Alltel Wireless will be far more competitive following the $27 billion buyout by divisions of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and Texas Pacific Group.

How fast will Alltel be able to scale its customer base and compete with the big four wireless companies? Much faster as a private company if you ask me.

Without quarterly numbers to hit, the company can pour capital into becoming what it has the potential to be and at some future time re-enter the market for the payoffs for GS Capital Partners and TPG Group. Until then, we'll all see what Alltel can do to compete with the larger carriers over time. With this buyout probably having been in the works for most of 2007, you can bet a solid plan is already in place.

With 12 million customers. Alltel is the fifth-largest wireless company behind AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile USA. It owns wireless liceneses giving it coverage area bigger than the larger four carriers, which is a huge attraction for the private equity firms who already are drawn to the red-hot wireless industry.

The upside is great for this deal since people are dropping land line telephones and moving to the wireless and Internet telephony.

Now it's time to execute.

Alltel (NYSE: AT) has been looking for a buyer since its CEO said that the company was exploring strategic alternatives on its first quarter conference call. The Wall Street Journal also mentioned that the company might be bought in an article that ran last December.

Well now it look it looks like a deal might actually get done. TPG Capital LLP and a division of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) have offered $71.50 per share, a 10% premium over the stock's most recent closing price.

Alltel spun-off its landline business last year, which may make the company unusually attractive. While cellular businesses, now most of Alltel's revenue, are growing quickly, landline operations are losing subscribers to cable VoIP offerings.

Alltel currently has 12 million subscribers, making it the fifth largest cellular operator in the US.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

When Is It Wise to Tap Your Home Equity?
Home equity is usually a person's biggest asset. Tap it with care. In this special Bankrate report check out the latest trends, the various loan options, pros and cons for tapping equity along with 4 strategies to tap your home equity.
Home equity loan strategies

Get Ready to Pay for Peanuts
You think Southwest Airlines is a low-cost airline? You ain't seen nothing yet. A new crop of low-cost airlines is taking "no-frills" to new heights by charging for everything from snacks and drinks to checked bags.
Get Ready to Pay for Peanuts - BusinessWeek


Millionaires in the Making
Both Jeanette Courts and Jerry & Lynn Moser are big savers and investors on their way to being millionaires. See how these hard-working ordinary people plan to lead the good life.
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Top Stock Pickers and Their Top Stock Picks
The world has changed for analysts since this survey began in 1993, and there are more opportunities for small independent research firms. While a number of winners have appeared in these rankings before, this year's top stock pickers include many newcomers.
Industry by Industry: The Stars and Their Stocks - WSJ.com


More Pop for Corporate Museums
Coca-Cola's new Atlanta museum shows how companies are becoming increasingly aggressive at using flashy exhibits and interactive technology to promote their corporate namesakes. In addition to the New World of Coca-Cola others like Hershey and Harley-Davidson have or are building museums that are part tourist attraction and party homage to what makes these companies great.
More Pop for Corporate Museums - WSJ.com


How Much Does It Cost to Lose 30 Pounds?
Getting smaller is a huge industry in America. Here are some of the big-name weight-loss programs and how much each will lighten your wallet.
How much does it cost to lose 30 pounds? - Bankrate.com


Hottest Frozen Treats
When it comes to ice cream, Americans have trouble saying no. In 2005 alone, total U.S. sales of ice cream and frozen desserts hit $21.6 billion, including $13.5 billion spent at scoop shops and restaurants. But not all ice cream has to be bad for you. Here are the coolest healthy desserts today. They include Ben & Jerry's Lighten Up yogurt, Maggie Moo's mango zoomer, Turkey Hill Duetto Gelati in Cherry Vanilla, Yogen Früz Non-Fat Frozen Yogurt, WholeSoy & Co. Crème Caramel Frozen Yogurt and much more.
Hottest Frozen Treats - Forbes.com

Stock futures are pointing to positive open, getting a boost from deals over the weekend.

Last week, despite some mixed economic data that mostly pointed to slowing economic activity, the Dow Jones Industrials kept breaking records and the S&P 500 is only 5 points from its record high this morning.

Today, no economic data is due for release, but corporate news is abundant:

Goldman Sachs Group's (NYSE: GS) private equity unit, GS Capital Partners, along with TPG Capital have agreed to acquire Alltel Corp. (NYSE: AT) in a deal worth $27.5 billion. The two investment firms will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Alltel for $71.50 per share in cash, a 23% premium over Alltel's share price prior to buyout speculation appearing in the media. Alltel shares are up 6.9% in pre-market trading (7:19 a.m.).

Private equity firm, Blackstone Group LP said it planned to raise as much as $4.13 billion in its initial public offering with a possible maximum size of the IPO to $4.75 billion. China's new state investment agency is taking a $3 billion nonvoting stake in the company at a discount to the IPO price.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) are in talks for an alliance, trying to improve their position against Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Lowe's Cos. (NYSE: LOW) reported quarterly results this morning, posting a 12% drop in profit as the sluggish housing market continued to hurt sales. Net income dropped to $739 million, or 48 cents a share, missing the average estimate of analysts by 1 cent. Sales rose 2.1% to $12.2 billion.

Overseas, Asian stocks closed mostly higher and European stocks are climbing for a third day.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to people familiar with the matter, at least three groups of private-equity companies have formed to attempt to purchase wireless carrier Alltel Corporation (NYSE: AT), reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• The Wall Street Journal's "Heard in Asia" column reported that in order for Sony Corporation's (NYSE: SNE) stock to rise when it reports next week, it is going to have to convince investors that its PlayStation unit is showing improvement.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that almost half of the senior management at Citigroup Inc's (NYSE: C) consumer operations have quit in the last 18 months, as criticism of CEO Chuck Prince has grown.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the Telegraph, Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) and BP plc ADS's (NYSE: BP) Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, are expected to join the auction for the 537-petrol station network belonging to Yukos. The bidding is expected to start at GBP150M.
• GlaxoSmithKline plc ADR (NYSE: GSK) has begun to promote Alli, the first weight-loss drug to be approved by the FDA for over-the-counter sale, reported the New York Times.

WEBSITES:

• According to DigiTimes.com, citing industry insiders, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) is looking to up production of Intel Corporation's (NADSAQ: INTC) 802.11n Wi-Fi chips at 0.13-micron in Q3, a sign of closer collaboration between the two companies.

101 Brand Names, 1 Manufacturer
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101 Brand Names, 1 Manufacturer - WSJ.com


Where Home Prices Are Hot Right Now
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Where Home Prices Are Hot Now - WSJ.com


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ConsumerReports.org - Sunless tanning product, Ratings 6/07

Market seems to be heading to a lower to flat opening as indicated by stock futures as investors await the Bernanke's announcement today about the Fed's policy meeting.

Yesterday, stocks started lower but recovered slowly to end nearly flat. The Dow ended its streak with a 3.9 points decline or 0.03% lower. The Nasdaq closed 0.03% higher, but the S&P 500 closed down 0.12%.

Today investors are waiting to hear what Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, has to say when he releases the Fed statement regarding its policy at 2:15 p.m. As most investors expect rates will remain unchanged, it is the content of the statement and indications about possible future rate cuts that will be the focus. Since some economic data recently showed a slowing of the U.S. economy with less inflationary pressures, many hope the Fed will consider easing monetary conditions and cut rates in the future. Up until the Fed's announcement, the market is likely to tread water, but any indication of future rate cuts, could spark a rally in the markets.

At 10:30 a.m. today, weekly crude inventories will be reported. Oil prices traded in a tight range yesterday as traders expect U.S. inventories report would show a rebound in gasoline stocks for the first time in three months.

This morning, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) posted a stronger-than-expected 8.9% rise in quarterly net profit on buoyant sales in Western markets, its seventh straight fiscal year of record sales amid robust demand for its Corolla, Camry and Lexus models. Toyota also forecast modest growth this year and added production capacity worldwide.

Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) shares surged today in Australia as following reports bigger rival BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) may be planning a bid which would create the world's fifth biggest company, although Rio denied it had been approached. RTP shares are up over 4.5% in pre-market trading, BHP up over 1.5%.

Alltel Corp. (NYSE: AT) is being pursued by at least three groups of private-equity buyers about a potential purchase, according to the Wall Street Journal. AT shares are up 3.3% in pre-market.

Alltel Corp. (NYSE: AT) opened at $63.85. So far today the stock has hit a low of $63.82 and a high of $63.85. As of 11:45, AT is trading at $65.02, up $0.84 (1.3%).

The stock has been gradually rising over the last 10 months, establishing a new year high today. AT has seen some unusual activity over the past few days, trading to a new high today while its competitors are sluggish and there is no news out. In the M&A frenzy we have seen recently, there have been whispers that a deal could be soon coming AT's way, but nothing significant has come out yet. Recent technical indicators for AT have been bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $55 range. AT hasn't been below $55 since October and has shown support around $61 recently. This trade could be risky if AT investors start to think the stock has gotten too high and take profits, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the strong historical support around $61 combined with the stock's 200 day moving average, which is at $58 and rising.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls a position in AT.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's "Weekday Trader" column wrote that the takeover talk in telecom stocks Alltel Corporation (NYSE: AT), Qwest Communications International Inc (NYSE: Q), and Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) may be overblown, as the logical acquirers for the companies appear uninterested, according to people familiar with the sector.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Dolan family, founders of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC), are on the verge of taking the company private in a deal estimated to be worth about $10.5B.
• The Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" column discussed Rupert Murdoch's $5B play for Dow Jones and Company (NYSE: DJ), saying the Bancroft family may eventually find it difficult not to take Murdoch's offer.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The U.K. Times has learned that the U.S. Department of Justice is in talks to launch a formal inquiry into "alleged bribery and corruption" at BAE Systems (OTC: BAESY).
• According to a New York Post exclusive, Gap Inc (NYSE: GPS) is considering sizeable layoffs, to reduce expenses at the struggling retailer.

Jim Cramer came out defensive again on CNBC's Mad Money, although not as defensive as you would guess. He thinks that Bernanke and the Fed not helping and that weakness in housing, the weak retail numbers being posted, and the continued weak autos merit a defensive portfolio. His two "defensive" picks tonight are in Telecom:

The first pick is Verizon (NYSE:VZ). He actually prefers this now over AT&T (NYSE:T) and here is what else he had to say on these.

Alltel, Inc. (NYSE:AT) is one that Cramer says is defensive and could even be a takeover candidate.

You may disagree that telecom is defensive now, but the current telecom environment now that all the hundreds and hundreds of CLEC's and VoIP players are on the ropes has made these stocks closer to utilities once again. The only real competition in the major markets now is the cable players like Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA). Sure there are more competitors, but the major telecom and cable players have by and large consolidated the larger markets to virtual duopolies.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Alltel (NYSE: AT) volatility is Elevated as arbitrageurs wait for strategic alternatives.

• AT, a customer focused communications company with operations in 36 states, has a market cap of $21 billion with long term debt of $2.7 billion.
  
• AT is reviewing its strategic alternatives. Robert Baird says: "We believe that in an acquisition scenario that AT could fetch closer to $70 per share. However, aside from M&A potential, we believe the shares are currently trading near fair value."
  
• AT May option implied volatility of 28 is above its 26-week average of 22 according to Track Data, suggesting larger near-term price risks.

International Securities Exchange (NYSE: ISE) volatility collapses. The company is in advanced talks.

• ISE is recently up $19.08 to $64.81.
  
• The Deutsche Boerse confirmed it is in talks to buy ISE. The ISE confirmed it is in advanced talks to sell itself.
  
• ISE May at the money option implied volatility of 18 is below a level of 34 from last week and below its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing risk.

Option volume leaders today are: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN).

Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

The wireless telephone and data industries are kind of at a crossroads right now. As the third-generation (3G) networks of top wireless carriers like AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S), and Alltel Corporation (NYSE: AT) are just finding the customer base that will lead to the billion-dollar payback for these companies, looming fourth-generation (4G) technologies are poised to pounce past 3G technology already.

Sprint Nextel took a huge leap forward in 2006 when it announced that it would deploy a nationwide 4G network in the U.S. based on WiMAX technology starting in 2007 and continuing into 2008. Expect more wireless carriers to look at WiMAX technology soon as a way to ensure the best data speeds possible for the customer are available with the lowest deployment cost for a new network is achieved.

At the CTIA tradeshow this week, industry execs are probably centering on how to get customers excited about using all these new technologies to offset declines in voice minutes and in turn get customers using all these spiffy new features like wireless laptop data, picture and video messaging, and streaming audio and video direct to the cellphone handset. Carriers better do a markedly better job soon or those networks will take quite a bit longer to pay for themselves -- and investors of these wireless carriers will definitely notice every quarter when results are released.

Has the pinnacle of the wireless telephone industry came and gone? Possibly, according to a recent article over at Forbes.com. All things considered, the amount of wireless subscriber market penetration over just the last 10 years has been quite remarkable. The wireless phone industry now has these top-5 players: AT&T, Inc. (NYSE:T) (formerly Cingular Wireless), Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) (Verizon Wireless), Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S), T-Mobile USA (a unit of Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG (ADR) NYSE:DT) and Alltel Corp. (NYSE:AT).

Recently, as the "voice" portion of the modern cellular industry has dropped like an anchor, these carriers (and others) have tried boosting revenue by investing in higher-speed data networks to carry all those pictures, videos, mobile website visits and laptop data usages.

Are all these newer feature sets being used by most wireless subscribers? Nope. Usage percentages remains quite low overall, despite billions spent on newer wireless network upgrades and ferocious marketing on all these wireless multimedia features. Will players like Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Skype start to chuck away at established wireless companies with technologies like almost-free wireless VoIP service and other disruptive services? In a nutshell, probably so.

Smart Money just released an article on the five different ways cellphone companies hit people up to squeeze out those extra bits of spare change.

For people investing in companies like Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), AT&T, Inc.'s Cingular (NYSE:T), and Alltell Corporation (NYSE:AT), these may seem like great ways to sneak in a few extra dollars. But pay attention to which company is the fairest to its customers. Over time customers will realize who treats them the best. Too many attempts to treat customers with contempt could cost a company in the long run.

JD Power and Associates does yearly surveys of customer satisfaction with wireless companies, and Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile are the top scorers. But even these companies use a lot of the tricks described in the Smart Money article to get extra change out of their customers.

What is up is the theme of this week's merger talk, because there is lots of chatter, but no bold moves. Yet.


NEW CENTURY FINANCIAL CORPORATION (NYSE: NEW)

Down the tubes, and then what? With bankruptcy imminent, what next happens to the nation's second largest sub prime mortgage banker? Shares continue to fall today, recently at $3.18, a 69 cent fall, equal to almost 18%. Just two months ago the share price was over $30. The real estate investment trust isn't getting any help from lenders. Maybe reorganization is just what they need.

PALM INC (NASDAQ: PALM), DELL INC (NASDAQ: DELL)

Or should it be Dell, Palm? Either way, Palm is looking to sell, and Dell is looking to buy. Palm knows Apple Inc's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone can really hit them with a number of body blows, hence, get out while the getting's good, or at least okay, seems to be the Palm plan. For Dell, they're looking at smart phones as a part of their consumer products future. And lord knows they have the cash to buy a Palm. It's a brand with international contacts and a retail distribution network. Let the bidding begin, say at $2B?

NOBLE DRILLING CORP (NYSE: NE)

A noble "no" to an LBO was sent out from high atop the corporate structure several weeks ago, but rumors keep a coming. Yes, they said they'd use their extra dough to buy their own stock, just like they did before, in 2006. And that's what they've been doing. Who knows, maybe there's nothing to it.


CLAIRE'S STORES INC (NYSE: CLE)

Private equity firm Apax seems to be in the lead to take the 3,000 stores-strong Claire's. Get this: Apax is said to be so anxious to get going that it's said they have new management "in waiting." Wow. Claire's has said it's exploring "strategic alternatives", including a sale. Goldman Sachs is helping. Must be serious stuff. By the way, same store sales were up but down recently. Up 1%, but 2.3% was expected. What do you think Apax feeds that management team in waiting, anyway?

ALLTEL CORPORATION (NYSE: AT)

Buy me, please. That's what the nation's fifth largest wireless operator (subscribers) has been saying. AT&T is kicking the tires, but because of antitrust and other issues, it may only be doing just that. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) may have a look-see, as well as private equity firms. Tepid seems to have been the response so far, but that can change quickly. Management says the rumors are nothing new. Is that a bad thing?