Apple Inc. Jumps For 3rd Straight Session (GS,LEAP,INTC,NOKIA,AAPL)

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares gained 0.83% to $95.39 in the morning hour after Goldman Sachs (GS) Group Inc.’s private- equity unit and P2 Capital Partners LLC agreed to buy Interline Brands in a deal valued at $1.1 billion including debt. Funds managed by GS Capital Partners and P2 Capital will pay Interline shareholders $25.50 a share, 42% higher than the closing price on May 25, 2012.

Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LEAP) stock increased 3.81% to $6.05 in the early hour after the company’s Cricket prepaid phone service will start selling Apple's iPhone next month, making it the first pre-paid carrier to offer the device in the U.S. The company said it will offer the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 with its $55 per month wireless plan. The iPhone 4S will cost customers $499.99 for the 16-gigabyte model. The iPhone 4 will be $399.99.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) stock fell 0.73% to $25.93 in the morning hour after Morgan Stanley chip analyst Joseph Moore initiated coverage of Intel with an underweight rating, proclaiming that the company will see minimal earnings growth through 2014 as prices flatten, unit growth slows and costs rise.

Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) shares decreased 1.82% to $2.69 in the early hour after MKM Partners downgraded Nokia to Sell from Neutral following the U.S. retail Lumia model checks. The new price target of $2 from $4 is based on the firm’s estimate of the value of Nokia’s intellectual property, which is pegged at slightly more than $7 billion. MKM assumes no value for the handset business and no value for the roughly four billion euros [about $5 billion] in net cash, which Nokia could potentially burn through in the next two years.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares gained 0.03% to $579.35 in the morning hour after the company is expected to be in the process of launching its long-rumored Smart TV, suggesting that trial production of these TV sets has already begun. According to a media outlet in China, Apple's Chinese manufacturing partner Foxconn has already been entrusted to produce the new so-called iTV on a trial basis at its Shenzhen factory.