BB&T (BBT - option chain) shares are rising today after the Wall Street Journal reported that Sterling Bancshares (SBIB) has put itself up for sale. The Journal listed BBT as one of the banks interested in acquiring Sterling. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BBT.

BBT opened this morning at $26.83. So far today the stock has hit a low of $26.80 and a high of $27.90. As of 12:15, BBT is trading at $27.87 up $1.00 (3.7%). The chart for BBT looks bullish and S&P gives BBT a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Regal Entertainment Group (RGC) stock is trading lower today after an article over the weekend in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) criticized a move by some cinema chains to raise ticket prices. The analyst wrote that raising the price of 3D movies would likely backfire and might drive away cost-conscious families. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on RGC.

This morning, RGC opened at $17.87. So far today the stock has hit a high of $17.87 and a low of $17.11. As of 12:00, RGC is trading at $17.13, down $0.86 (-4.8%). The chart for RGC looks bullish.

Ianthe Dugan is on target. Exceptionally connected with both Wall Street and Main Street, she wrote about employment in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required): "Working Two Jobs and Still Underemployed." Though written a few months ago, the article presciently places WSJs finger on the pulse of post-employed reality for many people today.

We meet a former employee working two jobs to earn a third of what he used to earn in a manufacturing job. Part of the "mancession," he is "part of a growing group of underemployed -- people in part-time jobs who want full-time work or people in jobs that don't employ their skills. Since the recession began two years ago, the number of people involuntarily working part-time jobs has more than doubled to 9.3 million, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest number on record."

The recent announcement by the New York Times (NYT) that it would start to require subscriptions next year has drawn no shortage of attention and commentary. It has tried to put content behind a pay wall before (and failed), as have other newspapers.

Almost universally, newspapers have struggled with online subscriptions, with the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, a News Corp (NWS) property, the only two that have really delivered results better than awful. Whether the New York Times can operate at that level is in doubt, particularly given the stunning realization about Long Island daily newspaper Newsday.

The New York Times (NYT) has been struggling to figure out the web, which has led to a debate over whether to charge for electrons that has spanned years. Well, the Times seems likely to take the plunge, hoping to replicate the successes of the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal ... except, of course, that the Wall Street Journal is famous for not really delivering profits. Fortunately, the new pay wall is expected to look more like the Financial Times than the Wall Street Journal. The New York Times is considering a "metered" system. Visitors will be able to read a certain number of articles free before being required to subscribe.

A friend of Arthur Sulzberger, according to New York Magazine's Daily Intel, said that the final word could come in a few days, a sentiment corroborated by a newsroom source who said that the plan could be announced within weeks. Yet, plans need to be implemented, so it could take months for the Times to begin charging for content.

The newspaper industry continues to blame Google (GOOG) for its woes, and Google continues to claim its innocence. The search engine giant's CEO, Eric Schmidt, says that his company could actually help the newspaper industry survive the shift from print to digital ... a shift that's been more than a decade in the making, he was kind enough not to note.

According to Schmidt, publishers need to dig into the online environment and find new ways to generate revenue. "With dwindling revenue and diminished resources," he wrote in an op-ed piece published in News Corp's (NWS) Wall Street Journal, "frustrated newspaper executives are looking for someone to blame."

Free content's getting locked down. Google (GOOG), which has been criticized by the newspaper industry for sending them traffic making it easy for readers to find the stories they want without forcing them to make a purchase, is starting to play ball with the print industry.

What's the harm? The way things are going, Google will only have to be nice for a little while. Then, this latest defensive measure by the newspaper industry will have run its course, and Google will be free to do what it wants.

The mayhem in the media industry continues. The Wall Street Journal, a News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS) property, is closing its Boston bureau and sending nine employees into the wind. The newswire and MarketWatch operations are going to stay open in Boston, however, with no headcount impact.

The Journal doesn't have any plans to close other offices, according to a memo by managing editor Robert Thomson: "there are no plans, nascent or otherwise, to close any other U.S. or international bureau." The WSJ will still support an "investigative function" in Boston, but the New York-based Money and Investing team will cover Boston's mutual fund industry, which boasts such heavy hitters as Fidelity.

At the same time, magazine company Time Inc., owned by Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) is looking to cut $100 million in expenses, and layoffs will undoubtedly figure into the equation. The company that owns Time, Fortune, People and Sports Illustrated – and falls under the same umbrella as AOL, which owns BloggingStocks – is feeling the squeeze of a media recession that's even worse than the regular recession we've all been battling for what feels like decades.

UBS (NYSE: UBS - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the Wall Street Journal reported the company plans to issue covered bonds, an instrument previously shunned by Swiss banks. UBS hopes the usage of covered bonds will allow it to refinance residential mortgages that remain on its balance sheet at advantageous terms. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on
USB.

This morning, RIG opened at $17.67. So far today the stock has hit a low of $17.05 and a high of $17.97. As of 11:55, UBS is trading at $17.11, down $1.21 (-6.6%). The chart for USB looks neutral and S&P gives UBS a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

The media has been filled with reports about how poorly the advertising at The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) has been doing. The company has $400 million in debt due next year. It is trying to sell its part of the parent company of The Boston Red Sox. NYT is even attempting to mortgage its headquarters building.

Bringing in new money won't do much long-term if revenue keeps falling. Cutting costs would.

One of the sections of The New York Times that must be costly to run is its business section. Looking at all the bylines, the staff must be in the dozens. But, a great deal of what runs in the business pages is not unique. Most of its is covered by Reuters, Bloomberg, FT, or The Wall Street Journal.

As the cost of being in the news business stays high and revenue drops, networks are pooling reporting resources. Newspapers are sharing coverage of certain geographic areas. Websites such as Politico are offering newspapers coverage of Washington to save money on having bureaus following the federal government.

The New York Times might be better off if it cut a deal with Bloomberg or the FT to handle its business section. The paper would still be competitive with The Wall Street Journal, and the move might be the start of a system to save a lot more money by doing something similar with other parts of the Times.

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

WSJ Magazine has a story on Sarah Palin's exercise of choice, running. It's interesting that the story must have had a four month lead time -- well before John McCain chose her as his VP candidate. The piece paints her as someone who ran five to seven miles a day before she became pregnant, at which point she did aerobics. Sounds healthy to me.

But it's McCain's health we have to worry about. Now it's come to light that although Palin could be a heartbeat away from the presidency, she doesn't know what Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) are. CBS News reports Palin said that they "have become too big for the taxpayers." But the taxpayers never owned them or paid taxes to support them. Thanks to Hank Paulson, we may spend as much as $800 billion of taxpayer money bailing them out. So if Palin is going to be president -- assuming 72-year-old John McCain needs to step down -- someone better get her up to speed on what's going on outside of Wasilla.

And aside from the glowing fitness report, there's some bad news about Palin. She has tried to "cover up investigations of her firing of a public safety commissioner in order to prevent a so-called 'October surprise' that would produce embarrassing information about her on the eve of the election," according to Capitol Hill Blue.

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) shares are trading higher today after an analyst wrote in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend that despite rises in oil prices, many oil stocks and oil service companies are undervalued based on price/earnings ratios. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on HAL.

After hitting a one-year low of $30.00 in January, the stock hit a one-year high of $55.38 earlier this month. HAL opened this morning at $48.23. So far today the stock has hit a low of $48.23 and a high of $50.08. As of 1:05, HAL is trading at $48.90, up $1.03 (2.1%). The chart for HAL looks bullish but deteriorating, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bull-put credit spread below the $42.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.5% return in just five weeks as long as HAL is above $42.50 at August expiration. Halliburton would have to fall by more than 13% before we would start to lose money.

HAL hasn't been below $44 at all since April and has shown support around $45 recently. This trade could be risky if the price of oil drops off in the coming month, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find around $45 where it formed a bottom in early May.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in HAL.

Rupert Murdoch is facing off against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as he seeks to take control of two TV stations and three newspapers in New York -- including Newsday -- The New York Times reports. A December 2007 FCC rule allows a company to own just one paper and one television station in the same city in the top 20 markets so long as there are at least eight other independent sources of news and the station is not in the top four. (The stations that News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) controls are the fourth- and sixth-largest in the New York market).

Meanwhile, I am fascinated by the Wall Street Journal's [subscription required] coverage of the departure of its own managing editor, Marcus Brauchli, yesterday. The punch line was that everything is fine because Brauchli was simply doing what the boss wanted. Brauchli's new role? Providing "guidance to senior management in a wide range of areas," including whether Murdoch's Star-TV service in Asia should launch a business-news channel. Sounds like a good fit.

In contrast to the Journal's corporate press release on its page one, The New York Times reported that Brauchli was fired. It noted that a few weeks prior to his departure, Murdoch's henchmen indicated they were unhappy with the pace of change at the Journal. The Times wrote: "At some point, They told him, 'We don't think this is working,' and Brauchli replied that in that case, he should consider leaving."

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) shares opened higher but are now flat on the day despite an article in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend said the steel industry should continue its strong growth. The article cites growing global consumption, as well as shrinking exports from Russia and China. If you agree with the WSJ and think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on NUE.

After hitting a one-year low of $41.62 in August, the stock hit a one-year high of $76.48 last week. NUE opened this morning at $73.66. So far today the stock has hit a low of $73.24 and a high of $75.60. As of 12:20, NUE is trading at $73.92, unchanged from Friday's close. The chart for NUE looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $55 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 5.3% return in just three months as long as NUE is above $55 at July expiration. Nucor would have to fall by more than 25% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

NUE hasn't been below $55 at all since January and has shown support around $67 recently. This trade could be risky if the global economy shrinks and reduces the worldwide demand for steel, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find from its 200 day moving average, which is currently around $60 and rising.

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 positions in NUE.

Jerry Yang may have just figured out a way to not hose Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) shareholders. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Yahoo! and Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE: TWX) AOL may be close to a tie-up to combine their Internet operations. According to the report, Time Warner would make a large cash investment into Yahoo! and then Yahoo! would repurchase billions of dollars worth of shares in the mid-$30's. Just keep in mind that as of now, this all only an unverified WSJ story; nothing has been released by the companies.

This would thwart Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) in a deal valuation, or at least that would be the intent. Interestingly enough, there were headlines today tying Yahoo! into running some test search-ads via Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). As long as we're talking about your cousin's sister's brother, Google also owns a 5% chuck of AOL via a prior $1 billion investment. In order to monetize the deal, AOL would have to have a liquidity event of some sort, although by now the time may have passed.

There are no assurances that shareholders would go along with an AOL/Yahoo! combination, nor are there assurances that this would net more money to Yahoo! shareholders in the end. Time Warner shareholders might even potentially be an issue. Until there are more facts out other than the Journal's un-named sources, it's just all hearsay anyway.

Frankly, it's a wonder that Bill Gates hasn't tried to get involved in this deal with his own money. He could always say he's too young to go do charity.