WALL STREET JOURNAL: According to people familiar with the matter, Waste Management (WMI) was expected to raise its unsolicited cash offer for Republic Services (RSG) to $6.73B, an increase of nearly 10%, the Wall Street Journal reported…FINANCIAL TIMES: The Financial Times reported that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is selling up to $8B of its debt to private equity firms Blackstone (BX), Apollo, and TPG, inside sources said. The private equity firms buying the debt could make a profit of up to 30% on the deals, according to Blackstone President Tony James…The Financial Times also reported that a rule preventing naked short-selling in 19 key financial stocks, including Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE), and Lehman Brothers (LEH), is set to expire tomorrow and the SEC has said that it will not extend the rule…

TELEGRAPH: According to the Telegraph, Blackstone is partnering with Quindao Haier, a Chinese consumer goods manufacturer, to bid on General Electric’s (GE) appliance unit…ASSOCIATED PRESS: Best Buy (BBY) said it intends to place a dozen vending machines in major airports around the country, according to the Associated Press. The machines will sell various electronic products, and are scheduled to be installed by September 1…

Weekly additions to the Investors Business Daily-100
The following are additions to the Investors Business Daily-100 list for the week of August 8: Industrial Svcs of america (IDSA), Quanta Services (PWR), Warnaco Group (WRC), New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU), Kendle International (KNDL), Parexel Intl.(PRXL), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), Amphenol Corp (APH), Interwoven Inc (IWOV), Gartner Inc (IT), True religion Apparel (TRLG ), Dorchester Minerals (DMLP), Penn Virginia Corp (PVA), Herbalife (HLF), Koppers Holdings (KOP), Plexus Corp (PLXS), Cummins Inc. (CMI), Rockwood Holdings Inc (ROC), Parametric Tech (PMTC), Ensign Group (ENSG), Sybase (SY), Newmarket Corporation (NEU), Gentiva Health services (GTIV), Lufkin Industries (LUFK), LMI aerospace (LMIA), Express Scripts (ESRX), Quality Systems (QSII), Netflix (NFLX), Adobe Systems (ADBE), Netlogic Microsystems (NETL).

Weekly subtractions from the Investor’s Business Daily-100
The following are subtractions from the Investors Business Daily-100 list for the week of August 8 : Titan Machinery (TITN), Potash Corp Saskatchewan (POT), EnerSys (ENS), Mosaic (MOS), T Three Energy Services (TTES), Massey Energy company (MEE), Metalico (MEA), Whiting Petroleum (WLL), National Oilwell Varco (NOV),Natural Gas Sevices Group (NGS), Colfax Corp (CFX), Agrium (AGU), Petroquest Energy Inc (PQ), Lumber Liquidators (LL), Priceline.com (PCLN), Hess Corp (HES), Comphanhia Siderurgic Nacional (SID), Compass Minerals (CMP), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Mesabi Trust (MSB), Buckle Inc. (BKE), Unitedstates Steel (X), Atwood Oceanics (ATW), Mindray Medical Intl (MR), VSE Corp (VSEC), Monsanto (MON), Teledyne (TDY), Airgas (ARG), Ensco International (ESV), Alcon Inc (ACL), Forrester Research (FORR).

National City faces SEC probe-WSJ
National City (NCC) revealed that it is the subject of an “informal ” Securities and Exchange Commission investigation. The issues being investigated include: loan underwriting, bank regulatory matters, and a sale of a sub-prime division in 2006 for $1.3B.

Citigroup reorganizes research/analysis led by investment banker-WSJ
Research and analysis will be combined into one group at Citibank (C). The controversy lies in the fact that the head of the group is an investment banker, Hamid Biglari, chief operating officer of Citi’s institutional clients group. This rekindles fears of a skew of influence to investment banking clients rather than investors.

Rio Tinto considering IPO for its US coal business-WSJ
The company said on Friday it was considering an initial public offering for its U.S. coal business. Rio Tinto (RTP) would consider an IPO rather than an outright sale. The company has set a goal of selling $10B in assets to defend itself against a hostile bid from BHP Biliton (BHP). Cloud Peak Energy, The US coal unit, filed a registration statement with the SEC in connection with Cloud Peak’s proposed initial public offering. The filing lists a maximum offering price of $1B.

Loading up on shares of fast-growing companies at hefty markdowns - Barron’s
Barron’s interviewed the top-ranked mutual-fund managers in their latest Barron’s/Value Line survey say it’s a great time to load up on shares of fast-growing companies selling at hefty markdowns. Most of the 100 managers on this year’s list generated sterling returns in the past 3 and 5 years ended June 30, according to Value Line. Most are in the red on a 12-month and ytd basis, since taking their lumps due to the credit crisis, although the majority continue to outpace the broad market, which was off about 13% in 2008 through the end of June. Some of the sectors and stocks that these mutual-fund managers have found attractive are or that have produced nice returns are: (groups/themes) select energy, steel and industrial materials names; some are tip-toeing into financial stocks, specifically those laden with debt; (stocks) Charles Schwab (SCHW), IBM (IBM), McDermott International (MDR), ABB (ABB), Mosaic (MOS), Potash (POT), United States Steel (X), Nucor (NUE), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Forest Oil (FST) and Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK). Also, some fund firms have multiple new offerings on this year’s list of investments.

Staying in the market and beating it with caution - Barron’s
Barron’s interviewed Douglas C. Lane of investment firm Douglas C. Lane & Associates. The firm invests long-only, aiming for low portfolio turnover and takes a long-term view, typically 3 to 5 years, of securities. The firm oversees about $2B in assets. Portfolio managers buy both traditional growth and value stocks. And although they do hold some American depositary receipts, or ADRs, they don’t invest directly in overseas markets, which they view as too risky. All of this has led to solid performance. As of July 31, the firms core equity composite had soundly beaten the S&P’s 500 index based on one-, three-, five-, seven- and 10-year periods. One area where Douglas Lane sees opportunity is media, including several cable companies and newspaper publisher Gannett (GCI), whose shares have been battered. Lane wouldn’t be surprised if the market tests its 2008 lows in 2009. Besides that, he says, the biggest risk is to be out of the market when all of this clears up. The credit crisis has created some opportunities, but Lane is not sure he wants to take advantage of any right now. The firm reduce a lot of their exposure to the energy space, and went to an underweight stance, holding only a few of the bigger companies like Schlumberger (SLB). One other sector where Lane has “taken some money out” is in basic-materials stocks. Right now, Lane can’t find an entire sector that he is excited about. When that’s the case, Lane says don’t sector invest, and just focus and invest on individual companies and not worry about the macro environment. Lane says if you are looking for individual companies, it’s pretty hard not to find some companies in the Health care sector, which has been cheap. Lane’s Overall Picks: Gannett (GCI), General Electric (GE), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Kimberly-Clark (KMB).

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals-AUXL: Two drugs worth owning the company for - Barron’s
Auxilium Parmaceuticals (AUXL), is the maker of Testim, a testosterone-based gel designed to help men lead longer, more energetic lives. Testim is the fastest growing testosterone-replacement therapy on the market. Testim, available only by prescription, already pulls in about $120M in revenues a year, and sales are expected to increase by about 20% annually. John Mulhall, director of sexual medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NY says, “this is a growing market, and it’s very safe.” Longer term, doctors say, testosterone therapy can curb the risks of heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis. Testim is not the only reason that Auxilium merits a look. AUXL, with a market value of about $1.5B, has a drug in late-stage trials that appears to have even greater potential. That drug, Xiaflex, is aimed at treating a hand disorder suffered by hundreds of thousands, known as Dupuytren’s contracture. CEO Armando Anido calls Xiaflex “a late-stage blockbuster opportunity.” Barring any delays in government approval, Xiaflex could launch by late 2009 and become a $200M business by 2011, says money manager Patrick Lee of Palo Alto Investors. Counting the potential for both Testim and Xiaflex, Lee and PAI partner Joon Yun see Auxilium shares reaching $100 over three years, up from about $37 recently. So far this year, the shares are up about 21%. Lee values the Testim business at $1B. The Xiaflex business, he suggests, is worth about $3B.

High-energy plays at lower prices - Barron’s
The sharp drop in oil and natural-gas prices has produced an even sharper pullback in energy stocks, creating what may be one of the best buying opportunities in the sector in several years, says Barron’s.