This week's rumor round-up: AMD a takeover target?

The ground hog said there'd be an early spring. Or, did he really mean an early spring sales event? Don't know for sure, but there's a whole lot of talk going on. Here's a look at some that grabbed our attention this week.

Lodgian Inc (AMEX: LGN)

The hotel operator's fourth quarter results are in and they're not pretty: A fourth quarter loss of $20.7M-compared to a $7.8M profit in last year's fourth quarter--and an announcement it plans to sell 27 hotels, keeping 43 as its core portfolio, as it attempts to redefine itself. Oh, and it suspended its stock repurchase program and won't bother to provide any forward looking information until its "strategic" process is complete. Good cover, eh? Maybe they're just gearing up for one big sale. And maybe that's why they really hired Goldman Sachs and Genesis Capital to help. They need it.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD)

A takeover target? Could be. Shares had an unusual run up at the end of February, coming after its fourth quarter loss that was reported in January. That was following by a dismal revenue forecast. So much for that talk of quadrupling microchip production next year from the levels of 2005.Word of a private equity buyout has the options market taking a serious look The real crunch, though, is its weakened balance sheet since it borrowed aplenty to take over ATI. It'll be interesting to see what happens. Wait, is that Intel calling?

Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW)

Could Dow go Indian? It could. Word all week is that India's Reliance Industries may be looking to grab a petrochemical biggie. Dow is a biggie. Many followers complain about Dow's performance and that maybe its parts are worth more than the whole. Meanwhile, Reliance's chairman Ambani is said to be in a position to pick up $6B to go after foreign companies along with private equity funds, said to include Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR. Like everyone else, Dow doesn't comment on rumors, especially when they've been hearing them for a long time.

Gap Inc (NYSE: GPS)

Here's the gist of what Gap's interim CEO said yesterday: This company has tremendous potential. I guess he forgot that the company had just turned in a 35% drop in fourth quarter profit. And that that was preceded by a year of sales turmoil and executive changes. One wag wrote the other day, "We have a hard time envisioning. a scenario where things can get much worse that they are today." They could put themselves up for sale, but are hindered by the fact that they aren't in the real estate business. They could close stores or sell divisions. They could go private. Whether or not there's a strategic buyer out there, good luck to whomever they hire to run the place.