On March 17th, 2009, Wattles Capital Management acquired an additional 4.84 million shares of Blockbuster (BBI), bring the firms total position in Blockbuster to 6.8 million shares, or approximately 5.7% of Blockbusters total shares outstanding. Wattles Capital, who failed last-year in merger Circuit City with Blockbuster, said the following “Given the operating fundamentals of Blockbuster Mr. Wattles does not believe that Blockbuster has a motive to reorganize under Chapter 11.” On Friday March 20th, Blockbuster posted a net loss of $359.8 million, or $1.89 per share, which is down from a profit of $41 million, or 18 cents per share during the same quarter in 2008. Revenue for the fourth-quarter was reported as $1.38 billion, down from $1.57 billion a year prior. Additionally, same-store-sales for all Blockbuster shops were up 4.4 percent, which is slightly better than a 0.9 percent decline in the last quarter. On March 3rd, 2009, shares of Blockbuster were halted on heavy trading volume regarding a rumor that Blockbuster was near in filing a chapter 11 bankruptcy—however, on the latest conference call management specifically made mention the fact that the company had reached agreements with JPMorgan (JPM) and two other large lenders to amend and extend its revolving line of credit through Sept. 30, 2010. Since then shares of Blockbuster have recovered substantially.

Crescendo Partners has been actively accumulating shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW), currently own 1.1 million shares, or exactly 6.0 percent of Build-A-Bear Workshop’s common shares outstanding. Build-A-Bear who operates as an interactive retailer by customizing stuffed animals has been hit particularly hard throughout the current recession. For the quarter ending January 3rd, 2009, Net income was $5.0 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, compared to fiscal 2007 fourth-quarter net income of $9.9 million, or $0.48 per diluted. Same store sales declined 15.7% including a 6.7% increase in Europe and a 19.0% decline in North America. Shares of Build-A-Bear have unperformed the market throughout 2009 down approximately 40 percent year-to-date.

Activist hedge fund Trinad Capital has increased their position in NTN Buzztime (NTN) by additional 1 million shares, bringing the firms total position size to 8.6 million shares, equal to 15.6% of the company’s shares outstanding. NTN Buzztime distributes various interactive multi-player games, including trivia quiz shows, play-along sports programming, casino-style, and casual games to restaurants, sports bars, taverns, and pubs. The firm is profitable on a gross profit basis, but lost $0.12 cents per share last quarter.

The battle between Penwest Pharmaceuticals (PPCO) and Tang Capital Management intensives, as Tang Capital recently filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Penwest from mailing out any shareholder ballots baring several conditions. Tang Capital currently owns 12.6 million shares of Penwest, which equates to 42.6 percent of the entire company. On March 2nd, 2009 Penwest sent a letter to its shareholders regarding Tang Capital saying “Tang significantly increased its holdings in Penwest stock beginning in late December, and as a result of the low cost basis of its recent stock purchases, we do not consider its interests to be aligned with the interests of many of Penwest's shareholders. It is pushing an agenda that the Board does not believe is likely to benefit our shareholders” Tang Capital believes shares of Penwest Pharmaceuticals could be worth as much as $15.36 per share in their best case analysis.