Palm shares rise on short covering, Nokia talk

[allnameswereout]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Palm Inc (PALM.O) shares jumped to their highest level in nearly two years on Tuesday, fueled by short covering and renewed speculation that the smartphone maker may be a takeover target.

Shares of Palm jumped to a session high of $17.50 on the Nasdaq, a gain of nearly 10 percent, helped by market talk that bigger rival Nokia (NOK1V.HE) was interested in Palm.

Representatives for both Nokia and Palm declined to comment on the rumors.

The merger chatter, along with anticipation of a successful secondary stock offering, may have sparked short sellers to cover positions, driving the stock higher, analysts said.

[...] source, read further (http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE58L4RX20090922) & more sources via Google News (http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dw9kWf_n3G8E3EM2dTN8gwTV9tPbM)(Emphasis mine.)

Just a rumor. No comment.

[quipper8]

wow, combined with the DT buying sprint rumors, craziness.

Who knows, maybe Nokia is going to get serious about the US market

[Texrat]

I saw a job listing on Nokia career page yesterday for merger/acquisition analyst. :D

[livefreeordie]

I saw this news too, and think it's ridiculous. AFAIK it started out as a rumor that Nokia was interested in WebOS, which is even more ridiculous due to Maemo.

The 10% gain, if due to the WebOS rumor, only proves that investors and analysts are more gullible than you'd think.

[Texrat]

I was wondering about the possibility when some US Nokia execs/managers left and went over to Palm, but I still don't see a benefit for Nokia...

[livefreeordie]

I was wondering about the possibility when some US Nokia execs/managers left and went over to Palm, but I still don't see a benefit for Nokia...

The only benefit I can come up with is exclusivity contracts Palm may have, but if Nokia wanted to bend over to the carriers, surely they could do it right now and without buying Palm?

[javispedro]

Ah, within my lifetime I've seen nearly a billion of "Palm bought by X" rumors: Microsoft, Apple, Google, carriers, HTC, Nintendo, MomCorp, etc.

Only that this time X is Nokia. Nothing to worry about.

[Rauha]

Ah, within my lifetime I've seen nearly a billion of "Palm bought by X" rumors: Microsoft, Apple, Google, carriers, HTC, Nintendo, MomCorp, etc.

Only that this time X is Nokia. Nothing to worry about.
Mostly agree.

Only one thing makes me take this rumour semi-seriously. Tarmo Virki was one of the journalist responsible for the original Reuters article that got the rumour mill running. That guy really knows Nokia, (IMHO) better than any other mainstream-media reporter.


EDIT: Palm is pumping 20 million new stocks into market. http://www.intomobile.com/2009/09/23/brief-palm-there-are-now-20000000-million-new-shares-available-please-buy-some-we-need-cash.html. I doubt they would be doing that if there were serious Nokia buy out negotiations going on.

[allnameswereout]

I was wondering about the possibility when some US Nokia execs/managers left and went over to Palm, but I still don't see a benefit for Nokia...Palm has an extensive patent porfolio.

[Texrat]

Palm has an extensive patent porfolio.

Good point, but how close are the useful ones to expiration? I sure don't know.

[Texrat]

EDIT: Palm is pumping 20 million new stocks into market. http://www.intomobile.com/2009/09/23/brief-palm-there-are-now-20000000-million-new-shares-available-please-buy-some-we-need-cash.html. I doubt they would be doing that if there were serious Nokia buy out negotiations going on.

On the other hand it tends to drive the per share price down...

[allnameswereout]

Good point, but how close are the useful ones to expiration? I sure don't know.No idea. I just got reminded of it because of that iPhone versus Pre soap (USB-IF argues Palm is wrong using Apple USB id. (http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/life-tech/wireless-cell-phones-and-telephones/2009/09/palm-pre-users-suffer-loss-in-itunes-battle/)), where someone did an analysis on both corporations patent portfolios. Turned out Palm had quite some ammo to defend themselves from Apple.

[Texrat]

Turned out Palm had quite some ammo to defend themselves from Apple.

That's been an ongoing common theme. Apple seems to sue or threaten before researching. Can work against small outfits, but is stupid against Palm, Microsoft, et al.

You'd think they would learn.

[daveb70]

That's been an ongoing common theme. Apple seems to sue before researching. Can work against small outfits, but is stupid against Palm, Microsoft, et al.

You'd think they would learn.

How could they learn? They didn't learn how to use a PC so they built the Mac. :D

I hold hesitant skepticism as to whether it's a good move or not. I don't know the length of tech patents, if different than drug patents (20 years). I too wonder "we have Qt, why bother with WebOS?"

[allnameswereout]

For years Mac freaks touted PPC, and then Apple switched to Intel. A Mac is now a PC with EFI and some DRM. ;)

That's been an ongoing common theme. Apple seems to sue before researching. Can work against small outfits, but is stupid against Palm, Microsoft, et al.

You'd think they would learn.(That article I spoke of in previous post (http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/apple-vs-palm-the-in-depth-analysis/))

Apple sued Palm? Over multi touch? Or USB id emulation? I didn't know that. I thought it was merely showing teeth. Btw iTunes 9, released 9 sept, blocked Palm Pre again (http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/itunes-9-breaks-pre-media-sync-what-did-you-expect/).

[Texrat]

Okay, I used "sued" too broadly, sorry. :p