If you're feeling good about the market, you're not alone. Take my hand as we go over some of this week's more uplifting headlines.
1. China calling
The iPhone 5 hit China today.
The move isn't generating a lot of headlines. Investors would prefer to wonder why Apple (AAPL +1.29%) has shed nearly 25% of its value since peaking three months ago. However, despite the tech giant's absence through China's leading wireless carrier, the iPhone 5 should help restore Apple's challenged market share in the largest market outside of the United States.
2. Sirius keeps on rolling
Satellite radio will continue to play on for Hyundai.
Sirius XM Radio (SIRI +0.00%) and Hyundai Motor America announced yesterday that they would be extending the agreement for Hyundai new-car buyers to receive three free months of the satellite radio service. The extension is for three years.
It's a bit of a no-brainer, really.
Automakers warm up to Sirius XM because it generates revenue, and Sirius XM wins when dealerships aggressively promote the merits of satellite radio.
Sirius XM should have the upper hand in these negotiations. After all, it's not as if auto showrooms have much of a choice.
3. Nike's Missions statement
Nike (NKE +1.18%) is hoping to make its Nike+ FuelBand health monitor even more popular by rolling out a series of fitness-oriented games called NikeFuel Missions.
The new wrinkle was introduced this week, giving anyone using Nike+ products -- from the many different free apps to the not-so-free Nike GPS sports watch or the $150 FuelBand -- a game that encourages a more active lifestyle.
Nike's leaning on its arsenal of celebrity endorsements to incorporate star athletes including Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson and Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix into the game, which uses a theme of an icy postapocalyptic world where only those who are on the move can survive.
It's a well-timed rollout. Blowing up something simple -- achieving the goal of scoring a set amount of the athletic footwear giant's proprietary NikeFuel points in a set amount of time -- into a celebrity-studded fitness game is something that probably only Nike could do. Rival Jawbone recently updated its cheaper Up health monitor bracelet, so Nike's raising the bar at the right time.
4. Indexing gets a friend request
Facebook (FB +2.08%) was added to the Nasdaq 100 on Wednesday.
Was the stock exchange doing Facebook a solid after botching its May IPO? Of course not. Facebook has earned it. Facebook's market cap already makes it one of the most valuable companies trading on Nasdaq.
If anything, the travesty here is that Facebook will have to wait until next year to be inevitably added to the S&P 500 because that more popular metric requires several profitable quarters in row after a company goes public.
It's not just the major market indexes warming up to Facebook.
Capstone Investments analyst Rory Maher raised his price target on the social networking website operator from $26 to $35. Before you know it, we'll be talking about Facebook at its original IPO price of $38.
5. Hold on, Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is moving sharply higher today after securing the equivalent of $2.12 billion in new financing.
Yes, the deficit-riddled telecom-equipment giant had to put up its intellectual-property portfolio to secure the money, but it will help Alcatel-Lucent get through the next couple of years of debt maturities.
In other words, Alcatel-Lucent is buying itself some serious time. That's huge, because the company may be sporting red ink now, but analysts see it returning to profitability on an annual basis by 2014. The stock may remain highly speculative -- with a low share price to match -- but the company's fortunes may very well be dramatically improved if the global economic recovery is well under way by the time it needs to line up new financing in a couple of years.
