What's Up With Sprint?

Like the headline says … what’s up with Sprint Nextel (S)?

The telecom company’s shares are up today for the fourth session in a row; in that period the stock has gained $1.21, or 15.8%, to $8.92. (That includes a gain of 8 cents today.) The move has pushed up Sprint’s market cap by $3.5 billion. Just why the stock is rallying is not entirely clear.

What we do know is that the company is apparently seeing robust demand for the Samsung Instinct, a new touch screen phone offered for $129.99 (after a mail-in rebate of $100) that is supposed to be Sprint’s answer to the Apple (AAPL) iPhone. According to Bloomberg, Pali Research analyst Walter Piecyk says high demand for the new phone is creating shortages in some markets.

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