Rumors alone of Carl Icahn's agitation can work wonders on a company's share price. Case in point: Yahoo! Inc.'s 5.15% rise to close at $26.56 on Tuesday following a late-afternoon
CNBC report that the billionaire investor may initiate a proxy fight to take control of the search engine's board. Icahn last week amassed a significant "position" in Yahoo! that may be up to 50 million shares, according to the report. Icahn had not yet filed the share purchases with Securities and Exchange Commission. Yahoo!'s shares could use all the help they can get as they sunk about 15% on May 5 to $24.37 after
Yahoo! rejected Microsoft Corp.'s $47.5 billion acquisition offer.
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Icahn was not the only activist that helped boost tech shares Tuesday. On a smaller scale, MSC Software Corp.'s stock jumped 2.86% to $12.23 per share as activist hedge fund Elliot Associates LP announced an active 9.2% stake in the company and called for a sale or the pursuit of other strategic alternatives.
The bulls also took a run at Clear Channel Communications Inc. Tuesday, as the stock jumped 4.35% to $34.30. Clear Channel and its private equity buyers reached an agreement in principle on Tuesday with the banks sponsoring the buyout. The Deal confirmed a CNBC report that the banks will fund the deal at $36 a share rather than the agreed to $39.20 a share. This comes after a New York trial was delayed over a day and a half as the parties met to discuss a resolution.
The broader market was not as bright as the aforementioned deal stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 44.13 points Tuesday as the price of light sweet crude oil hit a trading record of $126.98 per barrel, finally closing on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $125.80. - Michael Rudnick
