This is my 1200th post. If someone would have told me I could write that much in my "spare time" I probably would not have stopped laughing until I collapsed. I marvel at all that has happened in the marketplace over this time: the ups and downs, good calls and bad; and being called everything under the sun, and then some, by our more 'enthusiastic' readers.

I must thank Amey Stone who I have been corresponding with for over a decade and was the one that first asked this architect and investor to be one of the initial group of bloggers. Now there is an army of writers and a lot has changed. For me this week marks a big change because Amey accepted a new position at another company and last Friday was her last day. Best of luck Amey!

McDermott International (MDR - option chain) shares have risen over 10 percent in early trading on news that the company plans to split itself into two firms: The Babcock & Wilcox Co., and J. Ray McDermott. Current MDR shareholders will receive one share of each company when the transaction closes in 2010. B&W will manufacture nuclear components and other power generation systems. J. Ray will design, build and install offshore production facilities, pipelines and subsea systems. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on MDR.

MDR opened this morning at $22.40. So far today the stock has hit a low of $21.88 and a high of $23.05. As of 12:00, MDR is trading at $22.81 up $2.15 (10.4%). The chart for MDR looks bearish.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• People with the matter said that Ken Wilson, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (NYSE: GS) most senior financial-institutions broker, will temporarily exit the firm, the Wall Street Journal reported, in an effort to advise Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on how to resolve the country's banking crisis.
• The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, a union with a stake in Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) called for the financial services company to break itself up. The Financial Times reported that the demand will almost definitely be rejected by Citigroup.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan for rescuing Federal National Mortgage Association (NYSE: FNM) -- Fannie Mae -- and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: FRE) -- Freddie Mac -- calls for the creation of a new regulatory agency that would seek to assert more stringent control over the banks and lessen the damage they could cause to the American financial system, the New York Times reported.
• The Daily Telegraph reported that BP Plc (NYSE: BP) blocked a $1.8B dividend payment to its Russian partners in the TNK-BP joint venture.

WEB SITES:

• According to paidContent.org, now that its cash on hand exceeds its market cap, speculation that Napster Inc (NASDAQ: NAPS) could be a takeover target heated up.

Private equity deals are now reaching levels close to $50 billion, and there has been speculation that The Home Depot (NYSE:HD) could be taken private for over $100 billion.

A look at companies in the $20 billion to $60 billion market cap range comes up with some firms that could be likely takeover candidates. To see what they might go for, each company's balance sheet, cashflow and assets were evaluated.

Nvidia (NASDQ:NVDA) This chip company is often mentioned as an M&A possibility for Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) especially after AMD (NYSE:AMD) took over ATI Technology. Break-Up Value $43 plus.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Private equity firms are finding the utilities industry more and more attractive. Duke is one of the largest and most successful companies in this sector. Break-Up Value $29.

3M (NYSE:MMM) Like other conglomerates, especially GE (NYSE:GE), 3M may well be worth more in pieces that it is as a collection of companies, some of which are not as closely related as Wall St. would like. Break-Up Value $109.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Alcoa has been mentioned as a target for other metals companies, especially over the last few weeks. Its balance sheet and cashflow could draw bids fairly soon. Break-Up Value $46

ADP (NYSE:ADP) The company has one division, Dealer Services, which drags down the value of the entire company because of its low margins. Spin that out, and the company might be worth more than itscurrent value. Getting rid of the unit is critical even if ADP stays independent. Break-Up Value $44.

Schering-Plough (NYSE:SGP) The pharma company has a consumer health business that hurts the value of the overall company. Push that out in an IPO or sell it off, and the parent's value goes up. Break-Up Value $29 plus.

Motorola (NYSE:MOT) Carl Icahn thinks that Motorola is worth a lot more than it trades for. Break the handset business off from the telecom equipment division, and he is right. Break-Up Value $26 plus.

Corning Inc. (NYSE:GLW) Corning may be worth over 50% more than its current share price. A litigation settlement holds it price down, but it products are critical in growing markets like LCDs. Break-Up Value $35.

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

Private equity firms, hedge funds, and investment banks are always looking for hidden values in public shares. It is no accident that an investor like Carl Icahn buys into Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT). He thinks the company's intrinsic value is well above the stock price.

24/7 Wall St. has begun to take a look at the break-up values of a number of large cap companies. Firms with market caps of over $100 billion have been kept off the list because they are likely to be too large for private equity buy-outs. But the companies on this list may well end up as targets. The full explanation of the methodology is here.

Some of the notable public firms with differences between the break-up value and current stock price include:

Many Time Warner investors mourned when Carl Icahn backed off his takeover campaign. Now many of them are quoted in the Wall Street Journal today as saying that the takeover plans should renewed. Despite management commitment to buying back ever-larger amounts of stock and reducing costs to the nth degree, the stock keeps going down, a 10% decline since Icahn gave up his efforts (he still owns a significant portion of the company's stock).

Time Warner, it seems, has an identity crisis. Is it "a cable stock with a lot of slow-growing baggage around it"? (So says Michael Nathanson, Bernstein Research.) Is it an internet company with the paradoxically slowing magazine and screen programming businesses? (Many analyst bemoan the shift from print to online advertising.) Or, as Bill Nygren from Oakmark Investments says hopefully, is it actually a "great portfolio of media assets" poised to "positively surprise" the Street when AOL exceeds the oh-so-low expectatations?

Either way, it seems the only people who are defending the entity as a whole are CEO Dick Parsons and the few loyal among his management team -- and even Time Warner president Jeffrey Bewkes has been caught grumbling about the lack of synergies available between the diverse media businesses. Maybe, Dick, you should take a look at Peter Cohan's suggestions. It can't hurt to run the numbers.