Filed under: After the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, XM Satellite Radio (XMSR), Clear Channel Commun (CCU), Research in Motion (RIMM), ImClone Systems (IMCL)

Crude surpassed $126.00 before retreating down by $1.85 to $124.11 late in the day. Many are citing that the interest in owning the dollar is also partly to thank for today’s gains. Below are the unofficial closing bell prices for major index levels:

• DJIA 12,879.24 (+133.36; +1.05%)
• S&P 500 1,403.50 (+15.22; +1.10%)
• NASDAQ 2,487.86 (+42.34; +1.73%)
• 10YR-TBond 3.775% (+0.008%)
• 52 WEEK LOWS
• ANALYST CALLS

AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) rose today after it forecast that first quarter profit will exceed projections. Additionally, the women’s apparel store reported its plans to drop its older women fall line but push the opening of its Loft outlets. Shares were up 16% at $28.50 in the final minutes of trading.

Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (NYSE: CCU) jumped today after the possibility that a settlement between the private equity buyers and six financing banks may go through to grant the buyout by Bain Capital and THL Partners. The terms are supposedly reduced from $39.50 per share to $36.00 per share. Trials between the banks and the buyers were supposed to start today. Shares were up nearly 10% at $32.89 in the final minutes of the day.

Cumulus Media Inc. (NASADAQ: CMLS) shares plunged after terms for a buyout by Merrill Lynch Private Equity Group and the company could not be agreed upon for the $1.3 billion valued transaction. Shares were down nearly 24% at $4.42 in the final minutes this day on the news.

ImClone Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: IMCL) dipped today after suffering a downgrade by Morgan Stanley. Shares were down over 6% at $41.87 in the final minutes this day on the news.

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) rose today after announcing changes to its BlackBerry, making it more competitive with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)’s iPhone. Shares were up over 7% at $142.45 in the last minutes of the day.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) reported a wider loss this day compared to a year ago. It posted a loss of $129.3 million or $0.42 EPS and on reports of subscriber growth. Shares rose 4% to $12.30 in late day trading.

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Filed under: Deals, Oracle Corp (ORCL)

Several years ago, Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL)’s CEO, Larry Ellison, stated there were too many software companies, and that as a result, there would be a trend towards consolidation.

However, with the credit crunch - and the slowing economy - things have gone off track somewhat. But now we may see more dealmaking.

Take a look at NetManage (NASDAQ: NETM). The company has been “in play” for a while. Last year, Rocket Software tried to purchase the company for $69 million, but the deal fell-through because of difficulties with obtaining financing.

Well, NetManage was able to find a new suitor, Micro Focus International, and both parties recently agreed to a $73.3 million buyout deal.

NetManage has a strong set of technologies that deal with integration and web services. The company has also been revamping its platform. In Q4, the company posted a 27% increase in revenues to $10.9 million and net income came to $1.7 million, or $0.17 per share.

Micro Focus, though, is probably more interested in NetManage’s customer base, which is about 10,000 or so. The company cranks out about $22 million in maintenance fees, which are fairly reliable and high margin.

And despite the recent improvement with NetManage, the company still faces tough competition. So, selling out — especially at its 70%+ premium — makes a lot of sense.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar On the internet Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

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Filed under: Deals, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), International Business Machines (IBM)

Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) will purchase about 24 data centers in Europe from BT Group (formerly British Telecom) for $2.9 billion, the Sunday Times in London reported Sunday, with an official announcement apt to come within weeks. However, BT Group will likely sign a 10-year contract to continue using the data centers with HP; BT Group just won’t own them any longer.

But this isn’t just a deal for HP to own more data centers as it beefs up its service provider portfolio in addition to its manufacturing prowess. BT Group is also going to manage the remainder of HP’s voice and data networks worldwide. The London-based telecom company already handles HP’s European voice and data networks, so this transaction is like trading a global service contract for a bunch of server farms. Or at least that’s what is sounds like.

HP will continue to ramp up its portfolio of service offerings to superior compete with IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM), a company that left the hardware business to focus on service contracts with corporate customers and that has done well at it under former CEO Lou Gerstner and current CEO Sam Palmisano. HP is already a bigger company by revenues than IBM, but it doesn’t have the service provider clout yet — it’s still first and foremost a manufacturing company.

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Filed under: Deals, Internet, Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Politics

The BBC reported on Saturday that demands are being made for careful government scrutiny of any potential alliances between Internet giants Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

According to the BBC report, a coalition of activist groups including the Black Leadership Forum, the League of Rural Voters, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, and the American Agriculture Movement, is concerned that allowing any kind of unregulated working relationship between Yahoo and Google could put World wide web neutrality in serious jeopardy. Gary Flowers, representing the Black Leadership Forum, is quoted by BBC as stating, “We all suffer in such mega mergers.” He further stated that the nature of such a partnership could “condense competition, increase prices and limit new business opportunity on the World wide web.”

The BBC indicates that the Justice Department is already in the process of reviewing joint operation trials that the two companies have engaged in. However, the department seems to be down playing the citizen coalition’s demands, citing that the two companies have no working agreements to address. At a recently held Google shareholders meeting the matter was addressed by Chairman Eric Schmidt who stated, “If there were a deal [with Yahoo], we would anticipate structuring the deal to address the antitrust concerns that have been widely discussed.”

I would tend to echo the valid concerns of Gary Flowers: too much control over Internet communications by any one particular entity or alliance would inevitably be bad for all of us. I think the matter needs to be taken to a broader base of examination than the justice department alone can provide.

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Filed under: Deals, Citigroup Inc. (C), Clear Channel Commun (CCU), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wachovia Corp (WB)

Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the $19.4 billion buyout of Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) was dead. But in the deal market, things can change quickly.

Just this day, the New York Supreme Court stated there will be a stay on the litigation on the deal. According to CNBC, it looks like the celebrations are engaged in heavy settlement talk.

No doubt, a trial could be problematic for the banks that are on the hook for $22 billion in debt financing. These banks include: Citigroup (NYSE: C), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank AG and Wachovia (NYSE: WB).

Now, they might be willing to fund the deal.

Why? Well, it looks like the debt markets are improving and the major banks have worked hard to boost their balance sheets.

In other words, the US credit crunch may be thawing. If so, we might see some more dealmaking - which would be a relief for Wall Street banks eager to get some juicy fees.

So far in today’s trading, Clear Channel’s shares are up 9.5%.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar On the internet Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Apple Inc (AAPL), Research in Motion (RIMM), Morgan Stanley (MS), United Parcel’B’ (UPS), Electronic Arts (ERTS)

Before the bell: Futures higher as oil retreats, dollar strengthens

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) raised $4 billion for a fund that invests in infrastructure projects, far exceeding the $2.5 billion target it has set. Other than ports, roads and parking lots, governments are spending more and more on infrastructure, especially water, electricity and telecommunications, and funds for such undertakings are greatly required.

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) today introduced the BlackBerry Bold smartphone. While it was hailed an iPhone killer by some, the company continues to position the BlackBerry as a smartphone for business and heavy users, rather than try to cut into Apple’s consumer market. According to RIM’s statement, “the BlackBerry Bold is designed to give business professionals and power users unprecedented functionality and performance in an intuitive BlackBerry smartphone. It is the first BlackBerry smartphone to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world and comes with integrated GPS and Wi-Fi, as well as a rich set of multimedia abilities.” If you wondered, the QWERTY keyboard is still there, but its most amazing feature is apparently the display. While RIMM is up 1.6% in premarket trading, some think it’s in for a bruising.

And meanwhile, of course, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is continuing its push to bring the iPhone worldwide. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd stated it and its mobile associates — Bharti Airtel Ltd, Globe Telecom Inc and Australian unit Optus — will bring the iPhone to Singapore, India, Australia and the Philippines later this year as they’d signed the agreement with Apple.
As for the 3G iPhone, it may launch when Steve Jobs gives his keynote address on June 9, the first day of the 2008 World Wide Developers conference. While no announcement was made, Fortune has confirmed the date of the keynote with Apple public relations.

Just like a never ending video game, the saga of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) still hasn’t come to a conclusion. But perhaps it is a step closer. ERTS announced late Friday it received debt financing commitments of up to $1 billion for its $2 billion tender offer for smaller rival Take-Two.

Also expected to report this day is LDK Solar Co. (NYSE: LDK), the recently popular with investor solar energy company. Last week, LDK announced a 5-year agreement to supply multicrystalline solar wafers to German chipmaker Qimonda, or Centrosolar. Analysts anticipate LDK to report a first-quarter profit of 39 cents a share. LDK shares are trading almost 1.5% higher in premarket trading.

Following FedEx (NYSE: FDX)’s warning, United Parcel Services (NYSE: UPS) shares have been declining over 1% in extended trading.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, XM Satellite Radio (XMSR), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Market matters, Sprint Nextel Corp (S), FedEx Corp (FDX), Amer Intl Group (AIG), News Corp’B’ (NWS), Economic data, Oil, MBIA Inc (MBI)

Stock futures were higher early Monday morning as the dollar strengthened and oil prices retreated. Investors may be coming into the market looking for bargains as a result of the current selloff, meanwhile digesting news of a profit warning from FedEx, upbeat outlook from HSBC and Cableivision may be close to buying Newsday.

On Friday, stocks tanked after oil kept setting new highs, passing the $126 per barrel level. Losses from American International Group — a Dow component — also contributed to the bearish sentiment as many had hoped financials were on their way to a recovery. The Dow industrials lost 120 points, or 0.94%, the Nasdaq Composite declined 5 points, or 0.23%, and the S&P 500 declined 9 points, or 0.67%.

Without much economic news, investors will focus on the dollar and oil prices. After breaking the $126 per barrel level Friday and settling at $125.96, oil prices retreated Monday in Asia as the dollar strengthened against the euro and yen. Of course, the retreat is relative and oil has been trading around $125.34 recently.
And for the first time since December 2005, futures traders are turning bullish on the dollar, according to Bloomberg. According to two measures of currency trading, it seems traders anticipate further dollar appreciation, and not only that, that the rally will hold.

Late Friday, FedEx (NYSE: FDX) warned its fourth-quarter profits could be injured due to the increase in fuel cost and it cut its quarterly guidance. FDX shares were trading over 3% lower in after-hours Friday.

But while FedEx gave a gloomy outlook, HSBC (NYSE: HBC) stated it expects to record larger first-quarter profit than a year earlier despite $3.2 billion in writedowns it disclosed Monday. HSBC CEO said there has been a lull in U.S. delinquencies. HBC shares have been up over 2% in Europe.

In deal news, Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) may be close to buying Newsday newspaper Tribune Co. after Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) withdrew its offer. The price mentioned is $650 million.

And finally, companies reporting today include Quarterly updates also are due from Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), which has been in the news lately with a large WiMax deal and possible intereste from Deutche Telekom (NYSE: DT), MBIA (NYSE: MBI), which has seen much better days in its past, and Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), which is still waiting for approval of its purchase of rival XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR).

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