Pershing Square's Bill Ackman changed his status in Borders Group (NYSE:BGP) from passive to active, according to a Schedule 13D filing with the SEC today. The stock surged over 3 percent in response as investors hope the famous activist investor will work to unlock value for shareholders.

Bill Ackman reportedly discussed corporate governance issues with board members upon request by Borders representatives. The activist investor also reported a slight increase in his stake in the company, but noted that he does not believe the discussions will constitute an attempt to change or influence control of the company.

Ackman is well known for his activist involvement in Wendy's, McDonalds, and Target, in which he worked to unlock value through spin-offs and other strategic transactions. The activist is famous for his occasionally harsh letters to management and board members expressing dissatisfaction.

Pershing Square now owns 6.9 million shares, or 11.7 percent, of the company compared to 6.8 million shares, or 11.6 percent of the company, reported in March. Clearly, the hedge fund has confidence in the company but has not yet decided to take a fully activist stance - opting to let management continue as they have in the past. Combined, these factors make BGP a stock worth watching!

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LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) shares rose $3.95, or 10.53%, to $41.45 today after the solar wafer maker raised its revenue forecast and reiterated that it saw no problems in its inventory reporting. Investors jumped on the news sending shares up as much as 23 percent during today's session.

The news comes after LDK's stock plunged 45 percent off its 52-week high of $76.75 over the past four trading days due to a former executive that said the company had problems with its silicon inventories. The former financial controller had reportedly left the company over a dispute regarding the company's inventory controls, which sent shares in a downward spiral.

LDK now boosted its third quarter revenue outlook to a range of $140 million to $150 million from its earlier estimates of $115 million to $125 million. Preliminary data showed that it had exceeded its original forecasts and shipped about 75 megawatts of solar wafers during the third quarter, beating analyst estimates by a significant margin.

 "As we previously indicated, we believe that there is no merit in the allegations made about our inventory accounting practices, our business operations are normal and we continue making shipments to fulfill our customers' orders," Chief Executive Xiaofeng Peng said in a statement.

In the end, this is great news for shareholders but we will have to wait until LDK files its financials to get a good look at the inventory numbers. Sales numbers like these should mean that the company won't have to writedown any inventory assuming that they had too much when the controller left. And if there are no problems, this stock still has a lot of upside. Combined, these factors make LDK a stock worth watching!

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Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) is being pressured to field shareholder questions about the future strategic and operational direction of the telecom provider following Ralph Whitman's growing impatience with CEO Gary Forsee. Many analysts are now looking at a wide range of strategic options that the company could consider to unlock value and narrow its focus.

Sprint Nextel continues to work on integrating issues from its $35 billion 2005 merger while focusing on building a new generation broadband network that has proven to be a significant cash drain to date. The so-called WiMax project is not expected to contribute to the company's profitability for several years and has many investors questioning management's moves.

Sprint does have some strategic options that it could consider, according to those familiar with the situation. The company could put its long-distance division up for sale, which serves large corporate and government clients. However, the company would then have to factor in the fact that they use some of the fiber networks to carry wireless traffic. This sale could generate $4.8 billion in after-tax proceeds.

Other suggest that the company should abandon its new venture and sell the 2.5 Ghz spectrum license that Sprint has reserved for WiMax. Such a deal could net the company $3.4 billion after-tax while eliminating further cash burn. However, the company argued that this project is critical to the success of the company in the future and will begin to gain momentum in 2009.

In the end, Sprint investors may have to remain patient for now as the company works to improve its WiMax project and streamline other businesses. Whether or not the company will shop any of its divisions remains to be seen; however, it is definitely a situation worth watching!

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A large HealthSpring Inc. (NYSE:HS) shareholder expressed its belief that the healthcare company should undergo a share repurchase to unlock value, according to a Schedule 13D/A filing with the SEC. Shareholders are hoping that the hedge fund can force management to take action and help the company's fledging stock price.

The Clinton Group, which owns 4.9 percent of the company, indicated their belief that HealthSpring should take on additional debt or investigate a range of other options to ramp up their share repurchase program. Moreover, despite the hedge funds reduction in its position in the company, it still continues to support the management team.

"Despite (i) the strong Q2 financial  performance and the surpassing of analyst expectations, (ii) the increase in 2007 EPS guidance, (iii)  positive legislative developments and (iv) the completion of the accretive acquisition of Leon Medical Centers Health Plans, Inc., HealthSpring stock continues to languish at a valuation below its peers," said the hedge fund in a letter to the board.

The hedge fund then reiterated its belief that the company has additional debt capacity to repurchase shares to unlock this value, and that management should either (i) investigate upsizing its pending debt raise or adding another tranche to execute a Dutch Auction repurchase of the Issuer's shares or (ii) employ its unrestricted parent cash and $100 mm undrawn revolver to aggressively execute open market purchases of the stock.

In the end, any actions taken by HealthSpring could go a long way to unlock value in a company that is clearly undervalued. Combined, these factors make HS a stock that is definitely worth watching!

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Vonage (NYSE:VG) shares jumped $0.47, or 40.88%, to $1.62 after the company announced that it settled its patent dispute with Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) in a press release. The deal will include a $35 million payment for past use, $40 million for future use, and a $5 million prepayment for services.

"We are pleased to resolve our dispute with Sprint and enter into a productive future relationship," said Sharon O'Leary, General Counsel for Vonage. "We believe this deal is good news for Vonage, our customers and our shareholders. It allows us to put this litigation behind us and continue to focus on our core business by removing the uncertainty of legal reviews and long term court action."

Vonage shares have been suffering ever since a Kansas jury handed down a verdict on September 25th finding that the company had infringed on six Sprint patents. Many shareholders and analysts were concerned that the company would not be able to fight the legal battle and be forced into bankruptcy. Shares are now trading close to the levels they were before the verdict was announced.

Vonage still faces an uphill legal battle with Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), however, which was awarded $58 million in damages in March plus 5.5 percent royalties on future revenues after finding that the company violated three Verizon patents. Vonage executives vowed to fight this ruling but the company may be forced into another large settlement.

In the end, this is good news for shareholders but Vonage still faces an uphill battle. Not only do more legal battles remain on the horizon, but the company must also face the problem it had before all of this started - convincing people to switch to VOIP phone services. Despite all of tihs, VG is definitely a company worth watching!

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A large Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) shareholder may exercise his rights to have the value of his shares appraised in connection with the cable company's proposed buyout deal, according to a Schedule 13D/A filing with the SEC.

Mario Gabelli, who owns an 8.3% stake in the company, said he is carefully considering the buyout offer that he believes is too low. Many shareholders and analysts are carefully watching his moves as his stake may be a key voting block in during the company's upcoming proxy.

"Part of us says take the money and run because of what the world's going through with regard to the [lending market] crisis," said Gabelli in an interview with The New Post. "But it could be worth $65 to $70 a share in five years."

The Dolan family, which controls Cablevision, has proposed to take the company private in a deal worth $10.6 billion - or $36.26 per share. The company's shareholders will vote on the deal on October 24th, while the transaction has already been approved by Cablevision's board.

In the end, a buyout is probably the best option for shareholder given the troubles in the credit market and risks over the next five years. However, whether the transaction gets consummated remains to be seen. We could possibly see a higher buyout price if the appraisal puts a significantly increased valuation on the company. Combined, these factors make this stock one worth watching!

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Carl Icahn revealed an increased stake in BEA Systems, Inc. (NDAQ:BEAS) in a Schedule 13D/A filing with the SEC today. The news comes amid a push from the activist investor towards a sale of the company, despite hefty opposition from executives.

Icahn increased his holdings to 43.3 million shares, or 11.05%, from 38.72 million, or 9.88% in September. His holdings also include call options to purchase BEA shares, which are presumably reserved incase a proxy battle results from this conflict when he could exercise the shares for increased voting control.

Mr. Icahn said in past filings that he believes that a sale of the company to a strategic acquirer will maximize the price of the shares. The billionaire investor also said he was seeking talks with management to discuss possibilities of a deal and said he may seek to nominate members for election to the Board of Directors.

In the end, this is great news for shareholders as any sale of the company would likely result in a substantial premium being paid. Icahn also has an impressive trackrecord of success with all the companies that he has been involved with. Combined, these factors make BEAS a stock worth watching!

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Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S) shares rose $0.79, or 4.21%, to $19.55 during today's session on news that activist investor Ralph Whitworth is turning up the heat on chief executive Gary Forsee and other directors. Shareholders are hoping that the activist can help implement change in the nation's third largest wireless carrier, which has both lost customers and seen its shares drop 27% since its 2005 acquisition of Nextel.

Ralph Whitworth said in an interview that he has "lost confidence in Gary Forsee ... primarily because of management's inability to forecast the company's results and their apparent inability to address the fundamental issues surrounding the core business." Those close to the situation say Whitworth has been pushing for a meeting with the board before the company's annual strategic-planning weekend early next month.

Many of these investors have concerns over the company's WiMax initiative in which the Sprint plans to dump over $5 billion into by 2010. While the company hopes to realize $2 billion in revenue by that time, many are skeptical and have expressed concerns about such a large investment in an emerging technology and platform.

Meanwhile, Sprint claims that it is ontrack for a turnaround with a small 16,000 increase in "post-pay" subscribers, which are its highest valued segment. But many investors and analysts are not convinced that the company is back on track - at least enough to justify the giant new WiMax project. In the end, an activist like Whitworth may be able to talk some sense into the company and ensure that shareholder value is preserved. This makes S a stock worth watching!

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A large Inksure Technologies (OTC:INKS) shareholder demanded that the software company immediately work to unlock shareholder value through a sale, merger or restructuring, according to a Schedule 13D/A filing with the SEC. Shareholders are hoping that the activist investor can convince the company to unlock value in the short-term.

James E. Lineberger Jr., who owns 8.2% of the company, said in a letter to the board that a strategic buyer for Inksure is in the best interest of all stakeholders given the company's lackluster growth and undervaluation. Moreover, action should be taken now while the company still has some momentum, a credible customer base, newly introduced technology, and cash balances to support its operations.

"As we consider the Company’s future based on its past operating and financial history and contrast it with its capital requirements, it is evident to us that immediate action is required by the directors to protect shareholder value," said Lineberger. "It is not in the best interest of stockholders (or for that matter any other stakeholders) for Inksure to remain independent."

Currently, Inksure is running an accumulated deficit of $17 million due to expenses related to its RFID project research and development. With no clear end in sight for the continuing development expenses and the uncertainty of the viability of the RFID project, the cash drain is likely to only continue.

There is also question as to management's integrity, "Further, it is clear to us that a substantial number of shareholders and other stakeholders of the Company have lost faith in the Chairman/CEO of the Company and believe that he has no credibility in the marketplace."

In the end, a sale process could generate substantial returns for shareholders and is probably the best available solution for the company. It will be interesting to see if the board agrees with the activist investor and hires and investment bank to explore its options. Meanwhile, this is definitely a stock worth watching!

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