Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) shares rebounded after billionaire activist Bill Ackman announced that he would hold a conference on Wednesday to recommend a course of action for the troubled retailer. The hedge fund manager promises that the course of action will build long-term value for Target shareholders with a focus on retail, real estate, fixed income and credit. Ackman is already well under water on his investment in the retail, having purchased the majority of his ~10% stake before the economic downturn.

With consumer confidence at an all-time low, more trouble brewing in the housing markets, and lower estimates on the horizon, many investors are wondering how Target can pull itself out of a huge mess. However, Ackman has already noted Target's unique real estate position as well as its valuable credit portfolio (which may be experiencing problems now, but not nearly as bad as some believe). A plan to boost these assets while reducing outstanding shares could be the formula needed to help Target succeed.

Pershing Square's Bill Ackman will present to the public at 1:30PM tomorrow afternoon at the AXA Equitable Auditorium 787 in New York, New York. The presentation will be based solely on publicly available information, as well as assumptions, estimates and projections of Pershing Square. Due to available seating, attendees are encouraged to register in advance at www.visualwebcaster.com/pstgt, but may also do so at 12:30PM on the day of the event.

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International Shipholding Corporation (NYSE: ISH) shares rallied today after receiving a letter from a large shareholder. Liberty disclosed an increased stake in the firm and requested an immediate update on the status of its offer to purchase the company for $25.27 per share in cash.

Here is a copy of the letter:

It has been more than four months since my June meeting with Niels M. Johnsen, when I first raised with him the possibility of completing a business combination transaction between Liberty and International Shipholding (ISH). It has also been more than seven weeks since we delivered to you a written proposal to acquire ISH for $25.75 per share in cash, and six weeks since you announced the formation of a special committee of the Board to evaluate our proposal. We were therefore surprised to learn that only recently did you finally appoint an independent financial advisor to assist the special committee in its review of our proposal. This appointment, and the review process that the committee is apparently only now commencing, frankly should have occurred months ago. Your dilatory tactics, including your continuing refusal to meet with us, only raise questions regarding the ISH Board’s commitment to maximizing value for all its shareholders.

We have waited for weeks for either the ISH Board, management or their advisors to contact us to commence our due diligence process and negotiation of definitive merger documentation. In the interim, the global economic turmoil that has engulfed world markets has accelerated, negatively affecting our industry as well as the terms of any financing we may incur to complete the transaction. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we are still committed to acquiring ISH. This is evidenced by the fact that, despite recent events, we have increased our position in the company since we made our offer public. As of today we control more than 9% of ISH’s outstanding shares.

I have instructed our counsel to deliver today to your counsel a form of confidentiality agreement that we are prepared to execute in order to immediately move forward with due diligence. Your fiduciary duties to your shareholders require no less. Our management and advisors will also be available at any time to assist you and your advisors. Any further delay on your part will be an absolute disservice to your shareholders, particularly the disinterested shareholders you are legally obligated to represent as independent directors.

Despite your actions to date, we still hope to engage in a cooperative process that allows us to maximize value for our respective shareholders. We would appreciate hearing from you in a timely manner.

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Carl Icahn may cause big waves in huge corporations, but he failed to impress investors in Telik (NDAQ: TELK) today. The stock dropped 4% in late trading despite the fact that the activist investor disclosed an 8.15% stake in the firm. Icahn is known for pushing for change in the companies that he targets and some are speculating that his investment in this company may be to sell a key technology or patent to another company or perhaps one of his affiliates.

Telik shares have dropped sharply since it received a deficiency letter from the Nasdaq that for the last 30 consecutive business days the bid price of Telik's common stock has been below the required $1.00 per share to continue appearing on the exchange. However, Telik's drugs have seen better results with one of its small molecule proteasome inhibitors meeting preclinical milestones by demonstrating anticancer activity in preclinical models of human leukemia.

Telik, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company working to discover, develop and commercialize small molecule drugs to treat diseases. The Company discovered its product candidates using its drug discovery technology, Target-Related Affinity Profiling (TRAP). As of December 31, 2007, Telik has not obtained regulatory approval for the commercial sale of any products, and has not received any revenue from the commercial sale of products. Telik discovered all of its product candidates using its technology, TRAP.

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Voyager Petroleum (OTC-BB: VYGO) is an eco-friendly oil processing and distribution company targeting the $11 billion automotive and manufacturing lubrication markets. Lubricants is big business in the United States with 3 billion gallons consumed each with and 1.4 billion gallons of used motor oil used in 2007 alone. Recycling used oil can produce these lubricants using one third of the energy without leaving any additional waste in the process.

Lubricating oils are manufactured from highly refined base oils with various additives added to give it special performance characteristics. The base oils in these lubricants are the most pricey and valuable part of crude oil. In fact, it takes 42 gallons of crude oil to make 2.5 quarts of base oil. Once these base oils are used in machines or autos they become waste and are often discarded as they have been contaminated through use.

Voyager Petroleum believes that used oils remain an abundant source of base oil that can be recovered and re-used. The recycling process itself can be done in many different ways. Many of these processes are not efficient, however, and can be expensive to operate and only suitable for large facilities. Voyager has not only developed an efficient processing method but also established a warehouse in one of the premeir cities in America for motor oil - Detroit Michigan.

The process of recycling lubricants begins by purchasing used oil from various consolidators of used petroleum, such as gear oil, machine oils, and others that have never been burned. These un-combusted, refined oils are then sent to a processing facility. There all impurities and contaminants are extrapolated leaving it with the base oil. Various additives are then blended in to create the desired end product that can be sold retail or wholesale to consumers or businesses.

Voyager Petroleum is well-positioned to dominate the small and regional oil recycling market with a streamlined and integrated process. As a result, this is a stock that investors should definitely keep an eye on going foward...

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HLTH Corporation (NDAQ: HLTH) shares jumped sharply after the company revised its tender offer to purchase shares. Under the revised terms, HLTH intends to commence a tender offer next week to purchase up to 80 million shares of its common stock at a price per share of $8.80. The number of shares to be purchased in the tender offer represents approximately 43% of HLTH's currently outstanding common shares. Still, shares remain at $8.10 per share in mid-day trading today.

Last quarter, HLTH Corporation reported revenues of $89.1 million, which is an increase of 15% over the prior year. Earnings before interest, taxes, non-cash and other items for the second quarter was $14.3 million, an increase of 66% over the prior year. Income from continued operations for the second quarter was $0.8 million, a loss from discontinued operations was $3.7 million and net loss was $2.9 million or $0.02 per share.

HLTH Corporation, formerly Emdeon Corporation, operates through its segments: WebMD and Porex. The Company's subsidiary WebMD Health Corp. (WHC), was formed to act as a holding company for the business of the Company's WebMD Segment. WebMD provides both public and private online portals. Porex develops, manufactures and distributes porous plastic products and components used in healthcare, industrial and consumer applications.

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Google Inc. (NDAQ: GOOG) finally appears to be showing signs of slowing down after the economy has come to a virtual halt. The search giant announced that it would make fewer acquisitions and slow hiring amid the global economic turmoil. The slowdown comes after news that more advertising budgets are under stress and Google has opted to take a more conservative stance. Last quarter, Google's profits slumped to their lowest levels this year as some advertisers cut back on ad space to reduce costs.

Newspapers have been hit the worst as Google has remained relatively immune to the downturn thanks to a move from offline to online advertising. However, now that the move is slowing, Google is starting to feel the slowdown. Google shares have fallen some 45% this year on investors' concerns that the weak economy will hurt ad sales, which account for the vast majority of Google's revenues. Some are predicting that the global credit crunch could cost Google $6.7 billion in lost sales through 2010.

Currently, Google handles about 2/3 of all searches made in the United States and has spent some $3.38 billion on acquisitions during the past 12 months. The company's dominance in the industry was one of the primary factors behind Microsoft's push to acquire Yahoo and consolidate their search position. Profits at the firm have risen 26% to $1.35 billion, or $4.24 per share in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Google plans to start targeting mobile phone search queries, which are growing rapidly.

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Ciena Corporation (NDAQ: CIEN) shares surged higher on renewed takeover speculation. Rumors have hit the market that ERIC may be interested in acquiring the company given its sharp decline and modest valuation. Any buyout would likely come at a substantial premium to the current market price as is needed to attract interest by shareholders. And given the recent performance of Ciena, a buyout would likely be met with open arms.

Management may not be so eager to sell at a bargain price, however. CEO Gary Smith recently stated that the industry downturn will be short-lived as carriers cannot slow down spending for a protracted period of time. Rather, they'll be forced to accommodate factors like increased broadband and mobile-data usage. However, the company did warn of trouble ahead by knocking down its fourth quarter sales estimates, citing a delay in tech spending by communications networks.

Ciena Corporation is a supplier of communications networking equipment, software and services that support the delivery and transport voice, video and data services. Its products are used in communications networks operated by telecommunications service providers, cable operators, governments and enterprises worldwide. The company is engaged in transitioning legacy communications networks to converged, next-generation architectures.

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Procera Networks Inc. (AMEX: PKT) shares are trading well off of their 52-week highs of $2.64 despite very little change in the fundamentals of their business. Many investors attribute the decline to the larger weakness in the stock market that has affected many companies regardless of their underlying strength. However, Procera management decided to do something about it. The firm issued a letter today addressing these problems and calming investors. Perhaps other companies should do the same...

Here's the letter:

Dear Shareholders and Friends of the Company,

During the panic of the financial markets and the resulting troubling decline of our share price, I have been called and e-mailed by many of you with concerns and suggestions. Interestingly, although the general economy has abruptly slowed with pundits foretelling a dire future, Procera's business has seen little to no ill effects from this economic slowdown. Our customers and prospects are generally large, well-funded companies primarily in the Telco, Cable and ISP industries, as well as higher education. Importantly, our products are not discretionary purchase decisions. We believe our technology to be a much-needed infrastructure upgrade to modernize or to render current the providers' networks so as to facilitate the creation of new services and to provide intelligence. The Internet itself is also somewhat recession insulated. In difficult times, commerce and entertainment can be far cheaper and convenient on the 'net.

It is my opinion that the decline of Procera's stock price is primarily correlated to the extreme decline of most public companies' stock and therefore relative valuations that are a reflection of unprecedented pessimism and illiquidity. Procera also was particularly hurt by what was reported to be distressed sales by some of our shareholders (margin calls, redemptions, financial issues, etc.).

Where does Procera stand today? We are ahead of my original expectations. We are executing in all key areas. These areas include sales wins with the new platforms, funnel growth, quality trials, and the addition of new partners. As of today, we have more than 20 active trials ongoing with our new PL10000 platform and hope to announce several key wins soon. I realize that although you chose to invest in Procera, there are many other public companies and alternative investments to compete for your hard-earned dollars. It is the moral obligation of Procera's management to perform at the very highest levels entirely on behalf of our customers and our shareholders.

Since I began leading this company, Procera Networks has made truly amazing progress. I inherited profoundly exciting intellectual property, world-class technical people, and a significant product lead in what I believe to be the next "Perfect Storm" in computer networking. Not only does the PL10000 provide 4 times the capacity of any DPI product on the market, but it has accuracy and features which were previously unheard of. Naturally, to see it work and to observe the emotional responses of customers and critics is something of which we at Procera are quite proud.

As you know, we closed a $6 million round of financing last month and have substantially no debt on our balance sheet. Furthermore, we are well along on reaching agreement with a "very solvent" local bank for an accounts receivable line of credit, if and when needed. Finally, we are closing in on operational breakeven which means that our only need for cash will be to support growth in receivables and inventory.

Let me conclude by saying that I have been at Procera only 9 months. In that time, we have rebuilt the sales & marketing departments, revamped the operations organization, introduced the PL10000 carrier class family of products and are conducting multiple Tier-1 pilot trials across the globe.

Thank you very much for your continued interest and support of our revolutionary, award-winning products. I look forward to providing you more detail on our next investor call in November.

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