O'Charley's, Inc. (NDAQ:CHUX) may find itself under pressure from shareholders after activist investor Crescendo Partners disclosed an 8.9 percent stake in the company. The news came shortly after shares plummeted early Friday without reason. The restaurant chain is trading near its 52-week lows off of its high of $23.45 earlier this year.

O'Charley's is a casual dining restaurant company that owns and operates three restaurant concepts under the trade names O'Charley's, Ninety Nine Restaurants, and Stoney River Legendary Steaks. The company owns and operates 227 restaurants in 16 states along with six franchise operations. Restaurants have been a popular activist target recently with many activists demanding spin-offs or share buybacks to unlock value.

Crescendo Partners is most well known for its recent involvement with Topps, where it is attempting to force a buyout of the company. In this case, the hedge fund noted that it was not currently considering taking any typical activist action, but it may amend the filing in the future to include those possibilities. For now, the activist seems content in acquiring shares of the company at near a 52-week low.

In the end, this is a situation definitely worth watching as an activist investor is acquiring a sizable stake at near 52-week lows. Whether or not they will take future actions to actively unlock value remains to be seen, but the possibility is strong given the hedge fund's past actions. Combined, these factors make CHUX a stock worth following!

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E*Trade Financial (NYSE:ETFC) shares dropped marginally today after reports surfaced that the company may be looking to accept a cash infusion or sell itself to a competitor after a 60% cut in its market capitalization. The drop was fueled by analyst reports that there could be a run on deposits at E*Trade's bank, which reported a drop in the value of its mortgage holdings last week.

So, is E*Trade a value play at this point? Well, a cash infusion would likely increase investor confidence after the company's market cap fell to just $2.28 billion from $10.9 billion just a few weeks earlier. However, diluting the equity base might cause some issues with shareholders who have already seen a steep decline in the value of their holdings.

Meanwhile, a buyout may be the better option. The most likely suitor would be TD Ameritrade (NYSE:AMTD) and there would be plenty of benefits for the two firms as customer accounts could be transferred at almost no cost. Additionally, the long-term savings of such a combination would be over $600 million annually. In effect, this would make the deal pay for itself after five years or so.

In the end, this deal is great news for shareholders who stand to benefit from any such transaction. The brokerage also noted yesterday that it was not in any danger of default and would not face a cash crunch. Combined, these factors could mean a potential value play in the future.

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Cisco Systems (NDAQ:CSCO) shares rallied today after the company announced that its board authorized up to $10 billion in additional share repurchases of its common stock with an indefinite time period. This brings the total authorized amount under the program to $62 billion if it is fully completed.

Cisco's current market cap stands at just $178 billion, meaning that if all the shares are repurchased the company will nearly be taken private. The news comes after the company's stock slumped nearly 10 percent when chief executive John Chambers said that declining orders from automobile and financial companies are curbing growth.

Results ended up being in line with expectations but failed to impress investors  who had been expecting faster growth. After all, Cisco has exceeded sales predictions for the last seven out of eight quarters! To help increase growth, the company has looked to invest in emerging markets, making acquisitions and pushing into new products such as television set-top boxes.

Int the end, this share repurchase is good news for investors. While the unlimited timeframe is of some concern, it is good to know that the company is interested in unlocking shareholder value during tough times. Cisco remains a solid stock with solid growth numbers, and should recover along with the general economy. Combined, these factors make CSCO a stock worth watching!

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