Buy Nokia and Microsoft, Not RIM or Sprint

Let's get beyond the obvious to something just slightly less obvious. Obvious: "Can't" is not in Microsoft's vocabulary. If you think it is, you're crazy, uninformed or blinded by Apple love. Slightly less obvious: Microsoft invested in Nokia for a reason. It needs a flagship hardware maker that needs Microsoft even more.

The Microsoft partnership with Nokia is not merely an extension of Bill Gates' charitable work. Hardly. It's a shrewd move that just so happens to provide Nokia a much-needed bailout. This reality leads us to the reason why you should avoid the temptation of perceived "value" or upside in Sprint(S) and Research in Motion(RIMM) .

Simply put, Sprint sold its soul to Apple. I certainly buy the argument that it had no other choice, but that only underscores the unworkable situation this disaster of a company finds itself in. Shockingly, RIM is even worse off.

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Microsoft is executing a strategic coup with Nokia. They're not teaming up for "one last caper." In fact, if you're going to get cute with words, you should refer to the Lumia launch as the pilot. RIM needed a partner. That partner could have been Sprint, but it would have made more sense for the company to pursue the rumor that it would power Amazon's apparently forthcoming smartphone.

Instead, RIM went ahead with plans for BlackBerry 10 or whatever they're calling it. The second the company's new CEO (with a name you never heard of and really do not need to know) unveiled the new phones, RIMM stock took off to new lows.

Expect this lack of vision to push RIM into the single digits alongside Sprint. Because companies such as Microsoft think of everything and then some, watch Microsoft flirt with $40 sooner rather than later. While I am not pouring my life savings into Nokia, it's a nice speculative derivative play on the moves Microsoft has yet to make.