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Yesterday no fewer than 20 companies around the world announced 40,000 layoffs. As I posted, that's the flip side of the great inflation report that came out this week. And those 40,000 are among the first of 2.1 million U.S. jobs that are forecast to disappear in 2009 -- particularly if the $825 billion stimulus plan does not pass.

Here are some of yesterday's cuts from the U.S. companies:

• Circuit City Stores is liquidating and taking 30,000 jobs along for the ride
• Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) is eliminating 4,000 jobs worldwide due to a drop in travel demand.
• WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) the second-largest U.S. health insurer, will end 1,500 jobs, which include 600 workers and 900 open positions.
• Clear Channel (NYSE: CCO) -- the largest U.S. radio broadcaster -- will lay off 1,500 employees on January 20.

This is the first in a four part series which I hope gives buyers, sellers, shareholders and dare I say management a platform for discussion.

Over the years I have written numerous stories about eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), which I think has evolved from a must own stock of the new economy to just another company struggling to adapt to the rapidly shifting sand under its feet.

Having made money (bought after bubble burst) and lost money, owning a few remaining shares (sold most at $34), I have been pondering what I would do if I ran the company. My conclusion is that I might break up eBay; at a minimum, I would refocus it.

eBay has had spectacular growth in the past, though less now. It has made highly profitable acquisitions like Pay-Pal and terrible buys like money-losing Skype.

Here are some tidbits for all to cogitate on. In my view, Skype belongs in the hands of a communications company, not an online store. It has millions of users but eBay has not been able to monetize its growth. I think it's time to sell it. The telephone and wireless companies could make much better use of this asset by integrating it into complimentary service bundles.

U.S. stock futures were lower Friday morning, a day after a selloff triggered by housing data. Today investors are bracing for more housing data at 10:00 a.m. EDT after already hearing that foreclosures soared 121% during the second quarter. Other point of interest will be durable goods data reported an hour before the opening bell. Meanwhile, oil continued the steady climb that started Thursday as the dollar weakens, trading above $126 a barrel. It's Friday, and no many earnings reports are due.

While there aren't many earnings reports today, there are a few including Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO), Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) among others.

Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) shares are tanking over 44% to $5 after after it cut its earnings outlook significantly on softer demand for its plastic shoes. With all those knockoffs around, is it any wonder? Robert W. Baird downgraded Crocs from Outperform to Neutral, slashing the target price from $21 to $5.

Meanwhile, Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) surged 12% in premarket trading after the company not only beat estimates when reporting quarterly results Thursday, but also increased its sales forecast for the third-quarter much higher than analyst estimates. Friedman Billings and Citigroup both upgraded Juniper to Outperform and Buy respectively.

In deal news, Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) shareholders on Thursday approved a $17.9 billion takeover by private equity funds Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital. This ends the 20-month long effort.

This week, we've seen two major buyout deals come undone: the $6.1 transaction for Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) and TPG's play for Bradford & Bingley. In fact, according to FactSet Research, about 20% of leveraged buyouts (LBOs) since mid-2007 have been terminated.

Despite all this, some deals are getting done. Perhaps the most notable is the BCE (NYSE: BCE) LBO. BCE has reached an agreement with its private equity sponsors and banks to close its $51 billion LBO. This will represent the biggest buyout in history.

Now, there are some wrinkles. The closing date will be extended to December and there will not be any dividend payments for the rest of the year. The break-up fee was also upped from $1 billion to $1.2 billion.

Yet, the fact is that the price tag will remain unchanged (at $42 per share). No doubt, this is a big feat, especially in light of the credit crunch.

Apparently, there was much discussion about renegotiating the price. Then again, the prospects of massive litigation were daunting, as we have seen in a variety of other deals such as with Clear Channel, SLM (NYSE: SLM) and Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

It's no secret that Talk Radio host extraordinaire Rush Limbaugh has revolutionized the alternative media. With his new contract, it appears that Rush is once again on the cutting edge of societal evolution, and has once again laid down the gauntlet that he is light years ahead of his competition. What's so amazing is that in an era when traditional media is having all kinds of problems, whether it's declining newspaper sales, or declining ratings for the nightly news, the man who sits behind the golden EIB microphone is forging ahead as if nothing is happening.

According to a press release, Limbaugh has signed a long-term contract extension:

Advertiser and affiliate demand is at an all-time high for Mr. Limbaugh. President of Premiere Radio Networks Charlie Rahilly stated, "The Rush Limbaugh Show enjoys an unprecedented platform of radio affiliates. Plus, advertisers harness the intensity of listener engagement -- no one's 'word of mouth' about a product or service delivers more impact than Mr. Limbaugh does. The Premiere team is proud to partner with Mr. Limbaugh deep into the next decade."

Too many parties have too much to lose to let this one go through without a fight, TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says.

No, it is not over. If there is one thing we have learned about Sirius (NASDAQ: SIRI) (Cramer's Take)-XM (NASDAQ: XMSR) (Cramer's Take), it is that at every step of the way, people have to try to block it or at least hold it up to the point that someone goes out of business. This is a deal, now much longer in passing than Exxon and Mobil, that still has congressional meddling even right now, still has rearguard activists who might fight the merger on the commission itself even though the FCC's staff has said yes.

Lots of people are confusing the issue of the merger benefits with the merger itself. The benefits will be helpful down the road on both the revenue and the costs, and the caps won't mean that much. What matters, plain and simple, is refinancing. Both companies are always in danger of running out of money.

However, if you know that three years hence -- after the frozen period during which service fees cannot be increased -- the two companies can begin to offer extreme cable pricing, you can go hat in hand to the Street with a good bond deal that people will no longer feel could default.

It is the last big buyout left from 2007, the leveraged deal to take Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE) private. The transaction is worth almost $52 billion. Like several LBOs before it, banks are negotiating to get a better price, or kill the deal.

According to The New York Times, "The negotiations over the Bell Canada buyout began to fray late Friday." Banks in the deal, including Citigroup (NYSE: C), want higher interest rates and other concessions. The private equity firms trying to close the transaction, which include Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners, may elect to sue the banks to close. The tactic was used in the buyout of Clear Channel (NYSE: CCU). It worked, but the price still ended up lower than the original offer.

Since the banks have no shame in walking away from these deals, in many cases, observers probably hope courts will force closing on the terms that each party signed up for. But that is merely a child's fantasy. BCE trades at just under $39 after hitting $44 last November.

After hard negotiating and a threat of court visits, watch for a deal to get done below $40.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the homebuilders won't quit, and that's making the early-cycle plays work.

Have we really bottomed? The stubborn lack of decline in the homebuilders, coupled with the better-than-expected retail sales, the strong transports, and the conclusion of a deal like Clear Channel (NYSE: CCU) (Cramer's Take), has created an environment where you are hard-pressed, if you rely on stocks as forecasters, to ignore the possibility of a bottom.

I watch the HGX like a hawk, the homebuilding aggregation, and it simply won't come down. That's despite the awful numbers, the covenant violations (Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF) (Cramer's Take)) the bad loans, the lack of mortgage money, the insistence of a down payment and an abysmal spring traffic season.

So, why are people buying the group that signaled the downturn? I think it comes down to price. If you force the homebuilders to sell, as Toll (NYSE: TOL) (Cramer's Take) did this quarter, taking no gains on homes, you clean up inventory. If you clean up inventory, which is what happened in western Florida, you stabilize pricing. When you stabilize pricing, you bring out buyers. It is a virtuous circle.

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Home Prices Fall for 7th Straight Quarter
Twenty-eight metro areas saw double-digit drops in median house prices in the 12 months ending in March, according to the National Association of Realtors. Eight metro areas saw year-over-year price declines of more than 20 percent: Sacramento (29.2 percent); Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. (27.7 percent); Lansing, Mich. (26.9 percent); San Diego (22.9 percent); Sarasota, Fla. (22.2 percent); Los Angeles (21.3 percent); Grand Rapids, Mich. (20.7 percent) and Las Vegas (20.2 percent).
Study: House prices -Bankrate.com

As is almost the case ahead of some key data announcement, investors tend to be looking for direction. Indeed, stock futures were mildly lower early Wednesday morning as the Street awaits CPI reading on inflation. Also in focus this morning is housing after a reading on foreclosures surged.

Already on Tuesday investors seemed nervous as U.S. stocks finished mixed on Tuesday. Retail sales, Wal-Mart results, Hewlett Packard's acquisition of EDS and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on the markets affected stocks with the Dow ending 44 points, or 0.34% lower, the S&P 500 nearly flat as it was down half a point, or 0.04%, and the Nasdaq Composite ending 6 points, or 0.27%, higher.

This morning, stocks will likely get a clearer direction after April's Consumer Price Index report due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists, according to Briefing.com expect CPI to rise 0.3% in April, while core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy prices, is estimated to be up 0.2% in April. Investors want the report to allow the Fed to keep interest rates as they are so as to bolster the dollar, and hence commodities, somewhat.

Speaking of the dollar and commodities, though, oil keeps trading on its own set of "rules," it seems. Overnight, oil set yet another record, shrugging off gains in the dollar. The record, near $127 a barrel, was due to concerns that Iran may cut production. Oil has retreated since as the reports may have been overblown. This morning, at 10:30 a.m. EDT the weekly release of U.S. fuel inventories is due. Meanwhile, congress voted Tuesday to challenge President Bush to temporarily halt the daily shipment of thousands of barrels of oil into the government's emergency reserve.

National home prices tumbled by 7.7% in the first quarter in a recent survey. While retail sales did fall -0.2% overall in the month of April, the ex-autos numbers were actually positive by +0.5%. Below are the unofficial closing levels for major averages:

• DJIA 12,833.97 (-42.34; -0.33%)
• S&P500 1,403.42 (-0.16; -0.01%)
• NASDAQ 2,495.34 (+6.85; +0.28%)
• 10YR-TBond 3.909% (+0.134%)
• TOP 10 ANALYST CALLS

Clear Channel Communications Inc. (NYSE: CCU) was up again on news of a settlement between the buyers and the banks for the $20 billion delayed buyout by Bain Capital and THL Partners. The court was adjourned until 2 pm today to allow settlement talks to continue. Shares were up 4% to $34.24 at the end of the day.

Crude surpassed $126.00 before retreating down by $1.85 to $124.11 late in the day. Many are citing that the interest in owning the dollar is also partly to thank for today's gains. Below are the unofficial closing bell prices for major index levels:

• DJIA 12,879.24 (+133.36; +1.05%)
• S&P 500 1,403.50 (+15.22; +1.10%)
• NASDAQ 2,487.86 (+42.34; +1.73%)
• 10YR-TBond 3.775% (+0.008%)
• 52 WEEK LOWS
• ANALYST CALLS

AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) rose today after it forecast that first quarter profit will exceed projections. Additionally, the women's apparel store reported its plans to drop its older women fall line but push the opening of its Loft outlets. Shares were up 16% at $28.50 in the final minutes of trading.

Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the $19.4 billion buyout of Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) was dead. But in the deal market, things can change quickly.

Just today, the New York Supreme Court said there will be a stay on the litigation on the deal. According to CNBC, it looks like the parties are engaged in heavy settlement talk.

No doubt, a trial could be problematic for the banks that are on the hook for $22 billion in debt financing. These banks include: Citigroup (NYSE: C), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank AG and Wachovia (NYSE: WB).

Now, they may be willing to fund the deal.

Why? Well, it looks like the debt markets are improving and the major banks have worked hard to boost their balance sheets.

In other words, the US credit crunch may be thawing. If so, we may see some more dealmaking – which would be a relief for Wall Street banks eager to get some juicy fees.

So far in today's trading, Clear Channel's shares are up 9.5%.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Clear Channel (NYSE: CCU) is recently up $1.70 to $31.96.

Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital have filed suits to try to force a bank group to fund their $19 billion buyout of CCU. The bank group is asking the courts to dismiss a part of the litigation.

Bloomberg is reporting that the CCU trail in New York State Court has been delayed by one day and that lawyers decline to comment on whether a settlement is in the works.

CCU call option volume of 23,870 contracts compares to put volume of 5,295 contracts. CCU May 32.5 straddle is priced at $4.10. CCU June option implied volatility of 89 is above its 26-week average of 61 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risk.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) beat Q2 expectations but offered a weak outlook.
• Clear Channel Communications Inc. (NYSE: CCU) higher Q1 profits failed to beat expectations.
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) just missed EPS estimates but raised its full-year guidance.
• CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) strong Q1 results only met Wall Street expectations.
• eResearch Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ERES) beat Q1 expectations and offered Q2 and full-year guidance.
• Foster Wheeler Ltd. (NASDAQ: FWLT) beat estimates due to a boost in its power plant segment.
• Internet Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: INET) reported strong Q1 results on ongoing M&A.
• Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY) widened its loss in Q1 but beat expectations.
• News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) Q3 earnings jumped on a one-time transaction with Liberty Media.
• NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) missed Q1 estimates but was upgraded by analysts anyway.
• NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) reported a first-quarter profit above analysts' estimates.
• Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) Q3 profits surged but fell short of analysts' expectations.
• World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) posted strong results but couldn't cover its dividend.

Upcoming results to watch for include Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR), Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), JC Penney (NYSE: JCP), Macy's (NYSE: M), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.