Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN), which was recently added to the S&P 500, is scheduled to discuss its third-quarter 2009 financial results in a conference call Monday, November 9, at 4:30 PM ET. You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.

During the three months that ended in September, Priceline announced a partnership with Ticketmaster (TKTM) and launched a rewards Visa card. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this leading online travel services provider to report that earnings for that period jumped 18.2% from a year ago to $2.92 per share. And revenue for the quarter is expected to be 23.6% higher to $693.9 million.

Live Nation (NYSE: LYV), a producer of live concerts, closed at $7.19. LYV is expected to report Q3 EPS soon. LYV and Ticket master (NASDAQ: TKTM) announced a merger of equals in February 2009. Antitrust regulators have been reviewing the merger. LYV November option implied volatility is at 73, December is at 70; verses its 26-week average of 79, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Ticket master closed at $10.59. TKTM November option implied volatility is at 66, December is at 63; verses its 26-week average of 73, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

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

It appears that the options market is now making its way into sports, thanks to a company called OptionIt. As we head into the National Hockey League (NHL) season, San Jose Sharks fans can reserve an option to buy postseason tickets.

The Sharks will serve as one of the company's key test markets, along with the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, and St. Louis Rams (at least it appears this way according to the company's website) and it hopes to have 10 teams in the fold by the end of the year. With San Jose (a perennial preseason playoff favorite) as a test market, I envision success for OptionIt.

Analyst upgrades:

• Bernstein upgraded Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) to Outperform from Market Perform based on relative valuation and expectations the company will repay TARP without a capital raise. The firm raised its target to $34 from $26.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Ticketmaster (NASDAQ: TKTM) to Overweight from Market Weight and raised its target to $12 from $8 citing dynamic ticket pricing and the potential merger with Live Nation (NYSE: LYV).
• Citigroup upgraded Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) to Hold from Sell after channel checks indicated retail sales have improved since Q2. The firm raised its target on shares to $26 from $14.
• McDermott (NYSE: MDR) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank.
• General Electric (NYSE: GE) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

I thought I'd take a look at two companies that reported earnings earlier in the week that share a couple things in common. First, they deal with music. Second, their prospects have been defined, in part, by the surge of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPod/iTunes zeitgeist.

Let's begin with Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG). According to Reuters, Warner Music Group lost 25 cents per share from continuing businesses in Q3. Analysts wanted to see a loss of only 16 cents per share. In last year's Q3, the company lost 6 cents per share. Not a good trend. Warner Music Group's management unfortunately fails to impress.

Live Nation (NYSE: LYV), a promoter of concerts and merchandise, took the stage on Thursday and played the entire set of its latest earnings numbers for Wall Street's rock fans. Unfortunately, some of the musical metrics were completely off-key.

For the first quarter, Live Nation said that revenues dipped by over 6%. Currency translations affected the top line, so if you strip them out, you get an increase of nearly 3%. The loss from continuing operations expanded by an earsplitting 40% to $1.29 per share. According to this news article, analysts were looking for a loss of only $0.82 per share.

Ticketmaster (NASDAQ: TKTM) finds itself on the end of new allegations that it is fleecing customers, thanks to a Leonard Cohen show -- yes, Leonard Cohen. Back in February, the company announced a merger with Live Nation in a $2.5 billion deal to create the nation's largest ticket provider. This deal prompted quite a bit of speculation on monopolies, along with some disdain for the involved companies.

It seemed that Ticketmaster had fallen out of the public eye for a while, although people still complain about the 40% surcharge to purchase tickets. Enter Leonard Cohen. Two different articles surfaced this week, one from Canada and one from Los Angeles, complaining about the company's business practices stemming from ticket sales for Leonard Cohen shows.

Live Nation (NYSE: LYV), the big, famous concert promoter that counts Madonna as a member of its roster, reported dismal Q4 results on Monday after the bell. A huge write-down in goodwill related to a bad decline in market capitalization led to a loss per share of $4.33. That was many times more than the year-ago loss of 25 cents per share in the similar period. According to this source, Live Nation lost 89 cents per share on an adjusted basis. Wall Street was thinking that maybe the promoter would lose 22 cents per share. Quite the disparity there, eh?

Looking through the press release, I see that there's a lot going on in terms of acquisitions and adjustments. Overall, I came away less than thrilled with the business. I wasn't taken by the statement of cash flows, and I have to wonder how difficult it will be to close on the Ticketmaster (NASDAQ: TKTM) merger. There's talk of antitrust issues.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) reported a fourth-quarter loss of $16.03 billion, or $4.47 per share, hurt by a $24.2 billion writedown for its cable, publishing and AOL assets. Even excluding the writedown ($4.70 per share), though, results were below analyst estimates of profit of 26 cents per share. Revenue, which dropped 3%, was also below estimates at $12.31 billion vs. $12.71 billion. TWX shares declined 3.5% in premarket trading at last check.

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) reported Tuesday after the close, and is yet another media company that disappointed investors. Its net profit fell 32% and it missed analysts' targets. Revenue fell 8% to $9.60 billion, and after excluding a one-time item, Disney earned 41 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected, on average, earnings of 52 cents per share on revenue of $10.1 billion. DIS shares declined nearly 8% in premarket trading at last check.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) to Neutral from Sell and said liquidity is no longer a near-term concern. The firm lowered Pacific Sunwear's target to $1.50 from $3. Citigroup upgraded shares to Hold from Sell on valuation following the recent weakness and believes Pacific Sunwear has sufficient liquidity to remain a going concern.
  
• Calyon believes Reliant Energy (NYSE: RRI) will be successful in unwinding the Merrill Lynch Retail credit sleeve and obtaining alternative collateral. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Add.
  
• JP Morgan said Cogent's (NASDAQ: COGT) position in homeland security and the defense markets make it less sensitive to an economic downturn, making valuation attractive. JP Morgan upgraded shares to Overweight from Neutral and raised its target to $13 from $10.50.
• Goldman added Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to its Conviction Buy List and removed Riverbed (NASDAQ: RVBD) from the Conviction Sell List.
  
• J.M. Smucker (NYSE: SJM) was raised to Buy from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.