FPIC Insurance Group, Inc. (NDAQ:FPIC)
8K Filing by the Company
FPIC said today that it had completed the sale of its insurance management operations in a deal valued at $40 million. The company said that it expects to realize an after-tax gain of approximately $12.5 million from the transaction, pending some closing arrangements. The stock was up 2% on the news in today's trading.

GigaBeam Corporation (NDAQ:GGBM)
8K Filing by the Company
GigaBeam announced its plans today to reduce its cash burn and improve its operating margins. According to the filing, the company is looking to cut pay and reduce its workforce as it transitions from product development to product marketing and sales.

Walter Industries (NYSE:WLT)
13D/A Filing by Pirate Capital
Pirate Capital revealed today in a 13D/A filing that it had sold some of its stake in Walter Industries. This news comes after the fund experienced problems last month when it failed to disclose its sale of OSI in a timely manner. This resulted in several key investors taking out their money, and several managers being fired.

Western Union (NYSE:WU)
General Information
Western Union shares began trading on the NYSE today under the symbol "WU". Shares were roughly even today after an unusually small amount of activity for a spin-off. See our previous story for more information about the spin-off, its valuation, and its prospects.

PW Eagle Incorporated (NDAQ:PWEI) revealed today that Caxton Associates again raised their stake in the company to 8.5%, which comes after Pirate Capital LLC raised their stake on Friday to over 22%. We first noted the Caxton and Pirate's interest in the company back in August, in which we speculated that the company may eventually be forced to "explore strategic alternatives" that could include a sale of the company, although only a share buyback plan has been instituted to date. The company also announced that they would support Pirate's move to install some of its own Board members and appoint a special committee to explore these strategic alternatives. As of now, there is no actual indication of their plans; however, when two activist hedge funds acquire shares at this rate (especially after Pirate's troubles), there is probably more to the story than we know at this point. This is definitely a stock to keep a close eye on as these events unfold.

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The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) began trading as a seperate entity for the first time today after being spun-off from First Data Corporation (NYSE:FDC). FDC shareholders had received on share of WU for each share of FDC that they owned, in a 765 million share tax-free distribution. Western Union also announced a $1 billion share buyback program to be completed by the end of 2008, after having issued $3.5 billion in debt to finance the spin-off.

Spin-offs and their parent companies typically outperform the overall market within their first year, according to several published studies. There are two factors that contribute to this: (1) corporate/capital structure improvements, and (2) baseless selling by uninterested shareholders. Most analysts agree that both Western Union and First Data Corp will benefit on a structural basis from the two companies being seperated; however, since Western Union is so well known (and even being accepted into the S&P 500) there will probably be no baseless initial sell-off that would create great buying opportunities. Despite this, Western Union appears to be a strong company with a great ability to generate cash, while FDC still has a higher breakup value than its market price. Many analysts suggest the company could trade anywhere between $22 and $27 based on an analysis of their peers.

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