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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