MAJOR PAPERS:

• Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) could announce a capital infusion of several billion dollars from outside investors as early as Monday, people familiar with the matter said. While final terms of the deal are still being worked on, the Wall Street Journal reported that the bank is expected to receive between $6B-$7B, in return the investor group would receive shares priced at roughly $23-$24 per share.
• According to people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is seeking to sell as much as $20B in debt to a 'collection of investors,' which include private-equity firms.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Telegraph reported that Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) is said to be considering a bid for Virgin Media Inc's (NASDAQ: VMED) television channels.
• The UK Times wrote that Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) and Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (NYSE: MER) will demoralize Wall Street this week with revelations of write-downs of $15B.

Barry Diller has won his dispute with John Malone. Malone's Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA) owns a a large piece of the company that Diller runs, IAC/Interactive (NASDAQ: IACI). Diller has the right to vote those shares under a long-standing agreement.

Diller has decided to break IACI into five companies because the businesses in the firm do not have significant relationships to one another. Malone wanted to block the break-up and filed suit in court.

According to MarketWatch, "Vice Chancellor Stephen Lamb ruled Friday that "Liberty has failed to demonstrate that Diller has breached or threatened to breach any contractual duty he owes to Liberty," according to Lamb's 78-page opinion."

Diller can now complete his plans.

That leaves open the question of whether IACI is worth more in pieces than it is as a conglomerate. The firm's stock trades at $20, near its 52-week low and down from the period high of over $39. Some of the company's divisions, especially Lending Tree and HSN had tough years in 2007. These would get very low valuations as independent operations and might not make up for the value of more attractive operations like Ask.com

Diller may have gotten his way, but it is not clear that it will help shareholders.

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

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.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Time Warner, MedCath and Schlumberger were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• UBS upgraded shares of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) to Buy from Neutral on valuation and believes the company's focus on structural improvements and cost reductions will provide positive catalysts.
  
• MedCath (NASDAQ: MDTH) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia, as they view weakness following the Q1 miss due to a higher-than-expected option expense as a buying opportunity.
  
• Bear Stearns raised Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) to Outperform from Peer Perform, as they believe the company is well-positioned for the next oilfield service business cycle and valuation.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• SunTrust upgraded Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded Eldorado Gold (NYSE: EGO) to Outperform from Neutral.
  
• Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: OptionXpress Holdings, Supertex and Syngenta were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Merriman believes OptionXpress Holdings (NASDAQ: OXPS) has lost market share, and remains vulnerable on many fronts. They expect the competitive landscape will continue to intensify, pressuring margins and growth rates. The firm initiated shares with a Sell rating.
• Morgan Keegan started Supertex (NASDAQ: SUPX) with a Market Perform rating, citing lack of near-term catalysts.
• Syngenta (NYSE: SYT) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Bear, as they are positive on the company's defensive growth profile and valuation.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• HSBC initiated FedEx (NYSE: FDX) with a Neutral rating and $102 target and United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) with an Overweight rating and $86 target.
• Credit Suisse started Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA) with an Outperform rating and $140 target.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• With regulators, politicians and rating firms biting at their heels, Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) believed that it had no choice but to approach Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) last month about a merger, reported the Wall Street Journal. That fear led to BAC's $4B takeover of Countrywide, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that John Malone's Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) moved to take control of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) from Barry Diller, nominating a series of directors for board members it is looking to replace.
• According to the Financial Times, European public health specialists have found "significant resistance" to Roche Holding Ltd's (OTC: RHHBY) widely purchased influenza antiviral medicine Tamiflu.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Shares of Britain's third-largest drug maker, Shire Plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) plummeted yesterday to a two-year low on concerns about demand for its attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment for children, Vyvanse, the Telegraph reported.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) filed a lawsuit in Delaware against IAC/InterActiveCorp's (NASDAQ: IACI) Barry Diller in an attempt to block Mr. Diller from completing the spinoffs of several units on terms that could dilute Liberty's voting power; the suit follows a suit filed by IAC against Liberty seeking to complete the divestiture on its own terms, the Wall Street Journal said.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Evening Standard learned that billionaire Wilbur Ross is in takeover talks with AMBAC Financial Group Inc (NYSE: ABK) and that a deal could come within the next two weeks.

WEB SITES:

• According to analysts, TheDeal.com's Dealscape blog reported that the troubles at WellCare Health Plans Inc (NYSE: WCG) could lead to a sale of the company after the departure of the company's three executives.
• Citing a source close to Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD), CRN.com reported that rumors of a merger between the company and International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) "is nothing but speculation." A rumor in Mergermarket, which caused AMD's share price to spike almost 11% on Wednesday, said IBM's microelectronics division could merge with AMD "possibly in the near term."

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Aerospace stocks, WuXi Pharma, Myriad Genetics, Cypress Bioscience and Knology were today's noteworthy initiations:

• LYON initiated shares of aerospace stocks including Goodrich Corporation (NYSE: GR), TransDigm Group Inc (NYSE: TDG) and Triumph Group Incorporated (NYSE: TGI) with Add ratings and a $74 target, $45 target and $90 target, respectively.
  
• WuXi Pharmatech (NYSE: WX) was started with a Hold rating and $29 target at Jefferies on valuation. JP Morgan started shares with a Neutral rating and Credit Suisse initiated shares with an Outperform rating.
  
• Myriad Genetics Inc (NASDAQ: MYGN) was started with a Hold rating and $50 target at Citigroup, as the firm is cautious on the Phase III Flurizan results and does not recommend putting new money here at these levels.
  
• Citigroup also initiated shares of Cypress Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: CYPB) with a Buy rating and $22 target as the firm believes Milnacipran has sufficient database for approval and is capable of gaining meaningful market share as firstline therapy.
  
• Knology Inc (NASDAQ: KNOL) was initiated with a Buy rating and $25 target at BWS Financial, as the firm believes the company's growth potential is greater than other cable companies through a business plan that allows it to have operations in all regions of the U.S.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Wachovia resumed coverage of Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Northwest Airlines Corporation (NYSE: NWA) and Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE: DAL) were initiated with Overweight ratings at JP Morgan.
  
• Thomas Weisel started shares of Tyco Electronics (NYSE: TEL) with a Market Weight rating.
  
• Goldman initiated shares of Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Activision Inc (NASDAQ: ATVI) with Buy ratings and THQ Inc (NASDAQ: THQI) with a Neutral rating.

"Seeking to put some of our capital back to work, today we're going to step up and purchase shares of DirecTV (NYSE: DTV)," says Bill Martin.

In his FindProfit newsletter, he explains, "We believe that investors are beginning to realize that the competitive worries for satellite are overdone. In fact, satellite has actually picked up market share over the past year.

Via technology upgrades and strategic partnerships, he notes that DTV is poised to accelerate its competitive edge in the high-definition TV marketplace, while increasing the penetration of a variety of product 'add-ons,' such as high-definition boxes, DVRs, etc., that should boost margins.

He suggests, "As John Malone has done at other entities where he has significant influence such as Liberty Capital (NASDAQ: LCAPA), Liberty Global (NASDAQ: LBTYA), Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), and IAC\Interactive (NASDAQ: IACI), we expect DTV to move to buy-in significant amounts of stock over the coming year as it re-levers its balance sheet."

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) is reviewing its options to finance the building of WiMax, a wireless broadband network; a hook-up with Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) is a possibility.
• The word is out that Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) and EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) will make a joint bid for the satellite communications provider Intelsat, Ltd, possibly somewhere in the $4.5B-$5.5B range, the Wall Street Journal reported.
  
• The Financial Times reported that Congress removed blocks on arms transfer requests by U.K. weapons manufacturer BAE Systems plc (OTC: BAESY), acting after BAE assured them that the transfer requests were unrelated to a defunct British investigation into bribery allegations involving Saudi Arabia and BAE.
• According to Barron's Online's "Weekday Trader," Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) is climbing its way back to electronic prominence, but more work remains, and it may be time to take profits.

WEBSITES:

• LiveMint.com reported that Citigroup Inc's (NYSE: C) emerging markets private-equity investment arm, Citigroup Venture Capital International, will reportedly invest $1.5B in India over the next three years, the largest investment by a single private-equity investor in the Indian markets.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) had M&A news on General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Tribune Co (NYSE: TRB).
• According to sources, General Electric is in talks to buy Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) Diagnostics Arm and a deal could come as soon as today.
• Tribune received at least three sharply "varying proposals" from bidders but none offered a premium for the entire company.
• Prosecutors are intensifying their criminal probe into stock-option manipulation at Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST), prompted in part by emails written by the company's ex-counsel.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported, citing local industry officials, that China is considering a plan by Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) to build a chipmaking plant in Dalian.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The New York Times reported that Barclays (NYSE: BCS) has agreed to pay almost $400 million over 20 years for the naming rights to an American indoor sports arena, the planned future home of the Nets basketball team, when it relocates to Brooklyn in 2009.
  
• The New York Post wrote that Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA) CEO John Malone could be interested in Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC) subsidiary Rainbow Media Holdings since Cablevision's special committee rejected the Dolan family's going-private offer.
• Investor's Business Daily's "New America" column mentioned GPS maker Trimble Navigation (NASDAQ: TRMB) positively.