MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's "Weekday Trader" section said that Bankrate Inc (NASDAQ: RATE), Answers Corporation (NASDAQ: ANSW), WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) and The Knot Inc (NASDAQ: KNOT) may be the next preferred takeover targets for Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Brad Tierney is interested in Dow Jones and Company (NYSE: DJ), which in talks with News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) Rupert Murdoch for a possible $5B sale.
• According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a person close to the deal, Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) will acquire the Orange Netherlands unit of France Telecom for about EUR1.3B, and simultaneously sell Ya.com for EUR320M to them.
• The Financial Times reported that three separate research teams showed the embryonic stem cells can be created by reprogramming some of the genes in adult mice skin cells, without creating an embryo. The news will be well-received by opponents of embryonic stem cell research, but scientists said it is too early to tell if the technique can be used with human cells.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Herald Sun reported that a new $237B Chinese state-owned investment fund may be interested in acquiring natural resources company BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE: BHP), according to Bell Potter research chief Peter Quinton.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: MasterCard (MA), American Express (AXP), Boyd Gaming (BYD) and Overstock.com (OSTK) were the most notable companies on the initiation list today:

• Keefe Bruyette initiated MasterCard Inc. (NYSE:MA) with an Underperform and an $88 target, citing valuation, and American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP) with an Outperform rating and $72 target;
• Coverage of Boyd Gaming Inc. (NYSE:BYD) was resumed with a Buy rating and $67 target, as the firm believes the company's assets are undervalued and investors will look at Boyd as a potential candidate to go private;
• Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) was initiated with a Sell rating and $14 target at First Albany.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• BMO Capital initiated Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE:HOG) with a Market Perform and $70 target on valuation.
• Susquehanna initiated The Knot Inc. (NASDAQ:KNOT) with a Positive rating, citing the recent buyback and cash infusion; the firm says Knot has an opportunity to capitalize on the growing value of quality online content and favorable sector trends.
• Scientific Games Corp. (NASDAQ:SGMS) was initiated at Bear Sterns with a Peer Perform rating, citing valuation.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Remember yesterday on MAD MONEY? Jim Cramer said he would give us a pick a day for companies Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) could buy in order to "save" the company from the havoc wrecked by CEO Terry Semel. Yesterday's pick was Bankrate, Inc. (NASDAQ:RATE), and today he proposed Yahoo! buy The Knot, Inc. (NASDAQ:KNOT).

Why The Knot? Cramer says it is the premeire wedding destination online. In fact, whether or not his matchmaking is successful, he thinks The Knot is a good investment. He thinks that the street is worried that KNOT may be too expensive, but he is wrong. He thinks the stock is going higher. Say it, and it's so. The stock closed at $23.93 today, up over 2%, but was up as high as $24.84 in after-hours trading thanks to Cramer's romancing.