for a year, c.f. has been trying to buy terra and today upped its offer to cash and stock totaling $4.7 billion. terra already has agreed to a lower but all-cash $4.1 billion buyout from norway's yara international. the yara deal values terra at $41.10 a share. some pre-earning news fueled big volume in qualcomm, making it the biggest s&p 500 gainer on the day. qualcomm stock saw a nice pop today after hitting almost its lowest price in a year yesterday. the wireless technology company says its quarterly profit would meet or beat its best estimate. this came a day after the company announced a new stock buyback plan and raised its quarterly dividend. it wasn't good earnings news at staples, and that hit its competitors as well. the office supply retailer saw earnings come in a penny lighter than expected. more worrisome was its 2010 forecast that was disappointing. staples stock quickly dropped to match its year-to-date low. its disappointing guidance also hit competitors office depot and office max,