TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says it's time to consider a tie-up between these two companies after the terrible results from Ericsson.

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) (Cramer's Take) and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) (Cramer's Take)? Made for each other?

After the devastating profit news from Ericsson, which is made doubly bad by the company's having raised the bar just last month and signaling upside surprise, it is time to consider an Ericsson-Motorola tie-up.

Both of these companies are getting their heads handed to them by Nokia (NYSE: NOK) (Cramer's Take). Both have complementary businesses: Motorola for handsets and cable systems; Ericsson for network equipment needed for next generation wireless. (Ericsson has a joint venture with Sony (NYSE: SNE) (Cramer's Take) that could be part of this business.)

Either way something must happen after last night's fiasco of an Ericsson quarter and Motorola's quarter tomorrow that could be the trough. It would not surprise me if Carl Icahn makes this happen, the way he put so much pressure on BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS) (Cramer's Take) that it had to happen.

Motorola, as I said last night on "Mad Money," gives you a plethora of ways to win:

1. Break-up
2. Zander departure
3. Actual troughing in the business.

Now that we have seen the awful results from Ericsson it is time to add a fourth, a merger with that company to create a new company that can, at last, challenge Nokia's dominance.

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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Bear Stearns downgraded General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) to Underperform from Peer Perform after news it would pay $46.7 billion in retiree health care liability. The analyst, Peter Nesvold, said he preferes Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) as an investment since it still has most of the restructuring news ahead of it. Bear Sterns expects a year-over-year decline in industry-wide auto sales in 2008 and further market share erosion for GM due to fewer product launches than in 2006-2007.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) just reported financial results for its third-quarter. Profit fell, hurt by restructuring charges, but Johnson & Johnson slightly raised its earnings forecast for full-year 2007. The company said it earned $2.5 billion, or 88 cents per share, in the quarter, compared with $2.76 billion, or 94 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Goldman Sachs added Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) to the Americas conviction buy list, ahead of first-quarter earnings with a $37 target price. Near-term catalysts such as the aQuantive acquisition, Halo 3, Windows Server 2008 launch and Christmas Xbox 360 sales will help drive the price of Microsoft's shares higher, including an expected strong first-quarter results.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube has rolled out long-awaited technology to automatically remove copyrighted clips. After Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) sued it for $1 billion for showing copyrighted videos, the company hopes to placate movie and television studios from Disney and Time Warner.

Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) was upgraded by JPMorgan from Neutral to Overweight.

According to Ars Technica, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) plans to expand iTunes Plus -- its version of DRM-free tracks -- to include certain indie music labels, but still not to other larger labels. Apple also plans to drop the price of all iTunes Plus tracks from $1.29 to 99 cents.

Following Ericsson's (NASDAQ: ERIC) warning, Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) shares are down over 1.2% in premarket trading, Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) shares are down 2.77% in premarket trading and Alcaltel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) shares down over 5.6% in premarket trading.

Shares of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) ticked up today, perhaps on reports that shareholder Carl Icahn will launch another attack on the company's management if its results don't improve. He told the Financial Times that "There is value there, and if that value doesn't manifest itself I, as an activist, would think very seriously about coming back."

Back in May, Icahn was rebuffed in his quest for a seat on the company's board of directors. Icahn still owns about 3% of the company and remains displeased with CEO Ed Zander -- the two traded barbs in the media earlier this year.

In the wake of a disappointing investment in WCI Communities, Inc. (NYSE: WCI), Icahn may be getting some swagger back with the success of his investment in BEA Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAS).

Icahn's last battle with Zander was fun to watch, even if it didn't lead to the desired results. I'd love to see a reprise.

TechCrunch reports that Greenpeace is chiding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) for the iPhone's toxic chemical ingredients. Moreover, Greenpeace's analysis suggests that the iPhone is losing "green ground" to other mobile phone competitors which are in the process of eliminating the iPhone's toxic chemicals.

According to Greenpeace, the iPhone contains toxic brominated compounds (indicating the presence of brominated flame retardants (BFRs)) and hazardous PVCs. Two of the "phthalate plasticisers" found at high levels in the iPhone headphone cable are classified in Europe as 'toxic to reproduction, category 2′ and are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles sold in Europe.

Greenpeace's analysis of competitors is most interesting: Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is totally PVC free while Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and Sony Ericsson already have products on the market with BFR free components. I am in Greenpeace's camp on this one. I also think that if Apple cleaned up the iPhone, it would find that green means green -- particularly in Europe.

That's something that Apple shareholders and Greenpeace would both celebrate.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• In an interview with the Financial Times (subscription required), Carl Icahn said of Motorola (NYSE: MOT): "There is value there, and if that value doesn't manifest itself, I as an activist, would think very seriously about coming back."

OTHER PAPERS:

• Universal Music is in talks with Sony Corporation's (NYSE: SNE) Sony BMG and Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) over launching a music subscription service to be called Total Music, which would be free on certain devices, reported the Telegraph.
• While Emerging Memory Technologies CEO Sreedhar Natarajan would not confirm the deal, stating "I'm under a non-disclosure agreement," it is clear that EMT has been acquired by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM), the Ottawa Citizen reported.
• Lehman Brothers analyst Douglas Anmuth believes Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) will launch a mobile phone similar to that of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone in February, reported the Independent.
• The Associated Press reported that Nomura Holdings (NYSE: NMR) announced that it will close its mortgage-backed securities business in the U.S., and expects a group pretax loss of between $240M and $510M for the quarter ended in September.

WEBSITES:

• According to Unstrung.com's sources in the finance community, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is expected to enter the WiMax arena before the end of the month, and Navini Networks is Cisco's preferred target.

Carl Icahn is using the press to indicate that he may take another run at getting Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to dump its CEO and increase its dividend or share buyback. At $19, the company's shares may be up a little, but are still well down from their 52-week high of more than $26.

In an interview with the FT, Icahn said "There is value there, and if that value doesn't manifest itself I, as an activist, would think very seriously about coming back." Icahn has had one unsuccessful proxy fight with Motorola already. He attempted to get on the company's board but was pushed back by management and current board members.

Icahn may have picked the perfect time to push for getting the company to change its ways. Motorola handset sales have been sliding sharply and this caused the company to lose money last quarter. Samsung has passed Motorola as the world's No.2 cellphone maker behind Nokia (NYSE: NOK).Recent third quarter results from Samsung and Sony Ericsson show that their unit sales continue to rise sharply.

All of this improvement in the fortunes of Motorola's competitors mean that it could have another bad quarter. That may cause large investors in the company to finally lose their patience. At that point, Mr. Icahn may be viewed at an excellent board member and agent of some radical change.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Before the bell: Oil tops $85, Citi reports, futures lower

Not surprising, the recall affected Mattel Inc.'s (NYSE: MAT) earnings as it reported a 1% drop in fiscal third-quarter profit, due to charges related to multiple product recalls. The company earned $236.8 million, or 61 cents per share including charges of about $40 million related to the company's product recalls of lead-tainted merchandise imported from China. Sales rose 3% to $1.84 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected profit of 70 cents per share on revenue of $1.91 billion. MAT shares are up over 2% in premarket trading.

Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) is buying Tektronix Inc. (NYSE: TEK) for $2.85 billion or $38 per share for Textronix shares, a 34% premium to Tektronix's closing stock price Friday. TEK shares are up over 32.5% in premarket trading.

Genentech Inc. (NYSE: DNA) is reporting earnings today and is expected to report earnings of 72 cents a share for the third quarter, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

PetroChina Co. (NYSE: PTR) gained the most in five months in Hong Kong trading as oil rose to a record above $85 a barrel to become the world's second-largest company, pushing General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) to third place. Can it take the first place from Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM)? PTR shares are up over 11% in premarket trading.

Greenpeace has attacked Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) for failing to make its well hyped cellphone, the iPhone, as green as his competitors'.

According to Reuters: "Ford (NYSE: F) expects to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover UK premium brands in the next two months but does not expect to sell them separately, the head of Ford Europe, John Fleming."

Just a few days after Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced a six-month delay for its 787 Dreamliner, Airbus finally delivered its first A380 superjumbo jet Monday.

Today, News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) will launch its Main Street focused Fox Business Network to challenge the highly profitable Wall Street focused CNBC from General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE).

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) shares are up over 1.5% this morning after weekend reports said that "activist investor Carl Icahn has signalled the possible launch of a new campaign against the company if performance at the telecommunications equipment maker does not improve."

When word of Carly Fiorina's hiring by the yet-to-be-launched Fox Business Network got out, you can bet that ousted CEOs started ringing up News Corp (NYSE: NWS) Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch.

Robert Nardelli is busy now at Chrysler LLC., but Gary Forsee has recently left Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) to pursue other career opportunities as has former Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) CEO Kevin Rollins. Maybe former Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) Chief Executive Jill Eckert or former Motorola Inc. (NASDAQ: MOT) head Chris Galvin wants to be a talking head.

The former Hewlett-Packard Co. (NASDAQ: HPQ) chief executive will no doubt be a lively television commentator. It's too bad that Bernie Ebbers, John Rigas, Dennis Kozlowski and Jeffrey Skilling are presently incarcerated. They were always good for a lively quote.

If anyone has any other suggestions for former corporate honchos that Fox should hire, let me know and I'll pass on your suggestions to Fox. Of course, they'll be ignored.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer is amazed by some stocks that just won't quit and looks at the practicalities of getting into these winners.

Starting to get startling disparities between the haves and the have-nots.

Can we have a day where Syngenta (NYSE: SYT) (Cramer's Take) and Monsanto (NYSE: MON) (Cramer's Take) don't go up, let alone Deere (NYSE: DE) (Cramer's Take) and Bunge (NYSE: BG) (Cramer's Take)?

Can we have a breather in which Fluor (NYSE: FLR) (Cramer's Take) and Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) (Cramer's Take) don't run higher, or Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) (Cramer's Take) and McDermott (NYSE: MDR) (Cramer's Take)?

And can we have a two-day period when a Masco (NYSE: MAS) (Cramer's Take) or a JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) can go higher?

Can we have more than a short-squeeze streak by a retailer?

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is a long-term holding in the "Deep Discount Portfolio" compiled by Nathan Slaughter. This portfolio from his Half-Priced Stocks newsletter focuses on what he believes are the "most undervalued stocks on the market."

Regarding Motorola, he explains, "When we first added mobile phone and wireless equipment manufacturer Motorola to our Deep-Discount Portfolio back in March, we knew the company was headed for a temporary business slump."

As expected, he states, Motorola has struggled since then, surrendering market share to Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Samsung and reporting back-to-back quarterly losses.

Furthermore, he adds, Wall Street has been frustrated with the firm's lack of new product development, particularly given the excitement surrounding the successful iPhone launch from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).

In recent years, Slaughter contends, Motorola has posted impressive 40% growth in handset unit shipments, tops in the industry. However, he observes, since hitting a homerun with the wildly popular Razr phone, sales have cooled off, and the company now needs to reinvigorate its lineup.

Fortunately, the advisor argues, management has outlined plans to do just that. In fact, the firm is planning to unveil not just one follow-up product, but a whole wave of new phones.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The technology and services sector, Cognizant, Infosys Technologies and Silicom Ltd were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Wachovia initiated shares of Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), Micron (NYSE: MU) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) with Outperform ratings and IBM (NYSE: IBM), AMD (NYSE: AMD) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) with Market Perform ratings.
  
• CIBC started shares of Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) and Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY) with Sector Outperformer ratings and a $100 target and $60 target, respectively. The firm views risk/reward as favorable.
  
• Merriman initiated Silicom Ltd (NASDAQ: SILC) with a Neutral rating, citing valuation and low visibility into the quarter.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• BMO Capital started shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Solei initiated Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ: LECO) with a Buy rating and $114 target.
  
• Merrill initiated Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) with a Buy rating and $23 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lululemon, NaviSite, Research in Motion, Palm and Motorola were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $42 target at Credit Suisse on valuation.
• NaviSite Inc (NASDAQ: NAVI) was initiated with a Buy rating at Merriman after reporting solid Q4 results. Merriman expects the company's recent acquisitions to significantly increase margins.
  
• Citigroup believes Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) is not a pure momentum stock as fundamentals are driving share appreciation. They think the company's subscriber growth is beginning to hit critical mass and expect 15M subscribers within 12 months. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $115 target.
  
• Citigroup also initiated shares of Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) with a Sell rating and $13.50 target, expecting the company's market share losses to continue to EPS to decline.
  
• Citigroup started Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) with a Hold rating and $20 target, as they believe its recovery may take longer than expected, noting its new silicon platform does not come out until 2H08.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Banc of America initiated On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN), Mettler-Toledo International Inc (NYSE: MTD) and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (NYSE: TMO) with Buy ratings and a $16 target, $120 target and $65 target.
  
• Deutsche Bank started GSI Commerce Inc (NASDAQ: GSIC) and Universal Electronics (NASDAQ: UEIC) with Buy ratings and targets of $52 and $31, respectively.
  
• RBC Capital Markets resumed coverage of Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ: WFMI) with an Outperform rating and $55 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: EMC Corporation, Tesco PLC, SL Green Realty, Ariba and Motorola were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) was upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns on valuation. Shares were also upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup after coming off restriction to reflect the long-term benefits of virtualization and valuation.
  
• Tesco (OTC: TSCDY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup on valuation and the company's growth prospects.
  
• SL Green Realty Corporation (NYSE: SLG) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Keybanc based on valuation. The firm views concerns regarding NYC office demand as overblown.
  
• Cowen expects FY07 to be a tough year for Ariba Inc (NASDAQ: ARBA) as benefits from the on-demand subscription model are realized. The firm upgraded shares to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital citing firming trends in its handset division.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Jefferies upgraded Optium Corporation (NASDAQ: OPTM) to Buy from Hold.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Susster Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SUSS) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE: VSH) to Overweight from Market Weight.
  
• Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) shares are trading higher today after a Cowen & Co. analyst upgraded his ratings on both MOT and rival Nokia (NYSE: NOK) from Neutral to Outperform. He points to a severe fourth-quarter shortage in units as good news for the handset industry, compared to anticipated demand, which was originally expected to slow. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on MOT.

After hitting a one-year high of $26.30 in October, the stock fell to a year-low of $15.61 in August. MOT opened this morning at $17.55. So far today the stock has hit a low of $17.35 and a high of $17.95. As of 10:55, MOT is trading at $17.81, up $0.46 (2.7%). The chart for MOT looks neutral but improving, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bull-put credit spread below the $16 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. This particular trade, we will make an 11.1% return in just 4 months as long as MOT is above $16 at January expiration. Motorola would have to fall by more than 10% before we would start to lose money.

MOT hasn't been below $16 for more than a day or two in the past year and has shown support around $16.75 recently. This trade could be risky if the company continues to hold diminishing market share, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the strong support the stock formed around $16 over the past two months.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.
DISCLOSURE: At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in NOK. He does own and control bullish hedged trades on MOT.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Motorola, Nokia, General Mills, AudioCodes and OceanFreight were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Cowen upgraded shares of Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) and Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) to Outperform from Neutral. The firm expects Motorola to benefit as the mobile phone market in North America improves as market supply tightens in Q4 and results in better unit pricing, while Nokia's new phones put it in a position to realize higher unit sales.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded shares of General Mills Inc (NYSE: GIS) to Outperform from Neutral citing management's improved execution and openness, and well as valuation.
  
• Cantor raised shares of AudioCodes (NASDAQ: AUDC) to Buy from Hold after channel checks suggested that Q3 business is tracking well.
  
• OceanFreight Inc (NASDAQ: OCNF) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Oppenheimer on valuation and strong dry-bulk fundamentals.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Lehman upgraded shares of Roche Holding (OTC: RHHBY) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• Goldman upgraded Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Buckeye Partners (NYSE: BPL) to Buy from Hold.
  
• Citigroup raised Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ) to Buy from Hold.