Troubled movie renter Blockbuster has been looking for a buyer, and we learn today that DISH Network (DISH) has won the auction for the company, with a deal valued at $228 million in cash.

Blockbuster was once the biggest name in video rentals, but it has been unable to keep up with changes in the market created by companies such as Netflix (NFLX) and Redbox.

Bookseller Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS) has been hoping to find a potential buyer, but it appears as though its search will end with no buyer.

The book seller has been searching for months for a potential buyer, and the search will likely continue for a couple more weeks, but people close to the bidding process have stated that it looks unlikely that the company will be able to find a buyer.

Coca-Cola (KO) has more than $13 billion in cash.

The top five companies (according to market cap) are:

• Exxon Mobil (XOM): $398.3 billion
• Apple (AAPL): $309.0 billion
• Microsoft (MSFT): $237.5 billion
• General Electric (GE): $215.0 billion
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): $202.5 billion

"Merger Fund (MERFX) offers a non-traditional way to invest, using merger arbitrage," says fund specialist Leonard Goodall.

The editor of No-Load Fund Portfolios explains, "Managers Green, Shannon and Behren focus on acquisitions. The success of the fund depends upon the skill of the managers to pick the mergers that will go through, along with a good measure of luck.

"They make us of the 'spread' -- buying shares in the target company after the acquisition is announced and selling those shares at a higher price when the deal is completed.

Qualcomm (QCOM) is spreading its wings. It said Wednesday it has agreed to purchase Atheros Communications (ATHR) for $3.2 billion, as reported by the Associated Press. Why is Qualcomm making this deal? What are the advantages to the company?

Qualcomm is a big player in supplying chips to wireless phones. It has been looking to put its products in tablets and social notebook computers.

LM Ericsson Telephone (ERIC - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced that it would be prepared to buy rivals when they run into trouble, as it did when it bought parts of rival Nortel. 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 ERIC.

ERIC opened this morning at $11.42. So far today the stock has hit a low of $9.17 and a high of $12.39. As of 12:00, ERIC is trading at $11.54 up 0.22 (1.9%). The chart for ERIC looks bearish and S&P gives ERIC a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.

As the world's largest retailer, Walmart (WMT) has a tough time to find any meaningful growth. But that's not stopping the company.

For example, Walmart sees Africa as an attractive frontier for growth. Despite the risks, the continent is massive, with over one billion people. And no doubt, they want to get discounts on goods.

So this week, Walmart made its first move; that is, the company agreed to shell out $2.4 billion for a 51% take in Massmart. The company is the #3 retailer in South Africa and has several brands that cater to general merchandise, warehouse clubs and home improvement.

H&R Block (HRB) closed down 10% Thursday after announcing an agreement to acquire TaxACT for $287.5 million in cash. Puts were active on 77,000 contracts. November put option implied volatility is at 69, January is at 63, April is at 61, above its 26-week average of 37, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

MBIA (MBI), a financial holding company, rallied 16% on active call option volume of 75,000 contracts and put volume of 11,000 contracts. November call option implied volatility of 76, January is at 63, versus its 26-week average of 74, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

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

Over the years, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) has made a variety of bad acquisitions. Of course, the large ones were particularly harmful for shareholders.

So what to do? Well, interestingly enough, Alcatel-Lucent has been recently buying up tiny companies, especially in the fast-growing mobile space.

And the latest deal came this week: OpenPlug (the price tag was not disclosed). Basically, the company creates mobile software development tools.

Back in 2002, Burger King (BKC) went private in a $1.5 billion deal (at the time, the food chain was owned by Diageo PLC). Then in 2006, the company came back to the public markets, providing a nice return for the private equity sponsors, which included TPG Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Bain Capital.

OK, so how about going private again? Actually, this is the latest rumor making the rounds. Although, it sounds like the negotiations are in the early stages.

In light of the raft of acquisitions lately, it seems that the dealmakers at Google (GOOG) haven't had much sleep lately. Of course, the targets have been mostly social type companies. For the most part, Google needs to protect its advertising franchise -- especially from Facebook.

The latest deal for Google is SocialDeck -- the price tag was not disclosed. Based in Canada, the startup has been successful with a variety of Facebook, BlackBerry and iPhone games. Of course, these games involve multi-layer environments, and can even span devices. Titles include "Color Connect" and "Pet Hero MD."

Many investors seem to be taking lightly the recent acquisition of McAfee by Intel Corp. (INTC). In fact, they seem bewildered by the move. Why in the world would a maker of chip sets want to own a data security software provider? Let me tell you why.

The days when we subscribed to a third-party service to download those clunky security patches will soon be gone -- and not missed. Those annoying downloads and incessant updates will go the way of the dinosaurs. Intel is preparing for the next generation of data security. Soon your data security will be provided as an integral part of your data handling and communication devices. It will finally be manufactured right into your chip sets. That's the way it should have been long ago.

Intel (INTC) has a problem. It's the leader in PC chips, but it hasn't done nearly as well in the mobile devices market . To remedy this, it just bought the Wireless Solutions Business of Infineon for $1.4 billion.

Intel said that "The acquisition expands [its] current Wi-Fi and 4G WiMAX offerings to include Infineon's 3G capabilities and supports Intel's plans to accelerate LTE. The acquired technology will be used in Intel® Core processor-based laptops, and myriad of Intel® Atom™ processor-based devices, including smartphones, netbooks, tablets and embedded computers."

Last year, Twitter said it had two goals for 2010: generate revenue and make acquisitions. At the time, the company was still sitting on a significant portion of its last round of capital, and given the $20 million annual burn rate revealed late last year -- plus the revenue it's generating -- it's unlikely that Twitter has had to deplete its coffers. So, Twitter has cash to put to work, and now we're seeing what that means.

On its blog, Twitter announced Friday that it has entered into an agreement with Atebits (aka Loren Brichter) to acquire Tweetie, which is one of the top Twitter clients for the Apple (AAPL) iPhone. In addition to acquiring the application, Twitter is also picking up talent. Brichter's efforts were good for a 2009 Apple Design Award, and he'll be part of future efforts to get Twitter for the iPad off the ground.

On March 2, hedge fund operator Elliott Associates made a $5.75 per share offer for Novell (NOVL). The valuation of the deal was roughly $2 billion.

Well, after much consideration, Novell has finally responded. And as should be no surprise, the company says the bid is "inadequate."