NVIDIA Corporation (NDAQ: NVDA) shares tumbled today after the graphics processor maker warned that its second quarter may suffer. Shares plunged more than 30 percent after the company issued revenue and gross margin warnings and blamed the problems on weak demand, delayed production of new products and price cuts. The news comes ahead of its quarterly earnings along with that of many other companies operating in the sector.

NVIDIA said that it now expects its second quarter revenues to range between $875 million and $950 million with gross margins also expected to be lower than internal expectations. This compares to a prior revenue forecast of $1.01 billion by analysts. The company also said that it would take a charge of $150 million to $200 million in the second quarter to cover anticipated warranty, repair, and return costs associated with a defect on some of its chips.

Shares of NVIDIA rival Advanced Micro Devices, which owns ATI, fell 3.7 percent on the forecast. Others weren't safe either as the Philadelphia semiconductor index fell as much as 2.7 percent in early trading before recovering to trade down just 0.5 percent right now. The industry as a whole has been experiencing problems as consumer spending has weakened - particularly on high-end computers and graphics cards needed for gaming and graphics design purposes.

Shares of NVIDIA Corporation fell $5.52, or 30.12%, to $12.60 per share on the news.

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Northstar Neuroscience, Inc. (NDAQ: NSTR) shares are up sharply today after a large shareholder offered to purchase the company. Tang Capital Partners announced its offer to acquire the company at $2.25 per share in cash today, sending shares more than 22 percent higher on the day. The announcement was revealed in a Schedule 13D/A filing with the SEC.

"As Northstar's largest shareholder, holding approximately 18% of Northstar's outstanding common stock, we have spent considerable time analyzing Northstar and its options. We strongly believe that the best course of action for Northstar and its shareholders is for Northstar to be acquired in a transaction that represents a significant premium to its current market price," said the hedge fund.

"However, the window for consummating any such transaction is limited; if the Board is to prevent further erosion of Northstar's value, it must act quickly. Accordingly, this non-binding proposal is contingent on our receipt of a positive response on or before July 9, 2008 and Northstar entering into a binding definitive merger agreement on or before July 23, 2008.

"Our proposal provides Northstar shareholders an immediate and certain path to a premium, all-cash transaction that will eliminate future market risk as well as the risk of future erosion in value. We believe that the vast majority of other Northstar shareholders will agree and expect this proposal to be readily approved by them. We encourage Northstar's Board to work with us to finalize a definitive merger agreement and bring the transaction to a shareholder vote as quickly as possible.

"We value the input of the Board and management when considering Northstar's strategic alternatives and have tried on several occasions to have constructive, confidential discussions with management regarding these alternatives. So far, management has been unwilling to entertain such discussions except under conditions that would make it impossible for us to protect the value of our significant investment in Northstar. We have made this proposal now because of our belief that this is the only remaining path to protect that investment."

This is great news for shareholders as the buyout price represents a substantial 50% premium to the going market price before the announcement was made. Whether or not the company agrees remains to be seen, but it appears that shareholders are bullish on the prospects at this point. Still, shares are trading substantially below the buyout premium at just $1.84 per share.

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H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) announced that it swung to a quarterly profit and surpassed analyst estimates. The tax preparer sold off its Option One mortgage servicing business to billionaire Wilbur Ross in April and forecast a full-year profit that was also higher than the market was expecting by a long shot.

Many traders had positioned themselves for poor results earlier this month, sending the stock some 10% lower on June 20th. Specifically, they expressed concerns about the company's guidance, saying the cash-poor households may start doing their own taxes rather than paying H&R Block to do them.

However, many contrarians were able to make a mint from this trade. There have been many economic slowdowns in the past, but professional filing of taxes has tended to be recession resistant. After all, many filers use professional tax preparers in order to access their refunds more quickly than otherwise possible.

Notably, H&R Block even managed to increase its U.S. retail client base by 3.8 percent while its number of international clients grew by 6.1 percent with particularly strong growth in Canada. The company said it was confident that it would realize significant gains in earnings per share through 2011.

In the end, however, it was the value of the dollar that helped the most. More than half of the revenue increase and a third of the profit increases from the international business resulted from favorable exchange rates when compared to the U.S. dollar. However, with continued weakness in the United States, this disparity should continue to grow.

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