MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that Fred Anderson, the former Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CFO, said through his lawyer that Apple CEO Steve Jobs misled him regarding board actions on stock-option awards.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that The Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium of banks fighting Barclays (NYSE: BCS) in an attempt to acquire ABN Amro (NYSE: ABN) indicated it would pay EUR39 per share, or $98.5B, for the Dutch bank.
• The next CEO of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) will probably be promoted from within the company, Royal Dutch Shell chairman Jorma Ollila said yesterday, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).
  

OTHER PAPERS:

• The New York Times reported that Jarden Corp. (NYSE: JAH) will acquire K2 Inc. (NYSE: KTO) for about $1.2 billion in cash and stock, or $15.50 per share.
• According to a New York Post exclusive, WPP Group (NASDAQ: WPPGY) is among the suitors for 24/7 Real Media, which is on the auction block.
• The U.K. Times has reported that US Airways (NYSE: LCC) has pulled out of a $3.7 billion deal with Airbus, for Boeing (NYSE: BA), which US Air will order 20 to 30 787 Dreamliners from, worth between $3.2 billion and $4.9 billion.

Right now in my personal zip code, the temperature is eight degrees with a wind chill of seven below. But spring is within reach! It is great day for baseball fans, as pitchers and catchers head down to camps in Florida and Arizona for the annual rites of spring training. I'm a lifelong, die-hard, season-ticket-holding Cardinals fan, so I'm happy to boast that my team enters the 2007 season as reigning (and terribly unlikely) World Champions. Opening Day isn't until April 1, but at least there will be baseball news to digest and statistics to dissect. Who has the best starting rotation this year? What free agent was the best acquisition? When will Barry Bonds break Hammerin' Hank's home-run record (he's 21 swings away)? And will anyone except Barry himself be too happy about it? Can my Cardinals function as a cohesive unit with a high-profile semi-feud going on?

K2 Inc (NYSE:KTO), the parent of Rawlings, gains some attention this time of year, providing baseballs to the Majors (approximately 60,000 each season) as well as gloves and other equipment. The shares are in need of a call to the bullpen, as the stock has been in a slump ever since mid-November. But things are looking up. Last Friday, KTO lifted its fiscal 2006 profit outlook and issued a cheerful guidance for 2007.

So as I'm bundled up and dealing with the thick layers of salt and sludge on my car, I can look cheerfully at my two Cardinals jerseys in the back of my closet, and know that some sweltering summer nights at Busch Stadium are right around the corner.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.