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Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS) announced Tuesday that it had adopted a so-called shareholder rights plan to ward off "efforts to obtain control of the Company that are inconsistent with the best interests of the Company and its stockholders."

The company didn't go into specifics, but it is likely a response to billionaire Ronald Burkle's recent disclosure that he had boosted his stake in the company to 17.8%. In a press release, Barnes & Noble disclosed how the rights work:

This afternoon, Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) reported its fiscal first quarter numbers, and the company was able to put up better than expected earnings numbers, but revenues came in slightly under expectations.

As we noted in our earnings preview yesterday, analysts had been expecting to see the company show earnings of 97 cents per share, and the actual earnings figure was a bit higher at $1.04 per share. For the same period last year the company showed earnings of $1.03 per share.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is going to be reporting its fiscal fourth quarter earnings tomorrow before the market open.

Going into tomorrow's earnings announcement analysts are expecting to see the company report earnings of 79 cents per share. For the same period last year the company had earnings of 92 cents per share.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced today that its CEO and co-founder, Steve Jobs, is back at work following a five-and-a-half month medical leave for a liver transplant.

According to Apple, Jobs is going to be working a few days a week at the company's headquarters, and working from home the remainder of days.

With listed stocks getting knocked around, the New York Stock Exchange is considering extending temporary relief from listing requirements. Once a company is dropped from the exchange, it runs risks ranging from market cap loss to limited liquidity. But NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) CEO Duncan Niederauer was clear that the moves are not permanent. For now, the goal remains to protect companies that are at risk of being delisted. This comes after the S&P 500 fell 38% last year -- its worst performance since 1937.

The two rules that have been relaxed are the maintenance of a share price of at least $1 and a market cap of at least $15 million. The return of both measures was delayed back in April. Currently, 31 companies on the NYSE are at risk, including Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) and Lear Corp (NYSE: LEA).

Last Updated at 10:20

According to CNBC, General Motors (NYSE: GM) shares were halted as bondholders agreed to a sweetened deal. Shares have been reopened since. (This post is a live update). GM shares have jumped over 15% since trading has resumed.

This still doesn't mean a bankruptcy has been avoided, but at least creditors would not oppose attempts to sell GM's profitable assets to a new company -- the "New GM" -- sponsored by the U.S. Treasury.

Shares of discount retailer Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) have been soaring today after the company reported strong first quarter numbers, and raised its future guidance.

It is no secret that shoppers are looking for bargain deals these days, and that trend resulted in a 3% jump in same store sales for Ross, and a 15% jump in its first quarter earnings. The company's earnings came in at 72 cents per share, which was in line with analyst estimates, and its revenues were above what Wall Street was looking to see.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) has enjoyed a stellar run higher in 2009, with the shares up 105% year-to-date.

Today, the company announced that its board has approved a three-for-two stock split in the form of a stock dividend. All shareholders of record as of May 29 will receive one additional share of GMCR common stock for every two shares currently held, with distribution scheduled for June 8.

"This stock dividend allows us to share our success with our loyal stockholders to the extent of our authorized stock and underscores our confidence in the strength of our Company and its prospects for the future," said President and CEO Larry Blanford in a statement.

Stephen Friedman, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, stepped down from his post late Thursday. The 71-year-old came under fire when a regulatory filing revealed that he upped his stake in Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) during late 2008, when the bank holding company was under the New York Fed's supervision.

"Today, although I have been in compliance with the rules, my public service motivated continuation on the Reserve Bank Board is being mischaracterized as improper," wrote Friedman in his letter of resignation. "The Federal Reserve System has important work to do and does not need this distraction."

The shares of PrivateBancorp (NASDAQ: PVTB) wasted no time in finding a fresh annual low this morning after the Chicago-based bank announced plans to slash its dividend by 87%. The quarterly payout will now be one penny per share, down from 7.5 cents per share. On the heels of this report, the stock quickly slipped to $9.65, marking its lowest price since September 2002.

"Given the current economic and regulatory environment, we felt this was a prudent step to take to further enhance our capital position and our liquidity," said President and CEO Larry D. Richman in a statement.

Atlanta based soft drink giant Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) got its chance to impress investor's this morning with its fourth quarter earnings, and it did not disappoint. While the company did see profit falling by 18% in the quarter, its bottom line was better than analysts had predicted.

As Steven Mallas noted in his Coca-Cola earnings preview yesterday, analysts had been expecting to see 61 cents per share for the quarter, but the actual number was a bit higher, with a reported 64 cents a share.

Most companies saw sales weakness in January, and The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) was no exception. As the global economic slowdown continues to drag out, the company saw sharp drops in order for both freight and passenger jets in the month.

The figures are pretty staggering. In January, the company only received order for 18 jetliners. When you compare this with January of last year, when the company had orders for 65 of its planes, you see a year over year decline of 72%.

Can President Obama force CEOs to take a massive pay cut? While many others in the economy -- particularly the millions of regular Joes and Janes who have lost their jobs -- are helping to push down wages, CEOs have been immune from the pay cuts. But if Obama forces CEOs who take government money to limit their pay to $500,000 -- 25% more than Obama takes in -- will that cause all CEO pay to tumble? I think the answer is "no."

Why? Many reasons. First, no CEO in his or her right mind would volunteer to take government money given the ensuing pay cut. For example, if the CEO of a car company made $14 million in 2008, why would that same CEO volunteer to make $500,000 in 2009? Instead, the CEO would seek a position with a company that did not take government money and therefore did not limit the CEO's pay.

Yesterday we ran an earnings preview on mobile device maker Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and asked if the company would be able to break even for its fourth quarter. The answer is no, and shares are trading sharply lower in reaction to the company's weak earnings report.

Excluding items, the company lost a penny a share, which was weaker than the break even quarter that analysts had been hoping to see. For comparison purposes, the company was able to earn a positive 5 cents a share for the same period last year.

Over the past 12 months, shareholders in Ambac (NYSE: ABK) have lost more than 90% of their investments as the bond insurers ill-advised forays into structured finance have resulted in massive losses.

But for some reason the company's compensation committee deemed that performance worthy of $3 million in bonuses for 4 of Ambac's top executives. The company's latest proxy statement shows that CFO Sean Lenorard received a $950,000 cash bonus and Executive Vice President Douglas Renfield-Miller got $550,000. Chairman Michael Callen received $975,000 and Chief Executive Officer David Wallis took home $500,000