The largest investors in CCU, including Fidelity which owns 11% are opposing a proposed LBO of the company saying its valuing the shares of CCU too cheap. "If the deal dies, Clear Channel shares could rally because the company's radio business is effectively being valued at an appreciable discount to peers when factoring in the lofty value of Clear Channel's 90% stake in its publicly traded billboard operations, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings. Clear Channel stock rose 20 cents Thursday to 36.45 after Barron's Online and The Wall Street Journal reported rising investor resistance to the deal. The stock closed Friday at 36.51. "The LBO price is wholly inadequate," says Jeff Jacobowitz, an analyst at Robotti & Co., a New York investment firm that holds the stock. Jacobowitz, who runs a partnership that owns the stock, says "there's no reason that what management wants to do as a private company can't be done as a public company. That would give the upside to the public shareholders." Among its initiatives, Clear Channel plans to sell a group of small-market radio stations and its TV business."

Goldman Sachs still bullish on AAPL: "But the profits fun doesn't stop here, says Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey. "Apple's over-the-top December quarter results punctuate what has been a really strong year for the company, as well as starts the clock on what should be the next big growth phase," he comments. The analyst actually lowered his estimates slightly for the first half as the company introduces new products, such as Intel-powered Macs with new operating systems. But he raised his estimates for this calendar year and 2008, based on high expectations for meaningful contributions from the recently unveiled iPhone smartphone. Bailey raised his price target to 110 from 102."

Barrons very bullish on nursing home operator and rehab center operator Manor Care. "Jim Lane, a portfolio manager at Tripoint Asset Management, a Boston-based hedge fund, figures earnings per share are growing at 15% a year, thanks to brisk sales gains, solid operating leverage and share repurchases. And with an ample free-cash-flow yield of 4.5%, the company could boost its dividend and continue buying back shares, he says. Manor Care repurchased 14% of its stock in the past year. [chart] "If I can buy a 15% EPS-growth company at a cash-flow yield that's in parity with the 10-year Treasury, it's pretty attractive," says Lane, whose fund has been buying shares at recent prices."

Barrons still bullish on AA. They quote John Buckingham of the Al Frank fund: "Shareholders should stay buckled up for another climb, says fund manager John Buckingham of Laguna Beach, Calif.-based Al Frank Asset Management. The shares enjoyed a renewed surge Friday, rising 3.3%, to 31.31, on news of a big stock buyback and a 13% dividend hike. Buckingham says the world's largest aluminum maker (ticker: AA) is worth buying up to 32.41. Before Friday's afternoon's jump, it was trading at 10 times estimated earnings for the year ahead, "which we believe is cheap given the likelihood of continued strong demand for aluminum products," he said."