Genesco Inc. (NTSE:GCO) shares rose $0.88, or 1.76%, to $50.86 today after the company rejected Foot Locker's $1.2 billion - or $46 per share - offer for the company. We first noted the possibility of this bid back in March, when GCO shares were trading at $42 per share. Chairman and CEO Hal Pennington said, "Our board unanimously rejected the proposal and concluded that it did not reflect the long-term value of Genesco, including its strong market position and future growth prospects." Interestingly, the CEO also commented on Foot Locker CEO Matthew Serra's comments stating that his company would be willing to pay $48 to $50 per share and were willing to go higher. Finally, Jefferies & Co. confirmed in a note to clients that Foot Locker can be a higher price and still see benefits from the deal. After all, the purchase would lower the company's reliance on Nike Inc., which currently supplies half of the shoes it sells.

So, is a deal still on the table? Well, clearly there is interest by the purchasing party and Genesco at least took the time to officially review the bid before rejecting it. These actions suggest that Foot Locker may come out with a higher bid for the company, perhaps above $50 per share ceiling that was mentioned. Clearly this is what shareholders are banking on as the company's share price approaches $51 per share! Whether or not this goes through remains to be seen; however, GCO is definitely a stock to watch in the meantime.

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Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE:ECPG) shares $0.80, or 7.43%, to $11.56 in early trading after the company announced that an investor group agreed to take a 25% stake in the company. The investor syndicate consisting of J.C. Flowers & Co. and FPK Capital will acquire the shares through privately negotiated transactions and become the company's largest shareholder. Encore is expected to invite representatives from J.C. Flowers, FPK Capital and Red mountain to join its board next month while several existing board members will step down.

Investors see this new group as a welcome change to a board and management team that has driven the stock down from almost $15 a year ago to its current levels around $11. However, the investor syndicate's Schedule 13D filing with the SEC outlined no clear plans on how it plans to unlock shareholder value. Moreover, the company has already explored strategic alternatives back in June of last year and was unable to produce tangible results. Whether or not the new investor syndicate can help shareholders remains to be seen, but meanwhile this is definitely a stock to watch!

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Google Inc. (NDAQ:GOOG) reported first-quarter profits that surged on increased advertising revenue from its search segment, which continues to outperform rivals Yahoo and Microsoft. Total revenues rose 63% as the company announced its plans to expand into new products and types of advertising. This has resulted in increased spending, however, which rose from $336.6 billion in the fourth quarter to $596.9 billion in the first quarter of this year. Moreover, shareholders will have to deal with the $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick earlier this month, although Google believes this will immediately begin adding to their bottom line.

In an interview CEO Eric Schmidt speculated that Google's growing efforts to broker advertisements that appear in newspapers, radio, and television would become a significant portion of their overall revenues starting in 2008. Many analysts have suggested that Google needs such a boost in order to sustain its momentum, as the company's rate of growth continues to slow. This quarter's 63% growth compares to 67% in the fourth quarter and 79% in the first quarter of 2006. But for now, the company's continued dominance in the search market (controlling 55.8% of all search queries) continues to keep investors happy. The question is: just how long?

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