• News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace is investing heavily in games to go along with its successful music and video offerings, and beginning in January, thanks to a deal with games distributor Oberon, will offer hundreds of free "casual" games, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
  
• The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg overturned a law that had been on the books in Germany since 1960 to prevent hostile foreign takeovers, reported the Wall Street Journal. The immediate result is expected to be a takeover attempt by Porsche, a 31% holder of Volkswagen (OTC: VLKAY) shares.

• Mobile Telecom company France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) is close to creating a joint venture for long distance operations in India with Indian optical storage manufacturer Moser Baer, reported the Economic Times.
• British financial services company HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) is looking to sell Marbles, the online credit card business it acquired in 2003, reported the Independent.
• The first undersea telecommunications cable linking China and the U.S. -- called the Trans-Pacific Express -- has begun to be constructed, reports the Associated Press, and it's expected to be in place before the Beijing Olympics next July. Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is involved and says the cable will be 11,000 miles long and cost about $500M.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• In an interview with the Financial Times (subscription required), Carl Icahn said of Motorola (NYSE: MOT): "There is value there, and if that value doesn't manifest itself, I as an activist, would think very seriously about coming back."

• Universal Music is in talks with Sony Corporation's (NYSE: SNE) Sony BMG and Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) over launching a music subscription service to be called Total Music, which would be free on certain devices, reported the Telegraph.
• While Emerging Memory Technologies CEO Sreedhar Natarajan would not confirm the deal, stating "I'm under a non-disclosure agreement," it is clear that EMT has been acquired by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM), the Ottawa Citizen reported.
• Lehman Brothers analyst Douglas Anmuth believes Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) will launch a mobile phone similar to that of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone in February, reported the Independent.
• The Associated Press reported that Nomura Holdings (NYSE: NMR) announced that it will close its mortgage-backed securities business in the U.S., and expects a group pretax loss of between $240M and $510M for the quarter ended in September.

• According to Unstrung.com's sources in the finance community, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is expected to enter the WiMax arena before the end of the month, and Navini Networks is Cisco's preferred target.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Chrysler LLC is discussing shuttering or selling Mopar, its auto parts unit, and Chrysler Transport, the overseer of supplies to Chrysler's plants, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Tomorrow, troubled condo developer WCI Communities Inc (NYSE: WCI) is expected to vote Carl Icahn and two of his representatives to the company's board, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" column reported that Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) director James Mitarotonda, a director since August 2006, purchased over $1.2M in stock through his equity fund Barington Companies Equity Partners on Aug. 23 and 24 according to SEC data.
• The sale of a 20% strategic stake in Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE: SMI), China's biggest chipmaker, has stalled, as the company's board is reportedly undecided about how to proceed, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).

• Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) has agreed to seek the approval of London Stock Exchange CEO Clara Furse before it sells its minority stake in the British exchange to any single buyer, reported the Independent.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Weekday Trader" suggest investing in several pharmaceutical names during the stock market woes, including Merck & Co Inc (NYSE: MRK), Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE: LLY) and Schering Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP).
• Speculation intensified that the Federal Reserve is going to cut interest rates shortly, and moreover, some are suggesting that it already has cut them stealthily, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) will spend $5B on WiMAX through 2010, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) is considering smaller, higher-end stores for introduction early next year, reported the Wall Street Journal.

• The CEO of Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) , René Obermann, called for the European mobile phone networks to be consolidated, reported the Independent.
• Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) is believed to be negotiating the purchase of a European pension plan worth about GBP200M, reported the U.K. Times.
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the economy and markets are "resilient," and can absorb any losses from the recent market instability, and has not raised the possibility of policy changes to deal with the markets' problems, reported the New York Times.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Mattel Inc (NYSE: MAT) is expected to soon announce another recall of toys made in China, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Merck and Co. Inc (NYSE: MRK) CFO Judy Lewent sold 200K shares for $10.3M from July 26 through Aug. 7, at an average price of $51.31 per share, reported Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column.
• The Royal Bank of Scotland (OTC: RBSPY)-led consortium seeking to purchase Dutch bank ABN Amro Holdings NV (NYSE: ABN) raised its stake in ABN to more than 3% between Friday and Monday, reported the Financial Times.

• The Independent reported that Barclays' (NYSE: BCS) bid for Dutch bank ABM Amro was approved by the Netherlands' Ministry of Finance yesterday.
• A highly publicized civilian nuclear deal with the U.S. still allows India to test nuclear weapons, according to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reported the Associated Press.

Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), told reporters that he would not be surprised if Facebook remained independent. He also pointed out that the rise of social networks could be good for the big search company: "Social networks are creating lots and lots of content ... and that's more for us to search." Facebook now has almost 30 million active members, putting it behind News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) MySpace.

Brin's observation may simply be a factor of his own experience. Google could have been sold before it went public. Rumors are that Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) had strong interest. Instead, Google watched the price of its stock go from under $100 at the time of its IPO to $545 now. With a market cap of $170 billion, the founders have become wildly wealthy.

The question, of course, is whether social networking is the next search. Can the newest rage on the internet pull in really large investments from online marketers? Did Rupert Murdoch steal MySpace for $565 million?

It may be a year or two before it is clear that independence is the right move for Facebook. By then its founders will either be very rich or full of regret.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

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.

• 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.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" reported that Louis Tursi Jr., a VP for Church & Dwight Company Inc (NYSE: CHD) has made the largest purchase by a Church & Dwight insider in five years, buying 5,200 shares on May 10, according to SEC data.
• According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), citing people familiar with the matter, IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) will acquire a significant stake in Front Line Management.
• HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HBC) Finance Corporation almost doubled its provision for credit losses last quarter, in another sign of the deterioration of the subprime lending market, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).

• The New York Times reported that some Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM) agents enrolled Medicare recipients in products that "they did not understand and did not want," according to Oklahoma's insurance commissioner.
• The Independent wrote that Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) is close to a deal for Spanish Internet player Ya.com, which is owned by Deutsche Telekom ADS (NYSE: DT), for about GBP340M.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that the list of advertisers defecting from Don Imus's morning TV show on General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) and Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) MSNBC is growing, resulting in NBC Universal pulling the show off the air immediately.

• Sources involved with the process reported that Viacom Inc's (NYSE: VIA) music publishing catalog Famous Music is attracting a lot of interest from major music labels to former music executives backed by private-equity, reported the New York Post.
• France's Thales and American aerospace giant Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) are reportedly looking to make a joint bid for a new $31.7B contract to supply the British Army with 3,000 new medium-weight armored vehicles, reported The Business.
• The Independent reported that scientists have discovered a technique for "pain-free, highly effective chemotherapy," a huge breakthrough in cancer treatment.

• DigiTimes.com reported, citing industry sources, that Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation has lowered its DRAM spot prices almost 15% due to fierce price competition, but the sources noted that the low prices have not been able to stimulate demand in the DRAM market.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that a confidential report on the Texas City refinery explosion found that John Manzoni, BP plc ADS's (NYSE: BP) CEO of refining, should have inspected the facility much deeper after "warning signals" from previous accidents.
• The Financial Times also reported that both retailers and consumer goods manufacturers in developed countries are shifting their logistics operations, including sorting and labeling, to China.

• The U.K .Times has learned that a boardroom split has emerged between Jean-Francois Dehecq, the chairman of Sanofi-Aventis ADS (NYSE: SNY), and Gerard Le Fur, the CEO of Sanofi, over whether to acquire Bristol-Myers Squib Company (NYSE: BMY) for $54 billion.
• According to the Independent, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) is asking regulators whether it could make a bid to acquire J. Sainsbury (JSAIY), Britain's third largest supermarket.
• The New York Times reported that stock bonuses paid to executives like CEO Gerard J. Arpey (his bonus includes shared valued yesterday at around $7.5M) have reportedly angered the Allied Pilots Association, the union representing AMR Corporation's (NYSE: AMR) American Airlines' pilots.
• According to the Detroit Free Press, citing people familiar with the talks, General Motors (GM) is not actively pursuing a purchase of DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSE: DCX) Chrysler Group after talking in January about a potential transaction.

• GamesIndustry.biz reported that 20 million copies of Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Vista were sold in the month after the new operating system, or OS, was released worldwide on January 30, Microsoft reported. Vista is selling at more than twice the rate of Windows XP, Microsoft's previous OS.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) is reportedly attempting to tighten its financial reporting procedures, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported. The auto maker is under investigation by the SEC and a federal grand jury for its accounting of transactions as far back as 2000.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is in talks with India's Reliance Industries for a joint venture that would enable Dow to reduce its exposure to commodity products and gain access to cheaper raw materials. Indian newspapers report that a deal could lead to a full takeover by Reliance.

• According to the Korea Economic Daily, citing an unnamed Posco ADS (NYSE: PKX) executive, a senior Arcelor Mittal Steel Company (NYSE: MT) executive expressed interest in Posco's merger plans. Posco denied the report, saying "There was no discussion on issues related to M&A when the Mittal executive met Posco CEO last month," according to the Economic Times.
• The Independent reported that Imperial Tobacco Group plc (NYSE: ITY) has made a GBP7.6B bid for the Franco-Spanish tobacco company Altadis. The private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is also reported to have interest in acquiring Altadis. An Imperial-Altadis merger could derail a hostile bid by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
  
• BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" section mentioned Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE: NEM), CB Richard Ellis Group Inc (NYSE: CBG) and Superior Energy Services Inc (NYSE: SPN) positively.
• Which gold producer will shine brightest? Newmont Mining "is the one," says Vincent Carrino, Chief of Brookhaven Capital Management, which has loaded up on its stock.
  
• Douglas Roberts at Channel Capital Research Institute doesn't see the Fed cutting rates soon, and hence he likes CB Richard Ellis Group.
• Superior Energy Services aims to be everything to oil-and-gas explorers in the Gulf of Mexico, and in most cases it is. "Superior can't keep up with the tremendous demand for its repair and recovery services, which will provide strong growth through the end of the decade," says Martin Sass, CEO of MDSass, which owns a 1.2% stake.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to the Wall Street Journal's (subscription required) "Heard on the Street" column, JP Morgan Chase and Company (NYSE: JPM) is working on its growth without acquisitions, by bulking up its Hollywood business and its pension-advisory business.
• The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that China's economic-planning agency said it would allow Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) to build a chip plant in the northeastern city of Dalian.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) has raised its bid for Nikko Cordial by 25.9% to around $13.4B.

• CNet.com has learned that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is close to acquiring privately held Tellme Networks, which a deal expected to be completed later this week.
• The U.K. Times reported that Warner Music Group Corp (NYSE: WMG) is struggling to justify raising its bid for rival EMI Group (OTC: EMIPY), because it does not believe it can risk an improved offer without having access to EMI's books.
• According to the Independent, Diageo plc ADS (NYSE: DEO) is expected to bid for Absolut vodka owners Vin & Sprit despite worries about competition.