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Strategies & Market Trends : Speculating in Takeover Targets -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: richardred who wrote (2663)	1/20/2011 12:38:51 PM
From: richardred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7256

At face value. Leveraged trade bets on St. Jude David Russell (david.russell@optionmonster.com), On Thursday January 20, 2011, 11:17 am EST St. Jude Medical is challenging long-term resistance, and one investor is looking for the medical-device stock to break out. optionMONSTER's Heat Seeker tracking system detected the purchase of about 3,500 February 45 calls for $0.40 and the sale of a matching number of February 40 puts for $0.50. Volume was above open interest in both strikes. STJThe trade resulted in a net credit of $0.10 and will earn infinite profits if STJ closes above $45 on expiration. It will lose money below $40 and expire worthless between those levels. The company will release earnings before the bell on Jan. 26, so today's investor is apparently betting on a rally around the news. STJ is flat on the day at $42.05 in morning trading. The current price is the same level where it traded in October 2008 immediately before the market collapsed (red line and arrow on chart). It has pushed against this range three times since then while making higher lows, a pattern some chart watchers may consider a bullish triangle. The company said earlier this month that its fourth-quarter results would be at the high end of its previously forecast range. It's also been buying back stock, carrying out acquisitions and appears to be attractively valued with a forward price/earnings ratio of about 13 times. The bullish trade, known as a combination strategy, pushed total option volume in STJ to about 7 times greater than average. finance.yahoo.com

To: richardred who wrote (2663)	4/17/2011 7:10:32 PM
From: richardred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7256

Snip>"There's other companies it would fit better with. J&J has been looking at acquisitions for a while. It's odd that they settled on this target. I'm not sure the deal gets done." IMO , I would have to agree with that analyst. For that kind of mega bucks. I also happen to think STJ would be a much better fit. Of coarse I'm prejudice. reuters.com finance.yahoo.com UPDATE 1-J&J in talks to buy Synthes for $20 bln-source Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:45am EDT * Would be J&J's largest acquisition * Devices and diagnostics were 40 pct of 2010 sales (Adds background about J&J, M&A in industry, comments from analyst) By Jessica Hall BOSTON, April 16 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) is in preliminary talks to acquire Swiss medical device maker Synthes (SYST.VX) for a price which could be about $20 billion, a source familiar with the situation said on Saturday. A deal at that price would mark an 11 percent premium over Synthes' current market capitalization of about $18 billion. It would allow healthcare conglomerate J&J to further diversify its healthcare business. However, talks could still break down, said the source, who declined to be named because the talks are not public. The medical device sector has been consolidating as pharmaceutical companies look to diversify away from drugs going off patent. Other recent medical device deals include the $5.8 billion acquisition of Beckman Coulter by Danaher Corp (DHR.N), announced in February. Synthes shares closed up 6.2 percent in Switzerland, with traders citing market talk that the diversified healthcare company or U.S. medical device maker Medtronic Inc (MDT.N) could be interested in buying the company. J&J, which holds about $19 billion in cash, could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday. "As a matter of policy we don't comment on speculation," J&J spokesman Bill Price said when asked on Friday. Synthes was not immediately available to comment. News of the talks was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. J&J owns some 250 separate companies under its corporate umbrella and a Synthes purchase would be its largest ever acquisition. The company attempted to acquire U.S. medical device maker Guidant several years ago, but was outbid by Boston Scientific Corp (BSX.N). J&J's biggest previous deal to date was its 2006 acquisition of Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) consumer health business for $16 billion. "J&J has developed a strong war chest of cash. They have the ability to do a deal like this from a size and strategy standpoint," Morningstar analyst Damien Conover said on Friday. "This is an area where J&J would like to build strength," Conover said of Synthes, which makes spinal products and screws and plates to repair broken bones. Medical devices and diagnostics accounted for 40 percent of J&J's $61.6 billion in 2010 sales but the business has been hit by competition and recalls. "An acquisition of Synthes makes sense but not necessarily by J&J and not at this price," a banker not involved in with the deal said on Friday. "There's other companies it would fit better with. J&J has been looking at acquisitions for a while. It's odd that they settled on this target. I'm not sure the deal gets done." reuters.com

To: richardred who wrote (2663)	5/2/2011 11:28:50 AM
From: richardred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7256

Sold-STJ-St. Jude Medical-as it breaks it new 52 week high.

To: richardred who wrote (2663)	9/15/2011 9:58:17 AM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7256

Well over 5X sales. What a premium. IMO Lesses speculative appeal of LTXC. Teradyne Agrees To Buy LitePoint For At Least $510M Teradyne this afternoon said it has agreed to buy privately held LitePoint, a provider of production line test equipment for smartphones, tablets and PCs, for $510 million net of cash and tax benefits. The purchase price could increase by $70 million based on performance targets through 2012. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. LitePoint had sales of $86 million in 2010 and is projecting sales of $125 million to $135 million in 2011. Teradyne in late trading is up 17 cents, or 1.4%, to $12.76. forbes.com