Today’s tickers: NOK, RIMM & AEP
NOK – Nokia Corp. – Investors in the Finnish cellphone-maker who have watched its share price halve from its optimistic February peak were thrown a lifeline on Monday after Google said it would buy a Motorola division. The purchase of its Mobility unit was quickly pounced on by Nokia bulls after a spokesman for the company said “we use Windows too!” Shares in Nokia recovered by 12% on Monday to trade at $6.00 after Nokia said that the Google decision vindicated its decision to stick with Windows technology. The move, said Nokia, could serve up a “massive catalyst” for the entire Windows Phone ecosystem. Option traders jumped at the chance of a reevaluation for the industry in light of the recent slump especially in Nokia’s fortunes, where executives earlier stopped making forecasts in light of ever-tougher competition from Apple and Blackberry. Investors predicted that Nokia might gain as much as 50% over the coming two months and paid an average of 10 cents for rights to buy shares by October. Calls at the $9.00 strike started the day with less than a one-in-10 chance of landing in the money by expiration but still investors keep snapping them up – volume so far stands at 16,642 lots.
RIMM – Research in Motion – Blackberry-maker RIMM also tagged along for the ride on Monday after National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson suggested that Google’s Motorola purchase crystallized the issue of patents. Google’s defense of its Android strategy by widening the net of its outstanding number of patents might focus investors on a floor for Research in Motion. The company earlier acquired thousands of wireless patents from now bankrupt Nortel Networks, which could be valued at $10 billion and compare to a market value of $13 billion at…
