Merger Monday Market Movers - BUD, HOOK, EBAY, GSIC, MENT, RURL

Market Movers

Merger Monday let nobody down this week, with several deals getting done and driving stocks. This brief covers the movers and shakers among them and the day's most actives list.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Relative Tickers: Nasdaq: RURL, NYSE: BUD, Nasdaq: HOOK, Nasdaq: EBAY, Nasdaq: GSIC, Nasdaq: MENT, Nasdaq: RURL, NYSE: T, NYSE: S, NYSE: VZ, Nasdaq: LEAP, NYSE: PCS, Nasdaq: MENT, Nasdaq: NVGN, Nasdaq: OBCI, Nasdaq: MSHL, Nasdaq: SPEC, Nasdaq: CRYP, Nasdaq: TXCC, Nasdaq: ADES, NYSE: TRU, Nasdaq: ASTM, Nasdaq: IDSA, Nasdaq: SCMF, Nasdaq: CAAS, Nasdaq: ARII, AMEX: EGX, Nasdaq: RIVR, Nasdaq: ONSM, Nasdaq: CPGI, Nasdaq: EFOI, Nasdaq: TEAR, NYSE: WAB, Nasdaq: DMED, NYSE: PKD, Nasdaq: CBEH, AMEX: IVD, AMEX: RNN, Nasdaq: FUQI, Nasdaq: TSTY, Nasdaq: CISG, Nasdaq: ANIK, NYSE: XEL-PE, AMEX: WAC, AMEX: IDI, Nasdaq: VALV, Nasdaq: OTIV, Nasdaq: KGJI, Nasdaq: PRAN, Nasdaq: YRCW, NYSE: KV-B, NYSE: KV-A, Nasdaq: EDMC, Nasdaq: EBIX, Nasdaq: CADC, Nasdaq: IBCPO, Nasdaq: TKMR, AMEX: MXC, Nasdaq: PRPH, Nasdaq: EDSWW, Nasdaq: APPA, Nasdaq: BONE, Nasdaq: BIOF, Nasdaq: CALM, Nasdaq: CPHC, AMEX: CAW, AMEX: CVR, NYSE: CCM, Nasdaq: COSI, Nasdaq: GENT, Nasdaq: GRMH, Nasdaq: GSIG, Nasdaq: IDSA, NYSE: NTZ, Nasdaq: NEWN, Nasdaq: NVAX, Nasdaq: PEIX, Nasdaq: PMIC, AMEX: PIP, NYSE: PVH, Nasdaq: PRGS, Nasdaq: RPRX, Nasdaq: SNSTA, Nasdaq: TALN, Nasdaq: THTI, AMEX: WYY.

Merger Monday Market Movers – BUD, HOOK, EBAY, GSIC, MENT, RURL

Warburg Pincas Buys Rural/Metro (Nasdaq: RURL)

The private equity firm said it would pay $437.8 million for Rural/Metro (Nasdaq: RURL), excluding debt. The 37% price premium was just about realized today on the news break. Rural/Metro is an emergency services firm, running an ambulance services business and private fire protection services. The deal, and the similar deal between Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Emergency Medical Services (NYSE: EMS) are suggested to benefit from growth into the fragmented ambulatory services market. However, The Greek also likes the private fire services operations, given that municipalities are moving towards a pay for services or outsourcing model.

Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) Acquires Chicago's Goose Island

Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) is paying $38.8 million for Chicago craft brewer Goose Island, which is 42% owned by Craft Brewers Alliance (Nasdaq: HOOK). BUD fell 1% as a result, while HOOK gained 12.4%. BUD has been distributing Goose Island beers since 2006, including its Honkers Ale and 312 Urban Wheat Ale. BUD holds about a one-third stake in the Craft Brewers Alliance too.

eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) Buys GSI Commerce (Nasdaq: GSIC)

GSIC shares rocketed 51% on news the company would be acquired by eBay Monday. The online auction site will buy the retailer web services provider for $29.25 a share or $2.4 billion. eBay will not be holding on to all the assets, as GSIC's CEO organizes a new holding company to buy the to be spun-off licensed sports merchandise business, which operates online shops for the NHL, NBA, MLB, Nascar and other brands. The new holding company will also take on a 70% interest in GSI's ShopRunner and Rue La La, its private shopping sites. GSI closed a nickel short of the acquisition price, as it has a 40-day span to shop for a better offer. Stay tuned...

Mentor Graphics (Nasdaq: MENT) Rejects Icahn Bid

Mentor Graphics' board rejected Carl Icahn's $1.9 billion bid for the software firm, saying it significantly undervalues Mentor. The board also voted down Icahn's demand for the company to merge or to be acquired by someone else. The company will instead continue on its current path for growth, which it sees more rewarding over time. Mentor is a key player in electronic design automation, serving semiconductor and electronics makers. Icahn is a holder of almost 15% of the company, and he still has a chance to get his way if his three board nominees make it through to the boardroom.

AT&T T-Mobile Drives Telecom Action

In the wake of the proposed AT&T T-Mobile deal, an analyst at R.W. Baird upgraded shares of Leap Wireless (Nasdaq: LEAP) and MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS) to "Outperform" from "Neutral." We caught the analyst on CNBC's Fast Money naming Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) as a potential future buyer, if it could clean up its balance sheet a bit. He upgraded AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) to Outperform from Neutral as well.

Remaining Most Actives: The rest of the day's most actives included gainers: Novogen (Nasdaq: NVGN), Ocean Bio-Chem (Nasdaq: OBCI), Marshall Edwards (Nasdaq: MSHL), Spectrum Control (Nasdaq: SPEC), Crypto-Logic (Nasdaq: CRYP), TranSwitch (Nasdaq: TXCC), ADA-ES (Nasdaq: ADES), Torch Energy Royalty Trust (NYSE: TRU), Aastrom Biosciences (Nasdaq: ASTM), Industrial Services of America (Nasdaq: IDSA), Southern Community Financial (Nasdaq: SCMF), China Automotive Systems (Nasdaq: CAAS), American Railcar (Nasdaq: ARII), Engex (AMEX: EGX), River Valley Bancorp (Nasdaq: RIVR), Onstream Media (Nasdaq: ONSM), China Shengda Packaging (Nasdaq: CPGI), Energy Focus (Nasdaq: EFOI), TearLab (Nasdaq: TEAR), Wabtec (NYSE: WAB), D. Medical Industries (Nasdaq: DMED), Parker Drilling (NYSE: PKD); and losers: China Integrated Energy (Nasdaq: CBEH), IVAX Diagnostics (AMEX: IVD), Rexahn Pharmaceuticals (AMEX: RNN), Fuqi International (Nasdaq: FUQI), Tasty Baking (Nasdaq: TSTY), CNinsure (Nasdaq: CISG), Anika Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ANIK), Xcel Energy Preferred (NYSE: XEL-PE), Walter Investment Management (AMEX: WAC), SearchMedia Holdings (AMEX: IDI), Shengkai Innovations (Nasdaq: VALV), On Trak Innovations (Nasdaq: OTIV), Kingold Jewelry (Nasdaq: KGJI), Prana Biotechnology (Nasdaq: PRAN), YRC Worldwide (Nasdaq: YRCW), K-V Pharmaceutical (NYSE: KV-B, NYSE: KV-A), Education Management (Nasdaq: EDMC), Ebix (Nasdaq: EBIX), China Advanced Construction Materials (Nasdaq: CADC), Independent Bank (Nasdaq: IBCPO), Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: TKMR), Mexco Energy (AMEX: MXC), ProPhase Labs (Nasdaq: PRPH), Exceed (Nasdaq: EDSWW).

The EPS schedule highlights reports from Ap Pharma (Nasdaq: APPA), Bacterin International (Nasdaq: BONE), Biofuel Energy (Nasdaq: BIOF), Cal Maine Foods (Nasdaq: CALM), Canterbury Park (Nasdaq: CPHC), CCA Industries (AMEX: CAW), Chicago Rivet and Machine (AMEX: CVR), Concord Medical (NYSE: CCM), Cosi (Nasdaq: COSI), Gentium (Nasdaq: GENT), Graymark Healthcare (Nasdaq: GRMH), GSI Group (Nasdaq: GSIG), Industrial Services of America (Nasdaq: IDSA), Natuzzi (NYSE: NTZ), New Energy Systems (Nasdaq: NEWN), Novavax (Nasdaq: NVAX), Pacific Ethanol (Nasdaq: PEIX), Penn Millers (Nasdaq: PMIC), PharmAthene (AMEX: PIP), Phillips Van Heusen (NYSE: PVH), Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS), Repros Therapeutics (Nasdaq: RPRX), Sonesta (Nasdaq: SNSTA), Talon (Nasdaq: TALN), THT Heat (Nasdaq: THTI) and Widepoint (AMEX: WYY).

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