Hilton Hotels Corp. (NYSE: HLT) opened at $33.75. So far today the stock has hit a low of $33.44 and a high of $33.80. As of 11:45 this morning, HLT is trading at $33.62, down $0.28 (-0.8%).

After hitting a one year high of $38.00 in April, the stock has dipped slightly, bouncing off support a few times just below $34. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn dumped all of his HLT shares in the first quarter of this year, indicating sentiment that HLT is unlikely to rise above its previous high. In fact, the stock is breaking below its support line today, which is not a good sign. Recent technical indicators for HLT have been bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an October bear-call credit spread above the $40 range. HLT has never been above $40 and has shown resistance around $36 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out on July 31) impress, but even if that happens, HLT would have to break through the three tops it has already formed this year between $36 and $38 before this position would be in trouble.

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 HLT.

I'm as much of an admirer of Carl Icahn's business acumen as anyone, but his recent comments regarding the situation at Motorola (NYSE: MOT) are puzzling to me. After demanding that the company put its cash hoard ($6.43 cents per share) to use buying back stock, Icahn has now changed his tone, instead focusing on operational issues. In a letter to the company attached to a proxy filing, Icahn wrote that "Until our operational problems are corrected, buy-backs and other transactions that might have looked appropriate earlier need to take a back seat." Icahn also criticized the board for being "passive and reactive."

While there is certainly validity to Icahn's criticisms of the board and operations, I wonder why it makes sense to put a buy-back on hold. Why correct operational problems first, and then buy back stock at a higher price later? This is not a method that will create value for the company. On the other hand, buying back shares while tackling operational issues would give shareholders who don't want to wait around a slightly higher price for their shares -- and, if the turnaround is successful, the remaning shareholders would benefit from the retiring of stock at lower prices.

It seems to me that correcting operational issues while buying back stocks is the way to go here.

With the pending departure of Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE:BBI) Chief Executive John Antioco, the question isn't if the video rental chain gets bought out but when and at what price.

Private equity firms would love Blockbuster. Cash flow from operations was $329.4 million last year compared with a $70.5 million deficit in 2005 thanks to the surging popularity of its Blockbuster Total Access, which allows customers to return DVDs via mail like Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) or at a store.

Video rental isn't dead yet. Buying DVDs of all of the movies you want to watch doesn't make sense and you can't always find the movies you want from video-on-demand services from cable companies. Carl Icahn told me a few years ago that he was a devoted Blockbuster customer when I interviewed him for Bloomberg News in the middle of his proxy fight for the company. Obviously, he isn't alone.

During the fight, Icahn justifiably argued that Antioco was overpaid. A few weeks ago, the company said its board and Antioco were having a dispute over his 2006 bonus. You didn't have to much of a psychic to see that his time at Blockbuster was coming to an end.

Still, Antioco is getting a sweet deal even though it was less than he would have gotten under the terms of his existing contract. He's walking away with a $24.7 million package, plus 5 million stock options that vest by Dec. 31 and can be exercised for the following 30 months, according to Reuters.

Blockbuster shares have more than doubled over the past year, which isn't bad for a company that many people including yours truly had given up for dead. Antioco deserves credit for keeping the faith though Blockbuster's future is still uncertain.

Still, it's amazing he stayed on the job as long as he did.

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