Stocks to watch for Wednesday, March 26, 2008:

• Clear Channel (CCU) may end up in court in an effort to force lenders to complete its $19.5 billion leveraged buyout by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners LLC. The New York Times reports that the apprehensive banks include Citigroup (C), Deutsche Bank (DB), Morgan Stanley (MS), Credit Suisse (CS), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Wachovia (WB).
• Goldman Sachs (GS) proposed a deal that will raise $350 million for its first 'blank check' IPO, a first such offering by the broker. The company will be called Liberty Lane Acquisition Corp. The goal of these types of companies is to raise enough money to acquire an operating business. According to the Wall Street Journal, Goldman's offering is different from other blank check IPOs in that management will be required to put in a much smaller stake, and receive a much smaller share of the company.
• Jabil Circuit (JBL) reported a 2Q loss of $24 million, or 12 cents a share, compared to a profit of $13.9 million, or 7 cents a share, a year ago, citing restructuring charges, which it said rose to almost $42 million. Revenue rose 4% to $3.1 billion from last year's $2.9 billion. Excluding one-time items, Jabil said its core earnings were $42 million, or 20 cents a share.
• JP Morgan (JPM) said it will integrate Bear Stearn's prime brokerage and global trade processing businesses, according to the Wall Street Journal. The two units employ about 800 of the company's 14,000 employees.
• Take-Two (TTWO) shareholders have been urged by the company to reject the takeover offer of $26 a share by rival Electronic Arts (ERTS). According to Reuters, the company said it would explore strategic alternatives, including a combination with third parties or with EA, or remaining independent.

Market Recap

• Asian trading closed with the Hang Seng +0.68%, Nikkei -0.30%, Sensex -0.81%, Taiwan -0.31% and Shanghai -0.63%.
• Looking towards Europe, we find the CAC -0.08%, DAX -0.14%, FTSE -0.44%, ATX +0.55%, Swiss Mkt. -0.43% and Stockholm -0.09%.
• Commodities are in the green with crude oil up +1.36 to 102.60 and gold is also higher +11.1 to 946.1 this morning.

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