AMR Corporation (NYSE:AMR) announced a plan today to reduce its interest expense amid pressure from activist shareholders to improve its financial results. The plan calls for the American Airlines parent company to prepay $545 million in aircraft debt in the forth quarter and should cut annual interest expenses by $25 million, according to their press release.

"With our improving financial performance, we have bolstered our liquidity position and we have opportunistically strengthened our balance sheet by reducing debt," said Thomas W. Horton, Executive Vice President of Finance and Planning and Chief Financial Officer of AMR. "While we have more work to do, our recent decisions not only improve our balance sheet, but also reduce our interest burden going forward and give us more financial flexibility for the future."

This new plan supplements existing actions taken by the company in the first half of 2007, including debt prepayments, bond refinancings and the lowering of interest rates on a credit facility. Combined, these actions eliminated an incremental $27 million of annual net interest expense, in additional to the net interest expense savings from AMR's scheduled debt amortizations. In the end, the company expects its net interest expenses to be $130 million lower than its expenses for the same period in 2006.

Clearly, AMR is doing what it can to reduce its expenses and improve its balance sheet to help unlock value for shareholders. Shareholders also applauded the move as AMR stock rose over 10% during the past two days. In the end, this is great news that makes AMR a stock worth watching over the next few months!

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Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN) shares rallied for a second day after Samson Holding revealed a business combination proposal that the company declined to pursue in a Schedule 13D filing with the SEC. Shareholders are clearly excited about the interest as shares jumped almost 30% yesterday and another 7% in early trading today.

"[We] presented a proposal to the Issuer in July this year with respect to a possible business combination transaction, which the Issuer declined to pursue," said Samson in a statement. "The Issuer is a major customer of Samson Holding and in a business that is complementary to the Reporting Persons’ businesses and/or investments."

The Samson group said that it "may consider various alternative courses of action and take any action deemed appropriate" including seeking to acquire control of the company or pursuing board representation. This hardliner stance is the main reason shares in the company have risen to greatly.

In the end, any business combination is great news for shareholders as it would mean a significant premium to the company's current market price. Obviously, shareholders are very interested in such a deal as the share price has spiked on the news while the company seems like it may be resistant. Overall, this is a great stock to watch as this situation unfolds!

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A large shareholder of Duckwall ALCO Stores Inc. (NDAQ:DUCK) recommended several strategic changes for the company in a recent telephone conversation with Chairman Warren Gfeller, according to a Schedule 13D/A filing with the SEC. Shareholders and analysts are hoping that this could be a turning point for the company.

Strongbow Capital, which owns 14.2 percent of the company, suggested that the company expand the size of the board by one member and create an executive committee of the board that would be authorized to exercise all powers and authority of the board in the management of the business.

The hedge fund suggested that this executive committee work to reduce average inventory levels, reduce SG&A expenses and reduce losses from shrinkage. Strongbow also recommended that its own representatives occupy the additional board seat and be appointed to the executive committee.

Shareholders are hoping that this move can help bring accountability back to management and help the retailer improve its balance sheet and cash positions. It will be interesting to see if the company agrees with Strongbow and implements these changes. If so, this is definitely a stock worth watching!

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Bioenvision Inc. (NDAQ:BIVN) may have trouble pushing through its proposed merger with Genzyme after a major shareholder reiterated its intentions to vote against it in the company's upcoming annual meeting. Shareholders are divided on the issue that promises to be a close call on October 14th.

SCO, which owns 13.1% of Biovision, called the $5.60 offer extremely inadequate and the result of a poorly managed and ill-timed sale process. The activist hedge fund believes that the company should instead work on behalf of shareholders to maximize value over the near term through alternative strategies.

"We remain highly confident that clofarabine will be approved in the European Union for the treatment of adult AML in 2008," said SCO in a letter to the board. "We believe that Bioenvision will be well positioned, within a 3 to 6 month timeframe, to engage an independent investment bank to do a well-run process to market the company to possible acquirors, and that there will be considerable interest in clorfarabine. We believe that this type of processs could lead to an offer price well in excess of the current offer price, leading to a success for all common shareholders including Genzyme."

SCO also announced that it intends to propose a new slate of directors for the next annual shareholders meeting that would work to this end and unlock value for common shareholders. Combined, these factors make BIVN a stock worth watching!

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Microsoft Corporation (NDAQ:MSFT) and Google Inc. (NDAQ:GOOG) have reportedly offered to invest anywhere between $300 million and $500 million for a 5% stake in the social networking giant Facebook. Many investors are carefully watching this deal as it could open the door to many opportunities.

First, there is speculation that the social networking website will use some of the money to build out its own advertising platform that could help boost its somewhat lackluster $150 million per year in revenues. Specifically, the company may use the cash infusion to buy a behavioral advertising company.

Many also insist that Facebook may have an interest in going public. After all, with its own stock it would be able to quickly make acquisitions and ramp up its operations. Obviously, any initial offering in this sector would be a hot IPO that is definitely worth watching closely.

In the end, Facebook will no longer have the time to invent new addons and services for its company. It will likely be forced to hire new engineers or acquire companies with products to fill their void to maintain strong growth. However, it is still uncertain as to whether the company will remain private, pursue a buyout or go public. Combined, these factors make Facebook and other players like MSFT and GOOG stocks worth watching!

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Though unconfirmed, the New York Times is reporting that famous investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) is considering buying as much as 20% of the troubled financial firm Bear Sterns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC).

Bear Sterns recently reported a 60% drop in third-quarter profit due to terrible loses from its mortgage trading department. The collapse of two of Bear Sterns hedge funds also cost the firm more than $200 million as well as seriously tarnished its reputation.

Bear Sterns has been attracting a good deal of outside interest recently as its shares were trading near book value. The article reported that:

"Mr. Buffett, in particular, reached out to [Bear Sterns CEO] Mr. Cayne about a month ago...when the stock was approaching its one-year low of $100. While he is not known to be close friends with Mr. Cayne, Mr. Buffett might find more in common with the Bear Stearns boss than other Wall Street chief executives. Both in their mid-70s, they hail from the Midwest and are passionate bridge players."

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Wachovia (NYSE: WB) are also supposedly interested in pursuing a possible deal with Bear Sterns, though CEO James Cayne has been known to demand a premium of as much as 40% from outside investors.

Regardless of what happens, with Warren Buffett's name in the mix, BSC is definitely as stock worth watching!

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3Com Corporation (NASDAQ: COMS), a network hardware and software provider for corporations, announced today that it has agreed to be sold to Bain Capital Partners LLC with Huawei Technologies Corporation, China's largest networking company, taking a minority stake of 3Com in the deal.

The all-cash deal values 3Com at $2.2 billion or about $5.30 per share, a premium of more than 40% over yesterday's closing price of $3.68.

In a statement, Edgar Masri, President and CEO of 3Com, said "We believe that this agreement better positions 3Com to establish itself as a global networking leader, which will benefit our employees, our customers and our partners."

3Com has a pre-existing relationship with Huawei, as they had operated a joint venture together in China since 2003. The jointly held company, called Huawei-3Com Ltd., performed exceptionally well, helping boost revenue for 3Com some 60% last year.

Even with a foothold in the Chinese market, 3Com has struggled to compete against bigger players like Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT). In the face of such tough competition, Masri said that the board and management "have thoroughly reviewed our strategic alternatives and have determined that the agreement with Bain Capital provides the best value for 3Com shareholders."

Shares of 3Com are up more than 30%, to nearly $5 a share, on news of the deal.

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Private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. has said that it doesn't plan to finish its purchase of SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM), more commonly called Sallie Mae.

Sallie Mae was created with government support in 1972, though it has been completely privatized since 2004. It manages more than $150 billion in student loans.

The deal to buyout Sallie Mae at $60 per share was announced this April and slated to be complete by next month. In a statement, however, the J.C. Flowers firm, which heads a consortium of buyer including Bank of American and JPMorgan Chase, said "that the conditions to closing under the merger agreement, if the closing were to occur today, would not be satisfied as a result of changes in the legislative and economic environment."

The change in the legislative environment is a reference to new student-loan legislation, which Bush just signed into law, that cuts $20 billion in subsidies to Sallie Mae and other student-loan companies while balancing this measure by drastically decreasing the interest rate on government-backed student loans.

Sallie Mae still thinks the deal should be completed and has released a statement warning it "firmly believes that the buyer group has no contractual basis to repudiate its obligations under the merger agreement and intends to pursue all remedies available to it to the fullest extent permitted by law."

The upcoming battle to decide future ownership definitely makes SLM a stock worth watching!

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Spectrum Brands Inc. (NYSE:SPC) is set to receive its first round of bids for its pet supply business which is expected to fetch in excess of $1 billion. The segment is said to have had $543 million in net sales in 2006 with an EBITDA around $100 million, according to sources close to the situation.

The diversified retailer said it would divest the business after several shareholders complained that the company had overleveraged itself to make a series of acquisitions. The divesture also follows the company's move to sell its lawn, garden and insect control businesses last year when it hired Goldman Sachs to explore alternatives.

Currently, Spectrum has yet to sell any of its business segments but shareholders are hoping that this first deal - which accounts for 21% of the company's overall sales - will help spark interest in others and improve the company's suffering financial condition.

In the end, this is great news for shareholders as it means more cash on the balance sheet, less debt, and much greater flexibility. Spectrum's plan to divest all of its mis-guided acquisitions is a move that could finally help shareholders unlock value that has been hidden in this company for years. Combined, these factors make SPC a stock worth watching!

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China Direct Inc. (AMEX: CDS) is a management and consulting company that both provides consulting services to public Chinese companies as well as acquires controlling stakes in Chinese firms with the intent of using the position to better direct and manage the business.

Though China Direct focuses specifically on mid-size Chinese companies, it still represents a play on the Chinese economy as a whole - which is almost universally seen as a very attractive investment.

Though China's GDP has been notoriously difficult to pin down precisely due to government manipulation of the numbers and other statistical factors, it is generally accepted that China has been growing at an astonishing annual rate of approximately 9% since the late 1970's, with GDP growth in the last three years averaging an even higher 10%.

China Direct is particularly poised for growth as it was just listed on the American Stock Exchange on September 24th. This was an important symbolic step representing the company's permanence and market cap, now exceeding $130 million - but it also plays a practical role in the company's future.

New merger and acquisition regulations in China would have prohibited China Direct from using its OTC shares for purchasing stakes in Chinese companies; however, China Direct can now use equity for future investments due to its listing on AMEX.

The listing of China Direct on AMEX combined with the recent performance of Jinwei, a subsidiary of China Direct that produces magnesium, has sent China Direct's stock price up almost 50% this week.