At the Warrillow conference – which focuses on small business – I saw how a variety of companies are making attempts to enter social media.

Take CDW, which is a mega information technology (IT) distributor. About a year ago, the company launched Conduit. Basically, it is a social networking site focused on small business IT pros.

According to Lauren McCadney – who heads up the effort – the site has grown organically, as members have connected with each other to solve problems. This is important since small companies usually have one or two IT pros in their organization. So yes, things can get isolated and loney.

But there were risks. After all, user-generated content can be tricky. What if members make bad comments about CDW?

"Members have good manners on the site," said McCadney. "It hasn't been a problem." In fact, there is a separate section, called CDW Talk, where members can vent.

Conduit has also found ways to monetize things, such as through sponsorships. For example, there is a makeover contest; that is, a small business can win up to $50,000 in services and support from Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Back in the Roaring 1980s, Carl Icahn was known as a prototypical corporate raider as he went hostile on a myriad of old-world companies such as B. F. Goodrich and American Can.

Now, in his early 70s, Icahn hasn't slowed down much. Funny enough, these days he's targeting tech companies, like BEA, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and, of course, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). Hmmmm... maybe these companies have become bloated and mature -- just like the laggards of the 1980s?

Perhaps so. After all, Icahn's strategy is to agitate for change, such as for cost cutting, share buybacks and higher dividends.

As for his pursuit of Yahoo (which involves a proxy fight), it's certainly a gutsy play. Simply put, there's no guarantee that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will come to the table again. So far, the company is doing a good job in showing disinterest.

Some Tax Rebate Checks Hit Obstacles
To date, the IRS has issued nearly 30 million stimulus checks, totaling more than $27 billion. This is the first time the IRS has used direct deposit to deliver rebates - a step intended to quickly pump money into the struggling economy. But several problems have delayed the process.
Some tax rebate checks run into obstacles - USATODAY.com Some IRS tax rebate checks going to wrong accounts - USATODAY.com
Also: Errors Will Prevent 350,000 Households From Getting Child Credit in Tax Rebate Checks

Selling Off the Core Business
It was quite a surprise to some this week to hear that GE is looking to sell their signature product line --appliances. But, they aren't the first company to move away from their early roots. Here are some companies that decided to cut their roots-the products that fed their early growth to delve into other areas. Companies have mixed results when they stray from their original visions, sometimes stumbling to adjust and others morphing into better creations. Among the companies are IBM which sold off their PC unit, Corning and Corningware, Kodak and 35MM Film, Goodrich and tires and more.
Selling off the core business - BusinessWeek
In the News: GE Confirms It Is Considering Strategic Options for Its Appliance Unit

U.S. stock futures were higher this morning, looking to extend their rally, even though investors will likely not like the upcoming housing data, which probably isn't going to signal a bottom for the housing recession.

U.S. stocks had a nice rally Thursday as oil prices fell, several deals were announced, mainly CBS buying CNet, and Icahn moving forward with his proxy fight for Yahoo's board. The Dow industrials rose 94 points, or 0.73%, the S&P 500 added 14 points, or 1.06%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 37 points, or 1.48%. Thursday marked the fourth day of gains for the Nasdaq.

This morning, investors will be waiting for the housing data to roll in. Housing starts and building permits figures for April will be reported at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Both are expected to show further declines.
Also at 10:00 a.m. EDT, May University of Michigan's consumer confidence gauge for May is due. Economists expect it to decline marginally.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs helped lift oil prices this morning after it raised its forecast for oil to $141 a barrel. The forecast was raised 32% from $107 a barrel and is for the second half of 2008. Oil prices were back above $125 a barrel.

What a fabulous defense. The Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) board has written Carl Icahn about his plan to run his own slate of directors in a proxy war. The portal's governing body reasons that because Icahn was not in any of its meetings and did not attend negotiations with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) that the billionaire can't understand why Yahoo! is worth more than $33 a share.

In a letter run in The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! writes that the company's board "remains the best and most qualified group to maximize value for all Yahoo! stockholders."

The reasoning by the board is flawed to the bone. Whether Icahn or any other shareholder attended meetings is beside the question. Yahoo!'s value in the market before the Microsoft bid was $19. Wall Street placed that value on the company because it had repeatedly put out disappointing results. The bad numbers cost former CEO Terry Semel his job. Yahoo! has less than 25% of the US search market, and that number is falling. To argue that the board understands why the company is worth $37 a share is both arrogant and has no basis in fact.

The other part of the Yahoo! reasoning is based on the idea that management's projections for the next three years create a value for the company well beyond its current share price. This does not take into account that no one believes that Yahoo! can hit the numbers. The Paulson hedge fund, one of the largest shareholders in the portal company, has already said it will back the Icahn bid. So have other owners of the company's stock.

Yahoo!'s board cannot simply dismiss arguments about the value of the company because it has talked in private and come up with higher numbers. "If wishes were horses, all the beggars would ride."

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Companies from Nokia (NYSE:NOK) to Samsung are trying to create a product to compete with the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone. Now RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM) will join the group.

RIM will come out with a touchscreen version of its Blackberry, probably in the third quarter. The decision is based on a false premise, which is that people want to buy an "iPhone" from someone other than Apple.

According to The Wall Street Journal "Dubbed the Thunder, the new BlackBerry is among RIM's strongest moves so far to appeal to the increasing number of consumers opting for multimedia phones."

The market has heard this song before. Over a year ago, both Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) came to market with competition for the iPod. Neither made any progress.

As infantile as the reasoning may seem, Apple built a nearly perfect product, which has been confirmed by strong demand , and plans to improve on it with features like 3G capability. Competition cannot replace what the customer views as irreplaceable.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 newsletter.

Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN), a business devoted to speech recognition technologies and document solutions, reported Q2 earnings earlier this week. Those of you who own this stock know that the company oftentimes puts forth a complicated earnings release, full of GAAP and non-GAAP stats. This is due, in part, to the company's acquisition strategy (not long ago, I wrote about Nuance's purchase of eScription). So, on a GAAP basis, don't expect much. Net loss per diluted share expanded to $0.13 versus a net loss per diluted share of $0.01 in last year's second fiscal quarter (there was a significant non-cash-stock-based compensation charge included in the current quarter). Top-line revenue did well on a GAAP basis, however, rising 54%. Again, though, this growth was due to acquisitions.

On a non-GAAP basis, things look much brighter. Revenues rose 63%, and net income per diluted share increased 50% to $0.18. According to Reuters, this figure matched analyst expectations (I would have liked to have seen Nuance beat expectations, but it is what it is). Of course, Nuance stimulates a classic bull-bear discussion in terms of when GAAP profitability becomes more of an issue than non-GAAP success. As a Nuance shareholder, I definitely would like to see GAAP profits on a consistent basis, but I am well aware that management intends to gamble on acquisitions as a method for creating shareholder value, and for now, I am willing to be patient and watch how the company proceeds.

Nuance could be considered a risky, speculative stock in many ways, but I think it has a good chance of doing well over time with its technologies. You'd probably sleep better with competitors Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) in your portfolio, but since I own it from around $9 per share, I'm willing to wait and see how the share price moves from this point forward (admittedly, I was considering booking profits recently, but decided against such action). Anyone thinking of getting in now might want to perform a lot of due diligence and wait for the proverbial pullback.

Disclosure: I own shares in Nuance Communications; positions can change at any time.

RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) delivers digital information and entertainment. The firm's RealPlayer product downloads and streams audio, video, and other multimedia content. Its RealOne software and subscription service provides access to news, sports and entertainment content. Its Rhapsody digital music service delivers more than 1 billion songs per year. Its RealArcade is one of the largest casual games destinations on the Web. The company also assists businesses with tools for creating, delivering, and licensing digital content. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) are competitors.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported Q1 EPS of two cents and revenues of $147.6 million. Analysts had been looking for a loss of three cents and $141.6 million. Management also guided Q2/FY08 estimates above consensus views, announced a $50 million share repurchase program and said it intended to spin off its global casual games business. Kaufman Brothers reiterated its "buy" rating on the shares and boosted its price target to $9.

Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s market share in April increased once again, going from 67.25% to 67.90% of all internet searches performed in the U.S. Sounds like a tiny increase, but we're talking hundreds of millions of additional searches here. Even a tenth of 1% is a major increase.

Google also earned the distinction today of being named the No. 1 most-visited site by ComScore, topping Yahoo for the first time.

Both Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) saw decreases in search market share due to Google's continued dominance. April data from internet traffic research firm Hitwise indicated that Google continues to dominate U.S. internet searches, while being responsible for the lion's share of connecting web searchers with specific industries as well.

For example, 31% of of web traffic and health and medical sites was supplied by Google, as well as 23% of web traffic to travel websites. This alone demonstrates the power Google has over the web. Some industries would see huge decreases in traffic if Google were to go away. In effect, Google's web search dominance has a very broad and meaningful over entire industries on the web, including shopping and classifieds, news and media, entertainment and others.

Still think Google is worth $576.30 per share?

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) needs to build up its little Ask.com franchise before it is spun out in a breakup of the parent company. Ask.com is an "also ran" in the search engine fight which includes Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO).

In an attempt to turn a loser into a contender, IACI is buying Lexico, which owns Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com. According to The Wall Street Journal, "Lexico sites drew about 15.6 million unique U.S. visitors in March, according to comScore Inc., compared with 55.4 million for Ask and an array of affiliated sites."

Even if the price of the new addition is low, the Lexico sites are not likely to do much good for the Ask.com franchise. It has already fallen so far behind the three search leaders that it almost certainly cannot catch up. Internet users have already set their preference in this part of the online market. Owning a dictionary site is not going to help that.

IACI's Ask.com can't come from behind and buying additional reference sites is not going to change that.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and the author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 newsletter.

Before the bell: Futures higher as investors await data

CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) announced Thursday it has signed a deal to buy CNet Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: CNET) for $11.50 a share in cash. CNet operates not only the CNET site, but also ZDNet, GameSpot.com, TV.com, mp3.com and others. The deal values CNet at about $1.8 billion and push CBS to among the 10 most popular Internet companies in the United States. CBS shares are down 2.9% in premarket trading while CNET shares are of course up over 42% to $11.31.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI)'s Ask.com has bought Lexico Publishing Group LLC, the parent of Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com among other sites. Earlier this year, Lexico already agreed to be sold to Answers Corp (NASDAQ: ANSW), but the latter couldn't secure the necessary funds. Now, Lexico sold itself to Ask.com, for an undisclosed amount, although the number people are throwing around is $100 million. Could this acquisition help IACI gain -- even a little -- on market leader Google?

United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA) and Continental Airlines Inc. (NYSE: CAL), dropping ideas of a merger, are now talking about forming an alliance to still gain some benefits of working together. United appears relentless in its attempts to help its bottom line through a merger or an alliance. While talking to Continental about an alliance, it is still negotiating with US Airways Group (NYSE: LCC).

U.S. stock futures were marginally higher early Thursday morning as once again investors await data on the economy to give them direction. Several deals and earnings are also in the spot light this morning.

U.S. stocks received a boost Wednesday from lower-than expected inflation numbers, given extra credence by the fall in crude-oil prices. While most companies reporting earnings Wednesday didn't proved good news, a smaller-than-forecast loss for Freddie Mac helped lift sentiment. The Dow industrials rose 66 points, or 0.52%, the S&P 500 rose 6 points, or 0.40%, and the Nasdaq Composite edged up more than a point, or 0.06%.

This morning, more inflation data is due out. Consumer level inflation reported Wednesday managed to surprise the Street, but can the economic releases today do the same?
At 8:30 a.m., weekly initial jobless claims will be released, as well as May NY Empire State Index.
At 9:00 a.m., March Net Foreign Purchases will be reported to be followed some time later with April capacity utilization and industrial production.
At 10:00 a.m., after the market opens, the Philadelphia Fed index is due and is expected to show another decline.
Finally, a housing index is also due today.

Well, maybe Icahn can save them from themselves. Who? Yahoo!'s board of course.

Seems Carl Icahn, whom earlier reports had considering moving in on Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO)'s board, has made a decision. The billionaire activist investor, who has amassed some 50 million shares of the internet portal company to a 3.6% stake, is planning "to move ahead with plans to run a dissident board slate at Yahoo," according to Reuters.

A Reuters source said that already he has lined up at least 12 potential board candidates and could announce the slate as early as tonight, ahead of Thursday's deadline.

It's not just that Yahoo! has so offhandedly rejected Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s attempts to buy it, but it's also -- and probably mainly -- the way the company has been managed for some time now. It's not just Jerry Yang, the current CEO, but his predecessor Terry Semel as well. Yahoo! has been behind the curve in technology and trend, not only losing market share in search, but mainly failing to capitalize on its assets and the traffic they generate.

Already following the early reports today, Yahoo shares finished the day up 2.18%. Now, in after-hours it's gaining another 1.5%. Yahoo! investors seem to put their trust in Icahn.

Recently I posted a Serious Money metrics story that included Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) comparisons along with six other stocks. Until now I have not felt very strongly about the merits of Microsoft's offer to acquire Yahoo! and merge assets and features.

I was leaning toward the price is too high camp, but now, after Microsoft has withdrawn the offer and I have looked at the current state of affairs of both companies, I think it did the right thing and may have avoided a nightmare.

To bring Yahoo! into the fold, Microsoft would have had to find enough cost savings by eliminating overlapping departments or it would have had to hope it could double Yahoo's earnings. If not, the acquisition would unduly weigh down the mother ship, because Microsoft's P/E Ratio of 17.08 is half that of Yahoo!'s 34.25.