Reuters Group PLC (NDAQ:RTRSY) shares moved up $15.08, or 25.59%, to $74 after the company confirmed a possible takeover bid. The Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada identified the bidder as Thomson Corporation - a private financial data provider.

Chief Executive Officer Tom Glocer said he could say very little about the approach, except that his company was considering the proposal and the board would be guided by what is in the best interest of Reuters and its stakeholders and employees.

What is the current offer? Well, The Financial Times reported on its website today that an unidentified "usually knowledgeable source" said that Thomson had offered 600 pence ($11.94) per share for the company, valuing it at $15 billion. However, Reuters is reportedly only considering offers above 750 pence. Currently, shares of the company are trading around 615 pence - or $12.24 per share - above the reported buyout bid.

This is definitely a situation to watch as the financial news and information businesses continue to receive bids. The Wall Street Journal bid is reportedly being rejected while Reuters is also reportedly holding out for more. Obviously, management and investors believe that businesses in this sector are undervalued and worth more. Either way, RTRSY is definitely an ADR worth watching!

Yahoo! Inc. (NDAQ:YHOO) shares jumped $4.50, or 15.97%, to $32.68 today after reports surfaced that Microsoft Corporation (NDAQ:MSFT) considering a buyout of the search engine in order to better compete with mutual-rival Google Inc. (NDAQ:GOOG). The combined company would more than double Google's market cap and close much the Google's lead in the search business.

The speculation began when the New York Post reported that Microsoft has asked Yahoo to enter formal negotiations for an acquisition that could be worth upwards of $50 billion - significantly higher than Yahoo's $38 billion market cap as of Thursday. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that executives of the two companies are looking at a merger or some other kind of match-up, but cautioned that the talks are still in early stages.

The idea shouldn't come as that big of a surprise to investors - it's happened before! The two companies explored the idea of combining last year but the talks led nowhere. Now, both companies are feeling the pressure to compete with Google, which recently beefed up its portfolio with its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, Inc. Google also won search deals last year with AOL and MySpace, which dramatically increased its lead in the search business.

So, what are the chances of a match-up at this point? Well, it is likely that the two will at least put together some kind of a search agreement in the near-term to compete with Google. Whether or not there will be a full scale merger remains to be seen. However, sources close to the situation also said that Microsoft's latest approach to Yahoo signaled an increased urgency - so we should know something soon!

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Glenayre Technologies, Inc. (NDAQ:GEMS) shares jumped $0.18, or 8.18%, to $2.38 today after Daniel Loeb's Third Point disclosed a 6.3% stake in the company and demanded that the company immediately put itself up for sale.

Daniel Loeb is well known for unlocking value in his funds' investments through shareholder activism. This typically involves authoring letters to boards of directors and replacing them in proxy fights if they do not heed his demands. And it works - his hedge fund has returned an annual average of 28.9% between 1995 and 2005, beating both the market and most other hedge funds!

So, what does he see in Glenayre? Well, the company is currently set on an acquisition-based strategy that Loeb insists will run it into the ground. The company's SG&A spending - which includes executive compensation - is simply too high for a company of its size. The company also has $355 worth of net operating loss carryfowards (NOLs) that can be used to offset future income.

Given the elimination of these costs (along with compliance costs for Sarbanes-Oxley) and the addition of the NOLs' value, Loeb suggests that the company currently trades at less than 2x adjusted EBITDA. This would make it a logical buyout target for strategic or financial buyers at a considerably higher valuation. Consequently, Loeb suggests that the board can best maximize shareholder value by putting the company up for sale.

Whether or not this occurs depends on how close the board is to management. However, if no action is taken, Loeb said at the end of his letter to the board that he would explore all legal and other options to combat them - including removing them from office. This makes GEMS a stock worth following!

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Transocean Inc. (NYSE:RIG) shares added more than 3% earlier this week after the company announced first-quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates. The company attributed the performance to net profits which more than doubled due to high oil and gas prices coupled with flat operational costs.

Transocean's conference call today addressed concerns that their drilling operations are a cyclical business and rig rentals will fall in a year or two along with the stock. A company officer reassured shareholders, saying that there is so much demand for deep water drilling that the current cycle will last well beyond 2010.

The conference call also noted that recent deep water rig rentals from other companies soared to over $500,000 per day - a number well  below what RIG is charging. Obviously, any rise in Transoceans' rates would provide a direct boost to their bottom line. The reality is that oil demand is going up every year while it continues to be a scarce resource.

Meanwhile, the company's fundamentals continue to be attractive. The current P/E to growth (PEG) ratio stands at just 0.46, meaning the stock is extremely undervalued given its growth prospects. The company's forward P/E of 8x also suggests it is undervalued. Combined, these are all factors that make RIG a safe bet in the oil industry for the next few years.

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RadioShack (NYSE:RSH) reported first quarter earnings earlier this week that more than doubled analyst estimates causing shares in the company to rise more than 10% already this week.

The strong report comes despite negative stories out of Barron's and the Wall Street Journal along with a parody in The Onion. So, why is everyone wrong about this company? Well, RSH has recently been restructuring itself by selling off its under-performing stores.

The result has obviously been declining sales, which caused the bearish sentiment we've seen in many financial publications. What many people fair to recognize is RadioShack's gross margins, which have increased from 48% to 52% while its earnings moved from $0.14 to $0.29 per share last year.

The strategy is one that was pioneered by Sears Holdings (NYSE:SHLD) when it moved from $15 to $190 per share during its turnaround. If RadioShack follows the same road, it is likely that analysts will continue to remain bearish on the stock while its same store sales continue to sink. However, investors who are willing to weather this storm and realize the bottom-line improvements will see blue skies. These factors make RSH a stock worth watching closely over the next few quarters!

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Synenco Energy Inc. (TSE:SYN) shares moved up 3.36% today after the company announced that it is conducting a strategic review and has hired TD Securities Inc. and Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. to advise it.

The move to explore strategic options came after the company halted construction of a $4.7 billion refinery upgrade because it was becoming too expensive. The halting of construction may affect Chinese oil giant China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., who invested $119 million for a 40% stake in the project back in May 2005.

The stock caught investors' eyes when the company stated that nothing has been ruled out at this point and that it would consider as many options as possible. These options could include anything from restructuring downstream businesses for economies of scale to an outright sale of the corporation.

Many analysts are pointing to China's Sinopec as the logical buyer for the company at this point given their existing 40% stake in this project. And Sinopec did not deny that they were in talks with the company! More, investors and analysts point to other recent acquisitions in regional oil sands projects like Statoil ASA's recent acquisition of North American Oil Sands Corp. for $1.97 billion. Clearly there is interest in the company!

Whether or not a sale of the company is in the cards remains to be seen, however this stock is definitely one to keep an eye on in the meantime. Any sale of the company could come at a substantial premium to the current market price - even after today's move.

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Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) shares jumped $2.72, or 8.33%, to $35.39 today after the company agreed to be taken private by the founding Dolan family for about $10.6 billion. We first mentioned the possibility of a raised bid back in early April, where we also suggested other possible targets. The current $36.26 per share offer was an 11% premium to Tuesday's closing price and a 52% premium to Cablevision's price before Dolan's first bid. The board had rejected the family's past bids for the company, that came in at around $21 per share initially, since 2005. The board finally accepted today's bid after careful deliberation with the family.

Now that the heavy investment spending by many of these large cable companies to lay down the groundwork is completed, there is simply strong cash flows remaining for the coming years as their spending declines. This trend led to the buyout of Cox Communications and Insight Communications, which have both recently been taking private by private equity firms and controlling shareholders. Many analysts expect these trends to continue before the valuations of cable companies rise high enough to prohibit such takeovers. And given the multiples we are seeing today, this could be awhile. Two companies to keep an eye on are RCN Corporation (RCNI) and Knology (KNOL), which are both smaller cable operators that have a strong niche presence in their respective markets.

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Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (NYSE:DJ) shares jumped over 50% today after the company received an unsolicited $5 billion, or $60 per share, bid from News Corp. (NYSE:NWS). The move would expand News Corp's reach into business media with the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswire. While unsolicited, News Corp. insisted that the bid was friendly and the company would not pursue any kind of a hostile takeover of Dow Jones.

It is obvious that Dow Jones is a company that News Corp. wants badly enough that it would bid such a high amount to preclude competitors. Dow Jones investors may be ready for an exit too after the company announced first-quarter profits that fell 63% after revenue at the Wall Street Journal declined. Coupled with a slowdown in the print media industry - which saw newspaper circulation fall 2.1% in six months - the bid should be welcomed by the company's board of directors. However, we'll have to wait and see...

News of the unsolicited bid also sent shares of other newspaper companies up as speculation of consolidation in the industry took over. Gannett rose 5%, the New York Times rose 5% and the Washington Post rose nearly 3%. For now, however, this seems like an isolated incident.

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Agile Software Corporation (NDAQ:AGIL) shares moved up $0.24, or 3.34%, to $7.43 today after the company announced the date of its annual shareholders meeting in a Schedule 14A proxy filing with the SEC. Normally this isn't such big news, but in Agile's case this year's June 20th annual meeting promises to be like no other!

Agile Software has been engulfed in a month-long battle with activist hedge fund manager Robert Chapman, who has been pushing for a sale of the company. And he is not alone - Shamrock Activist Value Fund also voiced its support for the idea along with other large institutional investors.

The two hedge funds are concerned that independent software companies focusing on the product lifecycle management industry cannot compete against their larger rivals. Consequently, a sale of the company may be the only viable option for investors concerned over slow revenue growth and narrowing profit margins.

Agile has reportedly hired Citigroup to help it explore its strategic options, but some investors worry that they may use their large cash position to make an acquisition rather than auction itself off. This is why many large investors are going to be carefully watching the company during its annual meeting this year, hoping to get an idea of where they plan on taking the company.

Meanwhile, Chapman hinted that he would outline his argument for selling the company in a filing with the SEC shortly. We will likely get to see this before June 20th so that it can be discussed during the company's annual meeting. If Chapman and other investors are successful in pushing for a sale of the company, it could mean significant share appreciation. This makes AGIL a stock worth watching!

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Wendy's International (NYSE:WEN) shares jumped over 10% last week after the company announced that it was considering putting itself up for sale. The move comes after billionaire investor Nelson Peltz and former shareholder Bill Ackman pressured the company to boost its stock price. The two first persuaded Wendy's to spin off Tim Hortons, a coffee and doughnut chain, in September and sell its Baja Fresh chain in November. But activist shareholders and finally managed to convince the board that this simply is not enough.

The company still owns a lot of undervalued assets including about half as many locations as McDonald's. Investors argue that there is a lot of money tied up in these assets that could easily catch the interest of a financial buyer or perhaps even a strategic buyer. Financial buyers are attracted to the company's cash flows and real estate, which can be used to repay the debt borrowed to finance the transaction. Strategic buyers may be interested in the large scale of Wendy's operations; however, some argue that it may be too expensive for most strategic buyers. Whether or not a sale actually takes place remains to be seen; however, WEN is definitely a stock to keep an eye on as this situation unfolds!

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