Has management of New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) finally woken up and smelled the coffee? Not only did the third-largest newspaper publisher report awful earnings, but the New York-based company also announced that it might cut its dividend, a move that will hit the controlling Sulzberger-Ochs family where it hurts -- in the pocketbook.

Net income at the publisher of the namesake newspaper fell 51.4 percent to $6.52 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with $13.4 million, or 9 cents, a year earlier, the company said in a press release. Total revenues decreased 8.9 percent to $687.0 million from $754.4 million. Advertising revenue fell a whopping 14.4 percent as companies reduced marketing spending because of the uncertainty about the economy.

"As steel prices continue to climb, one company that is set to profit handsomely is Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF)," says Bill Martin.

Adding to the stock's appeal, the editor of BullMarket.com explains, "Event-driven hedge fund Harbinger Capital has been an aggressive buyer of the stock." Here's his review of the situation.

"Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs have been on fire, up over 150% year over year and they have more than doubled year to date. The Cleveland, Ohio-based company is the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America and a major supplier of metallurgical coal to the global steel-making industry.

"Cleveland-Cliffs benchmarks iron ore prices to the price of steel, so when steel prices rise, so do iron ore prices. The company said all of its North American iron ore mines are producing at or near capacity.

"Cleveland-Cliffs ended the first quarter of 2008 with $186.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and $600 million in borrowings outstanding under an $800 million credit facility. The company expects to generate approximately $700 million in cash from operations in FY08 as it sells through its inventory.

"Event-driven hedge fund Harbinger Capital was an aggressive buyer of the stock in May, paying between $76.96 to $104.75 a share to add to its position in the name. For the month, the firm spent approximately $338.5 million to acquire nearly 3.7 million shares.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that an investor group that includes Harbinger Capital Partners is expected to report a raised stake in The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT). The raised stake is expected to be close to matching the 19% stake owned by the Sulzberger family.
• The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) has been spared many of the problems of the subprime mortgage crisis, but other areas where it's involved, such as investment banking and leveraged loans, are hurting the firms profitability, the Wall Street Journal reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) is seeking to put a valuation on its Rainbow Media unit, in order to possibly sell it, sources say. In the past, the unit, which consists of several cable channels, has been valued at $3B, but the Dolan family is hoping to obtain a higher price, according to the New York Post. Possible buyers include Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) and News Corporation (NYSE: NWS).
• Elan Corporation (NYSE: ELN) is considering splitting its biopharmaceuticals arm, which markets Tysabri, from its drug technology division, the Sunday Times noted. The potential spin-off could unlock up to $1.5B to share holders.

Ever since the New York Times broke the story about John McCain's close relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman, howls of outrage have been heard from one end of the right wing media world to the other. Outstanding Americans including Rush Limbaugh have accused the gray lady of publishing a partisan hatchet job on the Arizona senator who until this moment had been their public enemy no. 2 behind the mainstream media.

The story that McCain's aides tried to protect him because they were worried that their boss was having an extramarital affair with lobbyist Vicki Iseman struck a nerve. My colleague Aaron Katsman called it a "hit job", and investors who have long ago soured on newspaper stocks sent shares of the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) downward. Meanwhile, a potential proxy fight looms with dissident shareholder Harbinger Capital.

But lost in the hoopla is the fact that the central theme of the story that aides were worried about McCain's relationship with Iseman during the 2000 campaign has been proven. In fact, other news organizations, including the Washington Post , were able to match the story. In fact, the Post is reporting today that McCain has some cozy relationship with other lobbyists even though he bad-mouths the profession all of the time. Both McCain and Iseman deny they had an affair or that she received any preferential treatment from the senator. Nonetheless, some former McCain aides were clearly worried about the lobbyist.

Earlier today I wrote about Firebrand Partners and Harbinger Capital Partners' bid to get four directors onto the board of directors at the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) . The other nine directors are controlled by the Sulzberger family through a dual-class voting structure and, in his letter to the company's top two executives, Firebreand CIO Scott Galloway wrote that:

I want to assure you that we are not pursuing a change in the dual class shareholder structure. The New York Times is a great institution controlled by the Sulzberger family and we have no illusion about, or desire to change, that fact. Our efforts are focused on how we can work with management and the Board for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Amazingly, the stock is trading up about 9% on the news. But here's the problem: no matter how good Galloway's idea that the company should invest more in digital media assets, his suggestion that the company do something about it is no more than walking up to the owner of a privately-held restaurant and telling him he should serve better steaks. Maybe he'll listen, maybe he won't: But with the ownership structure that's currently in place, the New York Times board and management has no particular reason to listen to an outside shareholder.

Firebrand has no leverage -- The fact that they own almost 5% of the company's stock means nothing. If their proxy contest is successful, they'll end up with 4 of 13 seats on a board controlled by a family that has refused to allow other shareholders to have any meaningful say in the company.

I have no idea whether the company is headed up or down, short-term or long-term. But there is no real reason for the stock to be up nearly 10% today.

In February, Ryerson (NYSE: RYI) announced that it retained UBS Investment Bank (NYSE: UBS) to explore "strategic alternatives." Yes, Wall Street interpreted this as the prelude to a leveraged buyout.

As a result, the shares of Ryerson, which is a major distributor of metals, increased from $30 to $44.

Well, today we got the details of the deal. The price tag? $34.50. The buyer is private equity firm, Platinum Equity.

What's more, to market the deal, UBS contacted more than 50 prospective acquirers.

Interestingly enough, Ryerson has been the target of activist hedge fund, Harbinger Capital. The firm was able to elect a majority of board members to Ryerson and it was enough pressure to get a deal done.

So far today, the shares of Ryerson are down $0.99 to $33.97.

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Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.