A low-end version of the Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) Lumia may be Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) best opportunity to get share in the mobile sector. (Reuters)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB) will investigate car lending companies over certain questionable practices. (Reuters)

Its property and casualty business pushes American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) results higher. (Reuters)

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) picks it chief operating officer to lead the company and disappoints investors who want change to move the firm beyond PCs. (Reuters)

CEO Ivan Glasenberg of the newly merged Glencore Xstrata says layoffs are critical to his plans. (WSJ)

Verizon Communication Inc.’s (NYSE: VZ) chief executive officer says Verizon Wireless may not pay its annual dividend to Verizon or Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ: VOD) in the hope Vodafone will sell its shares. (WSJ)

The Reserve Bank of India cuts its rate to 7.25%. (WSJ)

Barnes & Noble Inc.’s (NYSE: BKS) Nook will start to run Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) apps. (WSJ)

Shares of LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) fall on a weak outlook. (WSJ)

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi says the bank may decide to ease more after it cut its key rate to 0.5%. (WSJ)

The average home price in 100 of China’s largest cities moved up by the higher rate in a year-and-a-half. (WSJ)

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) discussions with Lenovo about selling its server division fail. (WSJ)

Market share improvement in North America, Asia and Europe push General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) shares higher. (WSJ)

A slew of regulatory issues badly damage J.P. Morgan & Co.’s (NYSE: JPM) role as the premier bank in the United States. (NYT)

Michael Bloomberg’s positive comments about the Financial Times cause more speculation he might buy it. (NYT)

Commercial mortgage trading by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac comes under scrutiny. (FT)

Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) cuts its forecast, which may pressure its CEO to leave. (Bloomberg)

Shoe company Adidas posts record profits. (Bloomberg)

Glencore continues to push to buy Xstrata. (Reuters)

Facebook Inc.’s (NASDAQ: FB) mobile business shoots up in the first quarter. (Reuters)

Industrial giant Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) lowers forecasts based on a weakening economy. (Reuters)

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) CEO Peter Voser to retire next year. (WSJ)

The Federal Reserve will continue its $85 billion a month bond buying, encouraged in part by low global inflation. (WSJ)

Federal regulators want banks to hold higher levels of capital to guard against unexpected, negative events. (WSJ)

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) says it will increase production of its flagship F-150. (WSJ)

Talks about Lenovo buying the International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) server group end. (WSJ)

The home price increase trend in China picks up. (WSJ)

Management of Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube say audience has increased to one billion unique users who watch six billion hours of video a month. (WSJ)

The Defense Department will give security approvals to some Samsung devices and the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and iPad. (WSJ)

CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) profits are helped by Super Bowl advertising. (WSJ)

Eastman Kodak files to leave bankruptcy. (WSJ)

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) hopes to get approval of the 777 for longer range service. (NYT)

Research firm IDC reports tablet sales surged in the first quarter, while PC sales dropped, and the market share of Apple’s iPad fell. (FT)

BMW’s results beat expectations. (Bloomberg)

Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO) cut to sell with $10 target at Goldman Sachs.

Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Assurant Inc. (NYSE: AIZ) raised to Neutral from Underperform at Stern Agee.

Community Health Systems Inc. (NYSE: CYH) cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

CYS Investments Inc. (NYSE: CYS) raised to Outperform with $14 target at KBW.

Expeditors International of Washington Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPD) maintained Buy but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Health Management Associates Inc. (NYSE: HMA) cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) cut to Neutral from Buy at D.A. Davidson.

Icahn Enterprises L.P. (NASDAQ: IEP) started as Buy with $66 price target at Jefferies.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) started as Underweight with only a $115 price target at Evercore Partners; shares are only down marginally after closing at $169.36 Tuesday.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reiterated Buy and raised estimates and price target to $75 from $74 at Stern Agee.

Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) raised to Neutral from Underperform at BNP Paribas.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Merrill Lynch gave a list of stocks to short sell during earnings season.

Merrill Lynch sees upside earnings surprises from these eight large companies during earnings season.

That may not be the way it works out. In the first place, the Cypriot economy is very small. The chances that it really will sway demand for oil approach zero. And the knock-on effect of the solution — essentially confiscating deposits from accounts greater than €100,000 — will likely be more movement of more money out of banks in eurozone countries that are deemed to be shaky. That list currently includes Portugal, Spain, Italy and Slovenia, and France could be added. Any large depositor is almost certain to head for a Swiss bank, or if the company is big enough, the European Central Bank (ECB) itself. Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI), for example, reportedly had moved some €6 billion to the ECB by 2011.

As more depositors move funds from those banks, lending will slow. As lending slows, so does the national economy and so does demand for imports from places like the United States. Coupled with higher U.S. crude production and lower U.S. consumption of refined products, demand for crude in the U.S. is not likely to expand either.

Even less likely is demand expanding in Europe. Energy economist Philip Verleger thinks crude demand could fall by half a million barrels a day by the end of this year.

Today’s rise in oil prices probably will not last much longer, nor will it prove to be a sustainable increase. The economics just do not support it.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) raised to Outperform at Macquarie.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) raised to Neutral from Reduce at Nomura.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC) started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo, started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch and started as Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) started as Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Craft Brew Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: BREW) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) and Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) were both raised to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) named Bull of the Day by Zacks.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) raised to Neutral from Reduce at Nomura.

Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) started as Buy at BB&T.

Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Standard Parking (NASDAQ: STAN) named Bear of the Day with struggling earnings growth by Zacks.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) reiterated Outperform with $27.50 target at Credit Suisse.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Here is a list of small cap stocks to buy now by Deutsche Bank.

J.P. Morgan offers a list of 15 stocks to buy based on current market conditions.

Credit Suisse gave a list of MLPs that will thrive and continue high distributions even under the risk of rising interest rates.

The company also said that it would suspend its annual dividend, the first time in more than two decades that Nokia has taken that step.

For the full year, Nokia posted an EPS loss of €0.17 (about $0.23) on revenues of €30.18 billion (about $40.2 billion). The consensus estimate called for an EPS loss of $0.26 on revenues of $39.62 billion.

The company’s CEO said:

We are very encouraged that our team’s execution against our business strategy has started to translate into financial results. Most notably we are pleased that Nokia Group reached underlying operating profitability in the fourth quarter and for the full year 2012.

The visit to profitability will be brief. For the first quarter of 2013, Nokia is forecasting a negative 2% operating margin (plus or minus 4 percentage points). In the fourth quarter, operating margin totaled 7.2%.

One bright spot is the joint venture with Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI), Nokia Siemens Networks, which is expected to post a 3% operating margin in the first quarter. Sales were up 5% year-over-year and operating profit rose more than 200%. Sequentially, operating profit rose 78%.

Nokia’s unit sales of smartphones in the fourth quarter were down 66% compared with the same period a year ago. The average selling price rose 33% on smart devices, but fell 3% on other mobile devices. In the fourth quarter Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones, which use the Windows Phone operating system from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), and 9.3 million Asha phones, which the company calls smartphones and the rest of the industry calls feature phones.

Nokia’s shares are down about 3% in premarket trading, at $4.50 in a 52-week range is $1.63 to $5.87. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $3.23 before today’s report. Nokia’s shares have risen about 58% in the past three months.

Net sales for the division, Nokia’s largest, are now expected to reach €3.9 billion ($5.1 billion) in the quarter. Total smartphone sales are now forecast at 15.9 million units, of which 4.4 million are the company’s Lumia smartphones running the Windows Phone operating system from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

The company attributed the jump to “better than expected financial performance in the Mobile Phones business unit and Lumia smartphones.” Nokia also cited lower-than-expected operating expenses in the devices and services group due to better-than-expected cost reductions from its restructuring program.

Sales at its joint venture with Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI), Nokia Siemens Networks, are also tabbed to come in higher than previously expected. Compared with a previous estimate for an operating margin of 8%, the company now expects operating margin of 13% to 15%.

For the first quarter of 2013, Nokia now expects devices and services margin of about -2%, plus or minus 4%. The company cited “competitive industry dynamics” (promotional pricing) and a traditionally weak quarter for sales as drags on quarterly results.

The stock is up 18.6% in premarket trading this morning at $4.45 in a 52-week range of $1.63 to $5.87.

There is a simple question to ask here: If Nokia can have results which are better than expected, or less bad, then can Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) do the same? Anything is possible, and RIM shares are up about 3% at $11.84 in early trading.

UPDATE: Shares are up more than 21% shortly before the open, at nearly the average daily volume already.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) cut to Hold at Argus.

Changyou.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYOU) started as Overweight at HSBC.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) raised to Outperform at Pacific Crest.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) maintained Buy for growth and income opportunities at Zacks.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) cut to Market Perform at Raymond James.

JCPenney Co. (NYSE: JCP) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) raised to Buy at Argus.

Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) cut to Sector Perform at RBC.

Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) started as Underweight at HSBC.

Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE: SPF) started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO) maintained as Outperform but named the Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Veolia Environnement S.A. (NYSE: VE) started as Buy at Soc-Gen.

Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE: WFT) raised to Hold at Jefferies.

Westamerica Bancorp (NASDAQ: WABC) maintained Underperform but named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Energy and Healthcare recorded higher fourth-quarter orders year-over-year, including strong demand at Fossil Power Generation and Diagnostics. Infrastructure & Cities saw orders fall from the prior-year level, which included a higher volume from large orders.

And Siemens results do not appear to have been hurt much by the global slowdown as it posted better results based on its most important measurements:

All Sectors reported revenue growth in the fourth quarter with tailwinds from currency translation effects. Energy and Healthcare posted double-digit increases on broad-based growth. On a geographic basis, revenue rose in all three regions, led by 14% growth in the Americas. Emerging markets on a global basis grew 3% year-over-year, and accounted for €7.416 billion, or 34%, of total revenue for the quarter.

Who says a huge company cannot do well during a recession?

Douglas A. McIntyre

Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) released strong earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter and outlined plans to lower costs by six billion euros by 2014. At its current pace and with strategic plans on expenses, Siemens means to make itself the most well-run and well-structured conglomerate in the world. That is something its major rival, General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), cannot claim based on its past several years of results. Siemens revenue for the fourth quarter rose 7% year-over-year to €21.703 billion, and orders rose 2% to €21.495 billion. Siemens did particularly well in two sectors that are GE strongholds:

Energy and Healthcare recorded higher fourth-quarter orders year-over-year, including strong demand at Fossil Power Generation and Diagnostics. Infrastructure & Cities saw orders fall from the prior-year level, which included a higher volume from large orders.

And Siemens results do not appear to have been hurt much by the global slowdown as it posted better results based on its most important measurements:

All Sectors reported revenue growth in the fourth quarter with tailwinds from currency translation effects. Energy and Healthcare posted double-digit increases on broad-based growth. On a geographic basis, revenue rose in all three regions, led by 14% growth in the Americas. Emerging markets on a global basis grew 3% year-over-year, and accounted for €7.416 billion, or 34%, of total revenue for the quarter.

Who says a huge company cannot do well during a recession?

Boeing Layoffs

National Employee Morale Day was celebrated at Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) yesterday as the company reassigned a number of executives. Buried in the press release about the plans were a number of cost-cutting moves that included layoffs:

The affordability efforts continue, because additional cost reductions are needed, and are supported by reductions in executive ranks and overhead costs. By the end of 2012, Boeing Defense, Space Security expects to have 30 percent fewer executive positions than in 2010.

Perhaps because of union agreements, Boeing cannot lay off large numbers of its rank-and-file. Boeing’s recent moves have not helped its share price, which has fallen from almost $75 less than three weeks ago to just about $70 yesterday. These moves include the launch of its Dreamliner in the United States through customer United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL).

The Best-Selling Smartphone

Samsung posted another smartphone milestone, which showed just how much of a threat it is to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). The Samsung Galaxy S III is often described as the only real rival to the iPhone. Apple has done its best to stop distribution of the Samsung device through court challenges to the Galaxy line’s use of Apple patents. That action may work for a while, but Samsung engineers are smart enough to build work-arounds to those patents. According to research firm Strategic Analystics:

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 smartphone model shipped 18.0 million units worldwide during the third quarter of 2012. The Galaxy S3 captured an impressive 11 percent share of all smartphones shipped globally and it has become the world’s best-selling smartphone model for the first time ever. A large touchscreen design, extensive distribution across dozens of countries, and generous operator subsidies have been among the main causes of the Galaxy S3’s success. Apple shipped an estimated 16.2 million iPhone 4S units worldwide for second place, as consumers temporarily held off purchases in anticipation of a widely expected iPhone 5 upgrade at the end of the quarter.

Global Smartphone Shipments and Market Share by Model in Q3 2012

Douglas A. McIntyre