Monday morning, the publisher of iconic adult magazine Playboy (PLA) announced that it will take the company private, thanks to a "sweetened offer" from the magazine's founder Hugh Hefner. The offer of $6.15 per share represents an 18% premium from the stock's Friday close. The total offer values the company at $207 million. Back in July, Hefner's Icon Acquisition Holdings LP offered $5.50 per share.

Playboy has had other offers, including an offer of $210 million from rival Penthouse magazine. That said, Hefner is Playboy's largest shareholder with roughly 70% of the company's voting shares and 28% of the company's nonvoting stock. Hefner noted that the "agreement will give us the resources and the flexibility to return Playboy to its unique position and to further expand our business around the world."

Playboy (PLA) is going through a troubled period, one that has lasted a long time. And, quite frankly, I'm not sure when it will end. I guess it will end when the business eventually finds a buyer. Whether such a buyer turns out to be founder Hugh Hefner or some other entity, we'll have to wait and see (I would assume Hefner would have the obvious advantage).

Shares of the stock are, as I write this, priced at $4.93. The 52-week low for the company is $2.73 while the 52-week high is $6.10. Yes, this has been a great trading vehicle. But don't underestimate the risk here, even though the latest quarterly report did bring some relatively good news.

Playboy Enterprises (PLA), which received a buyout offer from Hugh Hefner last summer, is scheduled to discuss its third-quarter 2010 financial results Tuesday, November 9, in a conference call at 10:00 AM (ET). You can catch a live webcast of the call at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in September, the Chicago-based adult entertainment company launched TheSmokingJacket.com and also launched Playboy TV in Taiwan. But analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating another big net loss from Playboy -- 71 cents per share -- due in part to write-downs related to its squabble with DirecTV (DTV). Playboy's revenue is expected to have fallen 7.5% from the same period of last year to $51.8 million.

I'm going to offer up brief opinions on some of the events from the past trading week. Maybe you had your eye on one or two of them as well.

Playboy (PLA) reported a net loss in its second quarter. The red ink came out to 16 cents per share this time around; last year, the loss was 26 cents per share. You know what? It doesn't really matter if management was able to narrow the bleeding. Playboy is purely an arbitrage play now, with Hugh Hefner making a bid to take control of the business (a competing bid has been made by FriendFinder, which owns Penthouse). I would avoid making a buy here, since the arbitrage game can be a difficult one to win.

A report has surfaced that Playboy's (PLA) founder Hugh Hefner has made an offer to purchase the remaining shares of the company -- taking it private.

Supposedly Hefner will join forces with Rizvi Traverse Management in order to buy the shares that he doesn't already own for $5.50 apiece. Would this be a solid investment for Hefner or will the move result in a last-gasp effort to try and make the magazine relevant in some way?

Playboy (PLA) is a fascinating stock. As with every trade, there are two sides to the story. One side will argue that the stock has bounced nicely off the 52-week low of $2.30, and that it has room to run as the concern continues to alter its model for making money. At some point, the bull might say, the market will become excited and buy the shares.

Interesting thesis. My argument against speculating with this idea is simple: it's Playboy. You might do well; you might not. I don't know how much plainer it can be.

I guess there are a lot of guys who will be buying Playboy (PLA) in order to read the articles in the third dimension ...

Friday's June edition of Hugh Hefner's periodical will come with its own pair of 3-D glasses. In fact, Hugh Hefner asked, "What would people most like to see in 3-D ... probably a naked lady."

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• American International Group Inc. (AIG) said its Q1 earnings doubled, easily topping analysts' expectations.
• Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) said Q1 revenue grew, but disappointing earnings dragged down shares.
• Chevron Corp. (CVX) had strong Q1 earnings and boosted its dividend, but Gulf spill concerns weighed on shares.
• CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS) Q1 earnings topped consensus estimates but it also said same-store sales slipped.
• Freddie Mac (FRE) said its lost $8 billion in Q1, less than a year ago, and requested further bailout funds.

Playboy (PLA) has already cut its staff and cut its office space ... but you know things are bad when Hef starts cutting back on the amount of skin his Bunnies are baring.

According to industry reports, Playboy is planning on a mix of new sites aimed at tackling a tamer market -- and none of them involve nudity. According to Playboy insiders, the company is developing a "free, safe-for-work site" its calling TheSmokingJacket.com, as well as additional subscription content with a slightly tamer feel.

Broadening your appeal beyond a core product is no easy task. But if done successfully, it can forever change the fortunes of a company. Just look at Nintendo (NTDOY) and its efforts to make video games mainstream and not a niche product for pimply-faced teenagers.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) lower Q4 earnings topped estimates and same-store sales also declined.
• Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) reaffirmed its earnings outlook but lowered its revenue forecast for the full year.
• Daimler AG (DAI) provided guidance for the year that included slashing its dividend, sending shares lower.
• Dell Inc. (DELL) lower Q4 earnings beat estimates by a penny but it didn't offer guidance, sending shares lower.
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) easily topped Q4 earnings estimates and revenue increased as well.

Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (PLA) published its quarterly numbers today, and while there were some positive developments, overall, I think it's safe to say that the stock is a risk that should be avoided. Unless, of course, you simply want to roll the dice and speculate.

Hey, nothing wrong with having a little fun, I suppose, although there surely are more attractive speculative bets out there. According to , Playboy lost 83 cents per share in Q4. Last year at this time, there was a loss of $4.40 per share.

TMZ reports that a Playboy (PLA) shareholder has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that majority shareholder and chief creative officer Hugh Hefner has intentionally sabotaged multiple deal possibilities in an effort to hold onto his own lifestyle.

"If you were Hugh Hefner, 81, would you give up the parade of busty blonds, the fancy mansion and the reality TV show for a payout?" the lawsuit asks. "Hefner has continued to live the good life and make sure everyone knows it. Hefner remains in the limelight, showing up at media events and at the Playboy mansion ... with his girlfriends by his side."

The markets were very mixed going into the close and which direction the closing bell was going to be was not known until right at the close. Core consumer inflation seems to still be contained, although oil rose sharply today on supply and refining concerns. Even the FOMC decision to keep rates at the near-zero policy and keeping the "extended time" phrase on for extremely low fed funds rates did not hurt the markets today.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,441.12 -10.88 (-0.10%)
S&P 500 1,109.18 +1.25 (0.11%)
Nasdaq 2,206.91 +5.86 (0.27%)

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Facebook is implementing a new stock structure to make sure the founders retain control, immediately causing rumors about an impending initial public offering. Why would Facebook need Class A and Class B shares otherwise? Under the new structure, which is similar to Google's (GOOG), Mark Zuckerberg and other early entrants wouldn't have to worry about yielding the floor to outsiders when if the company goes public.

The stock structure was adopted to ensure that existing shareholders keep control on voting issues, according to Facebook statement. No details were given as to who the winners are in this arrangement, but a Wall Street Journal report says that, according to its sources, all current shareholders would be converted to Class B shares, which carry 10 times the voting rights of Class A shares.

Playboy Enterprises (PLA) announced Tuesday that it will outsource all of its publishing operations -- save editorial -- to American Media Inc., reports the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). The Florida-based firm will take the reins on Playboy's production, circulation, advertising sales, marketing, and support functions, in exchange for fees and incentives. No further financial details on the deal were provided.

"Our goal is to focus our resources on what we do best, which is to create compelling content," explained CEO Scott Flanders. "By joining forces with American Media, we will be able to significantly reduce our cost structure and leverage the economies of scale related to manufacturing, distribution and marketing that are available to this large, multi-title publisher."