Daniel Snyder, the super entrepreneur and owner of the Redskins, always thinks big. So, when he took a piece of Six Flags (NYSE: SIX), it was only a matter of time until we saw some big bets.

This week, he did just that. Through his investment firm Red Zone Capital as well as Six Flags, he bought Dick Clark Productions for about $175 million.

OK, this may seem like taking a couple steps back. Isn't Dick Clark kind of passe?

That may be the case but his company has some compelling brands, such as "New Year's Rockin' Eve," The Golden Globe Awards, "So You Think You Can Dance," the American Music Awards and so on.

Basically, Six Flags can leverage these assets in terms of cool events, merchandising, and perhaps even attractions.

And, for $175 million, it does seem like a reasonable bet.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Stock futures are lower in early morning indicating to a similar start for the stock market ahead of some key economic data due to be released today.

At 8:30 a.m., before markets open, the Labor Department will report February's consumer price index. Economists forecast a 0.3% increase compared to a 0.2% increase in January. Ex-food and and energy, core CPI is expected to rise 0.2% after gaining 0.3% in the previous month. Investors will be watching this inflationary measure closely as the Fed meets to discuss interest rate policy next week. What's more, yesterday's PPI surprise is causing further concerns inflationary pressures are sill strong.

Despite PPI coming much higher than expected yesterday and other indication about mounting inflation (at the wholesale level) and slower economic growth, markets finished on a positive note. The reason, many speculate, has to do with several options and futures contracts expiring today bringing buyers into the market. Corporate M&A activity also helped strengthened stocks yesterday.

Other economic data will be reported today: February capacity utilization and industrial production figures will be released just before markets open. March consumer confidence is due at 10:00 a.m., after the open, and is expected to show a slight drop.

The dollar dropped to a three-months low against the euro ahead of the coming U.S. economic data that could further point to weakening U.S. economy. The dollar also lost ground against the yen and 12 other currencies.
After falling to near $57 a barrel, oil prices rose this morning.

In corporate news:

OMI Corp. (NYSE:OMN), operator of a fleet of oil tankers, may put itself up for sale. The company hired advisers to explore sale and its board is reviewing several strategic alternatives.

Nissan Motor Co. (NASDAQ:NSANY) CEO Carlos Ghosn would give up the duty of overseeing operations in the Americas. The automaker shuffles top management as it heads for its first annual profit decline in seven years.

Monday March 12

• Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE:TXN) mid-quarter update conference call at 5pm. Note that Stifel just upgraded Texas Instruments to Buy from Hold as they believe the mid-quarter update will show improving trends.

Tuesday March 13

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.
• Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) to hold annual shareholder meeting at 11:30am.
• PDUFA Date for GlaxoSmithKline plc ADR's (NYSE:GSK) Tykerb, a breast cancer drug.

Wednesday March 14

• Retailers Hot Topic Inc. (NASDAQ:HOTT) and Zumiez Inc (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) to report earnings. Hot Topic's Q4 conference call is at 4:30pm, Zumiez's Q4 conference call is at 5pm.
• PDUFA Date for Novartis AG ADS's (NYSE:NVS) Tekturna, a treatment for high blood pressure.

Thursday March 15

• Bayer AG ADS (NYSE:BAY) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 6am.
• Six Flags Inc (NYSE:SIX) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 4pm. Note that earlier this week, Cramer specified Six Flags as a stock he was bullish on during the "Lightning Round" of his Mad Money television show.

Friday March 16

• IMAX Corp (NASDAQ:IMAX) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
• AnnTaylor Stores Corporation (NYSE:ANN) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Six Flags (NYSE: SIX) is the top conservative investment idea for 2007 from Chris Mayer, editor of Capital & Crisis. The advisor notes, "Six Flags is a great brand name, and about 34 million people visited its amusement and water parks last year. And they all come and spend money.

"Dan Snyder, the whiz-bang executive who made billions with Snyder Communications, took control of the company last November. He's also the guy who bought the Washington Redskins. In the time he's owned the Redskins, profits have tripled, and it's now the most valuable property in the NFL.

"One of the first things he did was hire Mark Shapiro to run the show at Six Flags. Shapiro was the No. 2 guy at ESPN. So he knows a few things about marketing and building up a media asset. Since he's joined Six Flags, he's brought on a bunch of executives and operators from ESPN and Disney.

Monday December 11

• Hartford Financial (NYSE: HIG) to hold a 10am conference call regarding 2007 earnings guidance
• FCC to hold a hearing on Media Ownership at 1pm
• Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) to hold Q4 mid-quarter update at 5pm

Tuesday December 12

• Six Flags (NYSE: SIX) to hold mid-quarter update at 8:30am
• Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to hold Q4 earnings conference call at 11am
• General Electric (NYSE: GE) to hold financial update conference call at 3pm

Wednesday December 13

• Dynegy (NYSE: DYN) to hold 2007 earnings and cash flow estimates webcast at 8am
• Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to hold public hearing at 9am

Thursday December 14

• Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) to hold Q4 earnings conference call at 10am
• PDUFA Date for Novartis' (NYSE: NVS) Rasilez

Friday December 15

• PDUFA Date for Oscient Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ: OSCI) Factive

On his MAD MONEY show, Jim Cramer always knows how to throw the generally-accepted investing viewpoints for a loop (har har). Tonight he discussed a new perspective on roller coasters when he suggested that Six Flags, Inc. (NYSE:SIX) is a way to make money, as a real estate play instead of as an entertainment company.

On a recent visit he paid $147 for 3 people, but said you can get less with a crushed Coke can; he criticized the park, which operates 30 units in North America, saying that the lines were long and you don't get enough rides for the time.

With such poor service and the risk of thugs, his biggest concern was the risk of bankruptcy -- never a good thing for equity investors, who are paid dead last (and usually nothing) in an asset sale. He found some research that confirmed his fears out of Prudential, but then decided to think outside the box.

As a real estate play they could make a mint if they tore down their parks and sold off the land. Modest proposal? Perhaps.

Cramer evaluated the rating, and noted that even the bears think there is only $1 or $2 downside. He said that CRT Capital named this as a "Strong Buy" because the young CEO may get a grasp of it and the land values alone are huge. He said the theme park can be a theme park because of its real estate. He said the bad numbers are really bad, and thinks the $4 is the floor. He calls it a "2 down 6 up scenario", meaning it can only fall $2.00 and can go up as much as $6.00 from current levels.

[Photo Whatknot]