Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was raised from a Long-Term Buy rating up to a Buy rating from a boutique wealth management firm called Hilliard Lyons, which is based in Louisville, Ky.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Nomura.

Federal-Mogul Corp. (NASDAQ: FDML) was raised to a still-cautious Neutral rating from a Sell rating at Goldman Sachs.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was downgraded to Neutral at Citigroup and downgraded to Neutral at J.P. Morgan after earnings; shares are down a sharp 12% or so after the report.

McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (NYSE: MHP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) was upgraded going into the reverse T-Mobile acquisition/merger to a new Overweight rating at J.P. Morgan.

Read also: Sell in May and Go Away, 2013 Edition

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust after the fresh post-earnings reaction took shares lower, and the price target was raised to $88 from $80.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) was downgraded to Hold from Buy late on Wednesday by Capital IQ ahead of the new merger plan.

TC Pipelines (NYSE: TCP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.

Read also: The Best Big Earnings Indicators This Earnings Season

There have been rumors for years that a deal would be consummated. Verizon takes on a very large risk if it finally does make the purchase. The wireless service subscription business in the United State has become a zero-sum game, at least as far as absolute subscriber counts go. More than 300 million people have wireless service accounts, and that is at or above the level of the U.S. population.

The big four wireless companies — AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile, which will soon merge with MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) — continue to try to take market share from one another. Sprint is likely to step up its pursuit of customers because of a new investment from likely owner Softbank. Each of these companies has increased its fees for data used by customers, but competition has put price pressure on these initiatives.

Reuters said of Verizon’s bid for Vodafone’s stake:

The sources said Verizon was now ready to push aggressively for a deal. It hopes to start discussions with Vodafone soon for a friendly agreement but is prepared to take a bid public if the British company does not engage, one of the sources added.

“I don’t really see this as a surprise,” one of Vodafone’s 15 largest investors told Reuters, on condition of anonymity. “The talk about this deal has been quite intense recently. We knew that Verizon were definitely a keen buyer and that Vodafone were a keen seller.”

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) apparently wants to buy out the 45% of Verizon Wireless it does not own. The other portion is owned by Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ: VOD), which will be offered $100 billion. There have been rumors for years that a deal would be consummated. Verizon takes on a very large risk if it finally does make the purchase. The wireless service subscription business in the United State has become a zero-sum game, at least as far as absolute subscriber counts go. More than 300 million people have wireless service accounts, and that is at or above the level of the U.S. population. The big four wireless companies — AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile, which will soon merge with MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) — continue to try to take market share from one another. Sprint is likely to step up its pursuit of customers because of a new investment from likely owner Softbank. Each of these companies has increased its fees for data used by customers, but competition has put price pressure on these initiatives. Reuters said of Verizon’s bid for Vodafone’s stake:

The sources said Verizon was now ready to push aggressively for a deal. It hopes to start discussions with Vodafone soon for a friendly agreement but is prepared to take a bid public if the British company does not engage, one of the sources added.

“I don’t really see this as a surprise,” one of Vodafone’s 15 largest investors told Reuters, on condition of anonymity. “The talk about this deal has been quite intense recently. We knew that Verizon were definitely a keen buyer and that Vodafone were a keen seller.”

U.K. GDP Growth

The threat of a triple-dip recession in the United Kingdom has gone away, although gross domestic product (GDP) growth is so small that the discussion is a matter of semantics. The Office of National Statistics reported on preliminary U.K. GDP:

• GDP increased by 0.3% in Q1 2013 compared with Q4 2012. GDP was 0.4% higher in Q1 2013 than in Q3 2011 and therefore has been broadly flat over the last 18 months.
• By far the largest contribution to Q1 2013 GDP growth came from services; these industries increased by 0.6% contributing 0.47 percentage points (pp) to the 0.3% increase in GDP.
• There was also a small upward contribution (0.03pp) from production; these industries rose by 0.2%, largely due to mining & quarrying, which increased by 3.2% following a weak Q4 2012 when extended maintenance in the North Sea reduced output.
• These upward contributions were partially offset by construction; these industries fell by 2.5%, reducing GDP growth by 0.17pp.

The news will not stop the debate over whether the government’s ongoing push for austerity has ruined any chance for growth of GDP. As is true throughout the European Union, United States and Japan, the proponents of stimulus argue that without aide, none of these troubled economies will enter a phase of strong recovery.

Global Tablet Shipments

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) still holds the top spot among tablet makers. But Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has started to get a foothold in the business. The latest data on global tablet shipments:

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global tablet shipments reached 40.6 million units in the first quarter of 2013. Android secured a robust 43 percent global share, while Apple iOS maintained its strong leadership at 48 percent. Windows secured a 7.5 percent global share.

Peter King, Director of Tablets at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global branded tablet shipments reached an all-time high of 40.6 million units in Q1 2013, surging 117 percent from 18.7 million in Q1 2012. Demand for tablets among consumer, business and education users remains strong. Apple produced a solid performance this quarter as the Mini had its first full term and shipped a robust 19.5 million mixed iPads worldwide maintaining market leadership with 48 percent share during the first quarter of 2013. Android captured a record 43 percent share of global branded tablet shipments in Q1 2013, rising from 34 percent a year earlier. Global Android tablet shipments increase 177 per cent annually to 17.6 million units.”

But Sprint’s value is not in its operations as much as it is in its assets. Specifically its 51 MHz of wireless spectrum and another 133 MHz that the company has offered to buy from Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR). The total exceeds the wireless spectrum held by Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) combined. It’s a massive amount and its value could be well more than the two bids now on the table for Sprint.

Japan’s Softbank has offered to pay about $20.5 billion for a 70% stake in Sprint and Dish Network Inc. (NASDAQ: DISH) has topped that with an offer worth $25.5 billion. Today’s vote by shareholders of MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) to accept the sweetened takeover deal from T-Mobile USA continues the merger mania in the telecom space.

The odd thing is that none of the established telecom players can make a bid for Sprint. U.S. regulators would turn such an offer down flat as anticompetitive. So that leaves only deep-pocketed new entrants into the wireless carrier space.

We noted last week that Softbank, while it has experience in the Japanese wireless market and very deep pockets, may have only a limited strategic plan for Sprint. Dish Network wants to use Sprint to change its business model. That makes more sense to us.

Are there any other players lurking on the sidelines? Media companies and cable companies seem content so far to try to cut themselves a larger piece of the revenue pie by charging heftier licensing fees. That’s probably short-sighted, but then these guys have never been known for their vision. And Sprint is just too large for a smaller wireless carrier to swallow, and it’s market position doesn’t make it very attractive even for private equity or hedge fund buyers.

Sprint is surely worth buying, but the universe of potential buyers is not going to get any bigger unless another foreign buyer jumps in. A Chinese wireless company would be an obvious suspect, but all three of the large Chinese carriers are busy spending billions of dollars just to get their 3G networks up and running. None will want to bite off another network buildout at this time.

Sprint’s share price has dropped about 0.6% so far today to $7.06 in a 52-week range of $2.31 to $7.35. Because the Softbank offer is right around $7 a share, don’t expect to see much action up or down in this stock unless another potential buyer appears.

We have seen reports from both Bloomberg TV and Dow Jones that the merger, or takeover, has been approved. Standard & Poor’s recently said that it has MetroPCS on CreditWatch with positive implications now that the merger will bring a reduction in debt for the combined entity of some $3.8 billion. S&P also recently said that the merger creates an entity with greater scale, better wireless spectrum coverage and a greater chance for costs savings ahead.

To add for the support, we also had recently seen that Glass Lewis and ISS both had recommended that shareholders approve the merger proxy.

As of December 31, 2012, MetroPCS had approximately 8.9 million subscribers, and a recent release over results showed that of the 132.3 million Deutsche Telekom customers there were some 33.4 million under T-Mobile USA.

Our take is that MetroPCS should have gone ahead and resolved its differences with Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP). That was then, this is now. MetroPCS is soon to be a part of the T-Mobile brand.

The European Union may ask Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) competitors about a proposed settlement of antitrust charges. (Reuters)

MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) asks its shareholders to vote for a new offer from T-Mobile. (Reuters)

Gold drops to a two-year low after the biggest sell-off since the 1980s, based on a percentage drop. (WSJ)

Huawei plans to increase its presence in the smartphone marketplace. (WSJ)

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) takes $850 million from its credit line to allow its new CEO time to turn around the company. (WSJ)

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) sharply increases its investment in China. (WSJ)

Alibaba will offer its own smartphone operating system, which may compete with Google’s. (WSJ)

American bank officials want more details about how large banks would dismantle themselves if events make them no longer viable. (WSJ)

Large pharmaceutical companies use drug safety laws to slow the introduction of some generics. (NYT)

The rift among EU nations over the value of austerity grows. (NYT)

AMR submits its final plan to end Chapter 11. (NYT)

Huge firm Energy Future Holdings enters Chapter 11 in an attempt to cut billions in debt. (NYT)

The South Korean government takes steps to reignite its economy. (FT)

China’s new, slower growth pattern may be permanent. (FT)

Volkswagen, BMW and other EU car companies will spend as much as $25 billion by 2017 to set manufacturing facilities outside the troubled region. (Bloomberg)

The offer from Dish is more than $5 billion higher than the Softbank offer, including about $0.73 more per Sprint share in cash. Sprint shareholders will also get a bigger stake in the resulting company than they will get in the Softbank deal. No contest there.

Why is Sprint worth $5 billion more to Dish than it is to Softbank? The answer is reasonably simple: spectrum. Sprint holds the key to 133 MHz of wireless spectrum owned by Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR). Combined with Sprint’s own spectrum holdings the company holds the rights to 184 MHz of wireless spectrum, more than AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) — 77 MHz — and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) — 83 MHz — combined.

Dish has been searching for and investing in terrestrial spectrum for some time now as it tries to expand beyond its satellite pay-TV roots. Dish has already offered to buy about a quarter of Clearwire’s spectrum for $2.2 billion, but the company said it will pull its offer if Sprint takes today’s deal.

Softbank appreciates the value of that wireless spectrum as well, and the company already uses a WiMax technology similar to Clearwire’s for its own wireless network in Japan.

For U.S. customers, which is the better deal? Under Softbank, Sprint is more likely to remain in no better than third place among U.S. wireless carriers. If the proposed acquisition of MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) by T-Mobile USA is completed, Sprint will like drop to fourth place as measured by subscriber counts. That will make it more expensive for Sprint to operate and it will have to market its services aggressively to gain new subscribers. That will likely mean lower prices and that would be good for wireless customers.

The Dish offer is based on a desire by Dish and its chairman, Charlie Ergen, to offer a bundled package of home and mobile video, voice service, and broadband service. That would make Dish more competitive with both AT&T and Verizon, which might also enhance competition and lower prices for wireless customers. With three competing services at this scale, prices may be held in check as the two big guys are forced to counter Dish’s offering with one of their own.

Dish has made a better offer from a shareholder’s point of view and, potentially at least, from a customer’s point of view. Softbank, with a market cap of around $47 billion (nearly three times that of Dish), has deep pockets but at some point there is a bottom to those pockets.

Softbank has not articulated anything like the vision that Dish and Ergen have for Sprint. Under Softbank, Sprint is likely to remain just another also-ran in the wireless wars. Dish offers the promise of something a lot bigger.

DT’s new offer includes a $3.8 billion cut in the amount of debt that will be settled on the merged T-Mobile/MetroPCS. DT had originally said it would saddle the merged company with $15 billion in debt.

The interest rate on the debt will also be cut by one-half point and DT has extended the length of time it will remain an investor in the merged company from 6 to 18 months. The cash payment of about $4 per share of MetroPCS was left unchanged.

The two hedge funds originally opposed to the deal, Paulson & Company and P. Schoenfeld Asset Management, now say they will vote in favor of the merger. Proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and ISS had both recommended that the original deal be rejected.

A special shareholders meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been rescheduled for April 24th.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) faces slow KFC sales in China because of worry over bird flu. (Reuters)

An agreement with a large shareholder will mean Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s (NYSE: GS) Lloyd Blanfein will remain both chairman and CEO. (Reuters)

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) will release a seven-inch Surface tablet later this year. (WSJ)

Deutsche Telekom improves its offer for MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) as the deal flags. (Reuters)

IDC says PC sales fell 13.9% in the first quarter and partially blames slow sales of Microsoft Windows 8. (WSJ)

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) will try to improve customer service as same-store sales lag. (WSJ)

The European Commission remarks that Spain’s recovery has stalled. (WSJ)

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) says it cannot drill in the Arctic until regulations are made more plain. (WSJ)

Despite gold’s record as a safe haven, prices have dropped 17% since 2011. (WSJ)

China’s currency reserves hit $3.4 trillion. (FT)

China’s local currency lending surges in March, raising concerns about financial risks. (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg is citing unnamed sources who say that DT is monitoring the votes ahead of MetroPCS’s shareholders meeting and is considering sweetening the existing offer in advance of the meeting.

One thing DT is surely considering is reducing the amount of debt the merged company will be forced to shoulder. Competing against well-capitalized players like Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) will not be easy with the millstone of so much debt.

Adding more cash to the deal or increasing MetroPCS shareholders’ stake in the merged company are still possible, but DT will probably want to hold one or both of those options in reserve because they could end up costing the German firm more than a reduction in debt.

If DT does make a new offer, the MetroPCS shareholders meeting will have to be rescheduled.

Shares of MetroPCS are up 4% at $11.64 in a 52-week range of $5.53 to $14.51.