Bristol West Holdings (BRW: chart) soared 36% after the auto insurer agreed to be acquired by Farmers Group, a subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services, for about $712 million in cash. As part of the agreement, Bristol will be allowed to solicit other bidders until March 31. If another deal is reached, though, Bristol would have to pay Farmers a break-up fee of $14 million. If Bristol accepts another deal after March 31, it would have to pay Farmers a break-up fee of $21 million.

Dendrite International (DRTE: chart) jumped 22% after the company, which provides technology products to the pharmaceutical industry, agreed to be acquired by France-based Cegedim for about $751 million in cash. The French software company will pay Dendrite shareholders $16 per share, representing a 25% premium over Dendrite''s closing price of $12.79 on Thursday. The deal is expected to close within the next few months.

Immersion Corp. (IMMR: chart) soared 22% after the technology developer settled a patent-infringement suit with Sony. As part of the settlement, Immersion will receive $97.2 million in damages and 12 quarterly licensing payments totaling $22.5 million through December 2009.

Kohl''s Corp. (KSS: chart) rose 5% after the retailer posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and issued in-line 2007 earnings guidance. For the quarter the company earned $484.6 million, or $1.48 per share, on revenue of $5.43 billion. During the year-earlier period, the company earned $374.9 million, or $1.08 per share, on revenue of $4.65 billion. Looking ahead, Kohl''s sees 2007 earnings of $3.68 to $3.84 a share on revenue growth of 9% to 11%, or revenue of $16.94 billion to $17.25 billion.

KongZhong Corp.''s (KONG: chart) shares dropped more than 8% after the Chinese wireless service provider posted solid fourth-quarter results but issued a disappointing outlook. The company said it expects first-quarter sales between $20 million and $21 million, below the $21.6 million. KongZhong''s American Depositary shares fell 68 cents, or 8.5%.

Pall Corp. (PLL: chart), a maker of filtration and separation systems, said its fiscal second-quarter profit grew 72%, aided by strong growth in sales to municipal water, energy and other markets. Quarterly earnings rose to $55.8 million, or 45 cents per share, from $32.4 million, or 26 cents per share, in the prior-year period. Excluding certain items quarterly earnings per share climbed to 43 cents from 28 cents. Sales grew to $544.9 million from $478.4 million in the same period a year earlier.

Palm Inc. (PALM: chart) shares rose 8.3%, again fueled by speculation that the maker of the Treo phone may be a takeover target.

Scottish Re Group Ltd. (SCT: chart) shareholders approved a takeover of the life reinsurer by MassMutual Capital Partners and Cerberus Capital Management. The expected approval came at a shareholders meeting in Bermuda, where Scottish Re is based. Insurance regulators had threatened to shut it down if the sale did not go through, Scottish Re said in recent federal filings. Shares climbed 7.6%.

Advocat Inc. (AVCA: chart), rehabilitation center operator, said that its fourth-quarter net earnings declined to $2.28 million, or 37 cents per share, compared with $12.9 million, or $1.99 per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed 3.8% to $55.8 million versus $53.7 million in the same period a year earlier. Shares fell 29.8%.

AMN Healthcare Services Inc. (AHS: chart) projected next-quarter earnings of 21 cents to 23 cents a share, which would miss the consensus by at least 3 cents; full-year profits are pegged at $1.10 to $1.14 a share, at least a nickel under the mean. Fourth-quarter and full-year revenue estimates, respectively at $282 million to $284 million and $1.18 billion to $1.2 billion, are about in line. In its most recent quarter the health-professional recruiter posted per-share income of 29 cents, which, stripping out a 5-cent one-off benefit related to its professional liability insurance reserve, flat-lines with last year''s 24-cent profit. Revenue was up 28% from last year to $283.5 million, scraping past the $279.6 million estimates. Shares lost 13.8%.

Credence Systems Corp. (CMOS: chart) surged 23% after the semiconductor equipment maker posted first-quarter results that fell short of expectations and warned that second-quarter results would be lower than expected. For the quarter the company reported a loss of $11,000, or less than a penny a share, on revenue of $118.8 million. Results included charges of $1.4 million and a one-time gain of $3 million.

Focus Enhancements Inc. (FCSE: chart), video production company, said that its fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to $3.01 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with $3.26 million, or 5 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $10.3 million versus $6.08 million in the same period a year earlier. Shares fell 7.4%.

Gulf Island Fabrication Inc. (GIFI: chart), a fabricator of offshore oil platforms, said that its fourth-quarter net earnings increased to $3.73 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with $2.7 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year ago period. Revenue climbed to $76 million versus $41.4 million in the same period a year earlier. The company also said it discovered an error regarding estimated revenue on the Tahiti contract, and determined that it had overstated both revenue and net income in the first three quarters of 2006. Shares fell 24.4%.

World Fuel Services Corp. (INT: chart), aviation and marine fuel products and services firm, said that its fourth-quarter net earnings increased to $17.3 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with $12 million, or 42 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $2.62 billion versus $2.53 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Shares fell 9.6%.

1:00PM European markets finished lower. Adecco, Deutsche Telekom dropped.
European stocks closed down on Friday, failing to sustain earlier gains for the second session in a row. Markets turned in their worst weekly performance in 4 years, depressed by various concerns, including China''s economy and U.S. mortgages. Among companies in focus, Adecco, the world''s largest staffing company, fell 4.6% on revenue coming in slightly below forecasts. Italy’s Mediaset was another notable decliner, falling 5% after the firm''s surprise announcement that annual gross advertising revenue dropped, followed by a brokerage downgrade. Deutsche Telekom fell 2.4% after Merrill Lynch downgraded its stock, citing deteriorating results. The German SAP slipped 2.2%. In France, Lagardere was the biggest loser, dropping 5.5% as the markets corrected Thursday''s late spike in the share price. Airbus owner EADS dropped 4% as UPS formally cancelled its order for A380 freighter planes. The French CAC 40 dropped 0.6% at 5,424.70 and the German DAX 30 slipped 0.6% at 6,603.32. The U.K. FTSE 100 index closed a fraction of a percentage point higher, at 6,116.20.


11:30AM Stocks gained some ground, helped by computer hardware stocks.
U.S. stock markets showed willingness to stabilize and gained some ground in late morning trading after heavy losses at opening on the back of surging Japanese yen. The recovery by the major averages was largely contributed by strength in the computer hardware, airline, and retail sectors. Palm (PALM: chart) rose 8.3% on acquisition speculations, while Dell (DELL: chart) shares gained 1.7% even after posting Q4 earnings drop of 33% and issuing a downbeat outlook. Financial stocks were among the worst performers. J.P.Morgan (JPM: chart) slipped 1.4%, Citigroup (C: chart) lost 1.4%, and American Express (AXP: chart) fell 0.8%. New Century Financial Corp. (NEW: chart), one of the largest U.S. lenders, dropped 3% after it said it is delaying filing its annual report with the SEC. The Dow, which has lost more than 400 points this week, was supported by 3.4% gain for the world''s largest insurer AIG (AIG: chart) on the back of eightfold earnings increase. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 10.25 points, or 0.08%, at 12,224.09. The Standard & Poor''s 500 Index was down 2.76 points, or 0.20%, at 1,400.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.19 points, or 0.30%, at 2,397.02.


9:45AM Wall Street opened steeply lower. Subprime lenders weighed.
U.S. stocks started trading in the negative, dragged by the rallying Japanese yen vs. the dollar and more unfavorable news for supbrime lenders. American International Group (AIG: chart) helped limit losses, rising 2% after the insurance giant reported a jump in net income, an $8 billion share buyback and dividend plan. Fueling jitters about the subprime mortgage market, New Century Financial Corp. (NEW: chart) fell 2.5% as it delayed the filing of its quarterly profit.

In the tech sector, Dell (DELL: chart) erased pre-market losses to gain nearly 1% as investors looked past a disappointing earnings report from the personal-computer maker. Novel (NVL: chart) was a notable decliner in the sector, falling 4.5% after reporting an unexpected quarterly loss and a 5% revenue decline. Immersion (IMMR: chart) soared 36% after the maker of touch sensation technology settled a patent dispute with Sony in a deal that will have its products used in PlayStation products. In the retail sector, Gap Inc. (GPS: chart) fell 3% after the company posted Q4 earnings drop of 35%. In the first hour of trading Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 19.62, or 0.16%, to 12,214.72. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 3.72, or 0.27%, at 1,399.45 and the Nasdaq composite index was off 6.80, or 0.28%, at 2,398.41. Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.54% from 4.55% late Thursday.