Back in October I wrote that super investor Kirk Kerkorian has slashed his stake in Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) by a few million shares but in a press release, Kerkorian's Tracinda was careful to note that "in light of current economic and market conditions, it sees unique value in the gaming and hospitality and oil and gas industries and has, therefore, decided to reallocate its resources and to focus on those industries."

Apparently the reallocation continued: Reuters is reporting that Mr. Kerkorian has now eliminated entirely his stake in the beleaguered auto company. It's not yet known when or how he disposed of the stake but it's been a costly foray for Mr. Kerkorian. Tracinda had previously disclosed that it had hired an investment bank to look for a buyer for its stake in Ford.

Last week on BloggingStocks, Brent Archer named him one of our money losers of 2008 for his losses in Ford and MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM).

The week between Christmas and New Year's is supposed to be slow. No one expected a little war in the Middle East, which pushed oil prices up, at least for a couple of days. Toward the end of trading, billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's holding company said it had sold of its Ford (NYSE: F) shares, and that pushed the stock down 5%.

The day opened with the market reacting to Kuwait pulling out on its $17 billion joint venture with Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW). The news hammered DOW down 20%.

The market was down most of the day but moved toward even at the close. The primary concern of traders still seems to be the poor retail sales from the holidays and whether consumer spending will stay weak well into next year. Certainly nothing happened to make traders glad they came back after a weekend off.

Today's unofficial closing numbers:

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

As we begin the trek to grandmother's house, it's worth reflecting on what we have to be thankful for. The answer? When it comes to money, most of us have a lot less than we did a year ago. But for those of you who have your health and your families to comfort you, it will cost much less to buy the gasoline to visit than it would have in July. And as you're driving to visit those families -- consider how much less you lost in the last year than the world's 10 biggest losers.

According to the web site, The Business Sheet, those unfortunate people suffered a mind-boggling $176 billion in lost stock market value in the last 12 months. It turns out that 52% of the losses were suffered by three executives based in India. Here they are:

• Anil Ambani - $32.5 billion. Ambani heads Reliance Communications that invested $500 million in Dreamworks earlier this year.
• Lakshmi Mittal - $30.5 billion. Mittal heads ArcelorMittal which has suffered from a decline in the price of steel.
• Mukesh Ambani -$28.2 billion is Anil's brother and controls Reliance Industries, a petrochemical manufacturer.

These are some other folks that make The Business Sheet's list:

• Sheldon Adelson -$30 billion. I did consulting work for Adelson about 22 years ago and he is quite a character. His Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) casino is suffering from the economic slowdown and he's had some trouble with debt.
• Warren Buffett -$13.6 billion. As I posted, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) has had some problems this year.

As expected, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) posted dreadful results. But the numbers were even more awful than Wall Street feared, sending shares of the company plunging in premarket action.

The number three automaker -- at least for now --- posted a net loss of $8.7 billion, or $3.88 a share, for the second quarter including a $5.3 billion write down of its North American auto business and another $2.1 billion charge. A year earlier, Ford had a net profit of $750 million, or 31 cents per share. Revenue excluding special items fell to $38.6 billion compared with $44.2 billion during the year earlier period.

Excluding one-time expenses, the loss was $1.38 billion, or 62 cents. On that basis, analysts had expected a loss of 27 cents on revenue of $34.6 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Kirk Kerkorian, who always has a tan and is a billionaire to boot, will end up with 5.5% of Ford (NYSE: F) when his current tender offer is done. If things don't get better at the car company, he may use that big chunk of stock to force some changes.

The founding Ford family owns 40% of the voting shares in Ford. For the time being, they can probably block any moves that Kerkorian would want to make. But, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "The next few weeks and months could show how well the team of the activist investor and the company's management co-exist."

They aren't going to get along very well. Much of the trouble at Ford cannot be fixed by Ford. If gas prices stay high, the car market is going to stay tough for every company selling autos in the U.S. If a recessions spread to Europe and Asia, things will be even worse.

What Ford didn't do in the past is also going to keep damaging sales. The firm still makes too many trucks and SUVs and designing enough smaller cars and putting them into production will take several quarters.

Kerkorian, and any other Ford shareholders for that matter, may ask the company to cut more costs. But, Ford may be close to the bone now, and it is impossible to say what there is left to take out of expenses without deeply damaging the company's chance of ever getting its market share back.

Owning a lot of shares in Ford may get Kerkorian a voice, but he may not have anything to say.

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

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian must know something we don't. Or perhaps at his level, he might have other considerations than such trivial matters as a mere $34.5 million. That's the premium his Tracinda Corp. would pay for 20 million of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) shares over today's price if it went ahead with the offer.

On May 9th, Kerkorian offered, through Tracinda Corp., to buy an additional 20 million shares of Ford at $8.50 a share. At the time, it was a small premium over the $8.20 price. Naturally, such a savvy investor had a clause providing him an out should the shares fall more than 10% from the time of the offer. Well, they fell about 18%, but Kerkorian is waiving the provision, saying he will go ahead with the purchase and that "Tracinda continues to believe in Ford's management and turnaround efforts."

For Kerkorian, it's the third try with one of the Big Three. Chrysler and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) felt his weight in the past, and while he may have effected changes in Chrysler despite, or maybe because, of his failed attempts to take it over, he didn't manage much change and gave up on GM despite owning nearly 10% of it. Currently, Tracinda owns 100 million Ford shares, a 4.7% stake, and will likely own 20 million more by June 9 when the offer expires.

"Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) recently surprised Wall Street by posting its first profit in ages," notes Mark Skousen in The Turnaround Trader. Here's the advisor's bullish outlook on the auto maker.

"Ford announced a $100 million profit in the quarter, even though sales lagged General Motors and Toyota. I see Ford as a deeply undervalued company that finally is producing good quality cars, both here and abroad, and I don't think higher gasoline prices will have much effect on the turnaround.

"Ford must be seen as a global producer. And foreign sales are booming for Ford and GM. Moreover, now that Ford has decided to include Microsoft's Nuance-powered Sync voice control system in some of its 2008 models, it could help improve sales dramatically here in U.S. showrooms.

"If the profitable quarter continues, Ford now is selling for only 14 times next year's earnings. With revenues of close to $40 billion in the quarter, a smart business person certainly could cut the fat from that and turn a profit, and that is exactly what turnaround specialist CEO Alan Mulally is doing.

"Under his guidance, Ford saved $1.7 billion from cost reductions in the quarter and agreed to sell Jaguar and Land Rover. Wall Street likes what Mulally is doing, and so does billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, who is buying its stock. Let's join him by buying Ford."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

There's also the bearish case: Ford (F): No short seller faith in turnaround

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Chief Executive Alan Mullaly has a friend in cantankerous billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.

Kerkorian, who was Chrysler's largest shareholder before the company was acquired by Daimler, is snapping up shares in the automaker, which recently posted an unexpected $100 million first quarter profit. Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. owns a 4.7% position in Ford and plans to offer to buy as much as 20 million shares at a 13% premium to Friday's close, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

"Tracinda has been following Ford closely since the company released its fourth quarter 2007 results which indicated that Ford's management was starting to achieve highly meaningful traction in its turnaround efforts," the company said in a statement. "Last week this was reinforced by Ford's first quarter 2008 results, achieved despite the difficult U.S. economic environment. Tracinda believes that Ford management under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally will continue to show significant improvements in its results going forward."

At least that's how Kerkorian feels now.

Ford (NYSE: F) is up over 7% on news that Kirk Kerkorian has taken a major position in the company.

Sohu (NASDAQ: SOHU) is up over 13% on good earnings.

Wrigley (NYSE: WWY) is up almost 26% on news of a buy-out by Mars and Warren Buffett.

Medarex (NASDAQ: MEDX) is off 12% on news of a delay in FDA action on one of its drugs.

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

The Wall Street Journal's lead Las Vegas reporter Christina Binkley has written one of the best business narratives in years. Winner Takes All is a story about Las Vegas' emergence as something other than a kitschy gambling trap for seniors. Binkley writes fluidly and entertainingly about IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and all the transactions that results in Las Vegas' greatest resorts like Belagio and Wynn Las Vegas.

What makes this book so interesting is the cast of egos, I mean characters. There's Steve Wynn, the megalomaniacal visionary who oversees everything from financing to the color of the carpets in rooms -- while he's going blind. Kirk Kerkorian is the most mysterious of the group, running his empire from an office in California, rarely visiting his properties. Gary Loveman is to Las Vegas what Oakland A's manager Billy Beane is to baseball: a former Harvard professor, he left to enter an industry that was at the time dominated by far less sophisticated people. Employing an army of "propeller heads," Loveman brought a mathematical approach to marketing, transforming Harrah's into the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) of casinos.

By keeping the focus on the people, and moving back and forth between empires, Ms. Binkley keeps this book from degenerating into an endless series of meetings and phone calls, as so many books like this do. If you're interested in looking at the rebirth of Las Vegas from a business perspective, you'll want to buy this one.

Over the past decade or so, Dubai has placed big bets on its ability to become the world's top tourist destination. Now Dubai is taking its plans to sin city itself, Las Vegas. Dubai World, which is the investment holding firm of the Dubai government, has decided to invest $5 billion in MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) for a 9.5% stake.

In addition, Dubai World will also be getting a 50% interest in the yet to be finished CityCenter development project.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM), which launched a factory-building blitz five years ago, is now being urged by senior members of the founding family to stop building factories in the United States on fears it will hurt the company's efficiency.
• Kirk Kerkorian, who controls MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM), had planned to buy the Bellagio Hotel and Casino and the $7.4B Project City Center from MGM. But that deal now appears to be off, according to the Wall Street Journal.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The U.K. Times reported that News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) has had preliminary talks with Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) about giving its social networking site MySpace to the online search company, in exchange for a 25% stake in Yahoo!.
• The New York Times reported that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg will leave the Republican Party and register as an Independent.
• The New York Times also reported that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) will pay Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) $50M for two exclusive downloadable episodes of Grand Theft Auto for the Xbox 360.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) -- volatility Elevated on renewed Kerkorian speculation. HOT, a leading hotel and leisure company, is frequently mentioned as a private equity break up/recapitalization candidate. Chatter is circulating that Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda has a mid-$90's offer on the table for HOT. HOT is recently up $0.63 to $70.64. HOT has a market cap of $15 billion with long term debt of $1.8 billion. HOT reported quarterly March 2007 total revenue of $1.4 billion. HOT July option implied volatility of 34 is above its 26-week average of 27 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) -- volatility not confirming renewed takeover speculation. CFC, the largest U.S. home mortgage lender, is recently up 26 cents to $38.16. CFC July option implied volatility of 36 is near its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger price fluctuations.

Option volume leaders today are: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Freeport McMoran (NYSE: FCX), Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO).

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

After dueling with Daimler and losing again, Kirk Kerkorian has decided to take on someone his own size: himself. In a move that has analyst's opinions all over the map, Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corporation announced it will negotiate with MGM Mirage (NYSE:MGM) for its two best properties. The Bellagio and the under-construction CityCenter could fetch as much at $12 billion.

The odd part of the story is that Kerkorian owns 56% of MGM Mirage. Other stockholders are not responding well to what they perceive as an attempt to cherry-pick the company's assets, questioning Kerkorian's motives. Some suggest he is trying to force the company onto the sales block, drooling at the potential price in light of Harrah's recent $17.1 billion sale.

He could also be hoping to play both ways; strip off the most lucrative assets, then hope the remaining package is still alluring enough to draw venture interest. Left on the table for the moment is MGM's Grand Macau, possibly signaling Kerkorian's uncertainty about that market.

A key part of this deal is MGM's CityCenter development, a casino-retail-hotel- condominium complex that will cost an estimated $7.9 billion. With the recent cancellation of other Vegas high-roller condo developments, CityCenter is either well poised to take advantage of the Vegas property boom or vulnerable to the slackening housing market. Probably the former.

The market has shown love for the idea, so far, jumping up 30% by midmorning on the news.

DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) and Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. are renewing their long-standing feud in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

Kerkorian, the billionaire who tried to buy Chrysler in 1995, last week offered to by the money-losing automaker for $4.5 billion and even promised to put down a $100 million deposit. DaimlerChrysler's executives, though, aren't taking the bid seriously, the Wall Street Journal said.

According to the Journal, Tracinda wanted DailmerChrysler to shoulder some of Chrysler's $15 billion in pension liabilities and retiree health care costs, something that other bidders haven't sought. DaimlerChrysler also balked at Tracinda's request to for exclusive rights to conduct due diligence for 60 days, the paper said.

Of course "people familiar with the matter" in Tracinda's camp see things differently. DaimlerChrylser, which is holding meetings with the private equity companies interested in buying Chrysler, denied to the Journal that its discriminating against Kerkorian.

This is what people mean when they talk about negotiating though the press.

The campaign of leaks and counter leaks has just begun.