and France for the upgrade and has a $70 price target on the stock.
• Arena Resources (ARD) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.
• C.R. Bard (BCR) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at Piper Jaffray.
• Cardinal Health (CAH) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS) and Rehabcare (NYSE: RHB) to Buy from Hold after raising its Post Acute Care sector view to Positive from Neutral. The firm believes volumes and margin leverage can drive better than expected Q2 results and 2009 guidance. The firm raised its target on HealthSouth shares to $16 from $12 and on Rehabcare to $28 from $19.
  
• Jefferies upgraded Moody's (NYSE: MCO) to Hold from Underperform to reflect stabilizing credit markets and its belief regulatory concerns are overstated. The firm raised its target on shares to $30 from $19.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Outperform from Market Perform as it finds the stock inexpensive following the better than expected results. The firm has a $195 target on shares.
• Vale (NASDAQ: VALE) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
  
• CNOOC (NYSE: CEO) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• International Game Tech (NYSE: IGT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Janney Montgomery.
  

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Buy from Hold on a favorable risk/reward profile. The firm thinks sentiment is negative, estimate revisions have troughed, and compares ease in the second half of 2009. Jefferies upped its target price to $35 from $22.
• Citigroup upgraded Home Depot (NYSE: HD) to Buy from Hold on expectations for positive earnings surprises in 2009. The firm thinks home merchandise sales are picking up and consensus estimates could prove conservative. Citi raised its target price on the stock to $32 from $26.
• Bernstein upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) to Market Perform from Underperform and raised their price target to $23 from $10 based on its credit agreement amendment and valuation.
• SunTrust (NYSE: STI) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman. Fiat (OTC: FIATY) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: First Bancorp. and Volcom were today's noteworthy initiations:

• B. Riley initiated First Bancorp. (NYSE: FBP) with a Buy rating, citing the company's balance sheet growth, reduced expenses and strong capital base.
  
• Volcom Inc. (NASDAQ: VLCM) was also initiated with a Buy rating by B. Riley, as the firm believes the company can grow its business through further penetration into domestic markets, brand extension into new categories and increased demand for its brands.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Energy Solutions (NYSE: ES) was initiated with an Equal Weight rating by Morgan Stanley.
• Goldman Sachs started El Paso Pipeline (NYSE: EPB) with a Buy rating.
• 3PAR Inc. (NYSE: PAR) was initiated with an Outperform by RBC Capital Markets.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Siemens AG (SI), Business Objects (BOBJ), Continental Airlines (CAL), Lawson Software (LWSN) and Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc (TRMP) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Lehman upgraded shares of Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) to Overweight from Neutral reflect the potential major portfolio reorganization over the next few years as well as the strong momentum in the group.

• UBS upgraded shares of Business Objects (NASDAQ: BOBJ) to Buy from Neutral to reflect easy compares in Q2 and signs of improving underlying European demand.

• Soleil upgraded Continental (NYSE: CAL) to Buy from Hold as they believe better-than-expected June consolidated revenue growth suggests strong enough revenue momentum to offset above-average domestic capacity growth affecting its important Newark hub.

• Matrix upgraded Lawson Software (NASDAQ: LWSN) to Sell from Strong Sell to reflect increasing revenues from software licenses.

• Brean Murray upgraded shares of Trump Entertainment (NASDAQ: TRMP) to Buy from Hold citing recent share weakness, improving trends, potential monetization of excess real estate and the use of the Trump brand outside of Atlantic City...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Northstar Realty Finance Corp (NYSE: NRF) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

• Goldman raised Par Pharmaceuticals' (NYSE: PRX) rating to Neutral from Sell.

• Bernstein upgraded Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) to Market Perform from Underperform.

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