Stocks to watch for Wednesday, September 3, 2008:

• Coca-Cola (KO) has made a bid worth $2.5 billion for China Huiyuan Juice Group. The purchase for 12.20 Hong Kong dollars a share ($1.56) would be made under KO's Atlantic Industries unit and represents triple the amount of the company's last closing price. Coca-Cola also offered to pay for all outstanding convertible bonds and options, bringing the total amount of the deal to as much as HK$19.6 billion (around $2.51 billion), reported the Associated Press.
  
  
• Lehman Brothers (LEH) received some bad news as hedge fund Ospraie Management announced it is closing its flagship fund after diving 27% in August on losses in energy, mining and natural resources equity holdings. LEH held a 20% stake in the fund. The closing could have contributed to the decline in stocks yesterday.
  
  
• Sony (SNE) unveiled eight new Blu-ray video-disc recorders and players, which will be available in time for the holiday season on the Japanese market. Six recorders priced from 110,000 yen ($1,009) to 280,000 yen will be available from Sept. 27, while two players will be sold from Dec. 6, reported Bloomberg.
  
  
• Staples (SPLS) reported 2Q net income of $150.2 million, or 21 cents a share, down 16% from $178.8 million, or 25 cents a share. The company cited slow sales in the US at established stores for the decline. Sales jumped 18 percent to $5.07 billion from $4.29 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of 21 cents a share on sales of $4.69 billion.

Market Recap

• Asian trading closed with the Hang Seng -2.17%, Nikkei +0.64%, Taiwan -1.71% and Shanghai -1.22%.
  
  
• A quick check of Europe finds the CAC -1.54%, DAX -0.87%, FTSE -2.06%, ATX -0.47%, Swiss Market -0.53% and Stockholm -0.95%.
  
  
• In commodities, crude oil is trading lower -1.30 to 108.41 and gold is trading lower -9.7 to 796.9 this morning.