Update Nokia (NOK)

Watching the stock market right now is like watching paint dry.

Only not quite as exciting and with decidedly more side effects.

But while stocks aren’t going anywhere lately, some companies are. And it’s important to track which companies are taking steps now to make themselves stronger for the next spurt of growth in the global economy and which companies seem immobilized by current tough conditions.

I’d put Nokia (NOK) in the first group. Oh, the company hasn’t managed to solve its iPhone or Blackberry problems.  Nokia’s smartphones are still the laggards in the U.S. market.

But the company does seem, finally, to understand that it’s long-term business suicide for the world’s largest cell phone company to be an afterthought in the U.S. market. Business 101 says that you don’t let competitors have a big and profitable market to themselves so they can use profits from that market to attack your core markets.

I’d call Nokia’s move ground work that builds a foundation for Nokia to play a bigger role in the U.S. market. Sometime in the future when the company has a competitive smartphone model. Read more

Buy American Tower (AMT)

I almost bought American Tower (AMT) for Jubak’s Picks on Friday. But the stock was hovering just below its 200-day average and I was afraid that a continuation of the euro debt crisis would push the stock below that support level. Instead of more crisis, however, Monday has brought a huge relief rally based on a $1 trillion rescue plan worked out by European Union leaders over the weekend. So I missed what I believe is the local bottom on Friday, but on Monday, with Friday’s risk reduced, the stock is still a great buy, in my opinion.

 American Tower is in the business of building towers and then renting space on that tower to wireless companies. The profitability of a tower depends on how many sites on a tower American Tower can rent. With the current explosion in wireless data and broadband service, wireless companies need more tower space. Read more