As a measure to bring about its turnaround after the subprime mortgage debacle, the Ohio-based bank National City Corp (NYSE:NCC) could be on the verge of receiving $7 billion in capital funds from a private-equity firm.

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Based on various news reports that say Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) has hired a lobbying firm to help it win over regulatory approval for it, the long awaited buyout deal of Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) could be imminent.

"The software company, bracing for a regulatory squabble in its takeover bid, recently hired Bryan Cave Strategies to lobby the federal government on the proposed multibillion-dollar deal," The Mercury News reported in an online article last Friday.

In an effort to shore up its balance sheets after billions were siphoned off from bad mortgages, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) will raise “$6 billion in its biggest offering of perpetual preferred stock”, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

"New York-based JPMorgan, the third-biggest bank in the U.S., has posted about $10 billion of asset writedowns and credit losses since the start of the subprime-mortgage turmoil early last year," the Bloomberg article reported.

Electronic Arts Inc [EA] (NASDAQ:ERTS) extended the deadline of its buyout offer to Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO), the maker of Grand Theft Auto, by a month, according to The New York Times.

"EA’s offer will now expire on May 16 instead of 11:59 p.m. Friday. As of Thursday, about 6.4 million shares of Take-Two had been tendered, representing roughly 8 percent of Take-Two’s outstanding shares," The Times reported in its article.

Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) reported on Friday that it sustained a net loss for the 2008 first quarter of $5.1 billion and that it took $6.0 billion in pre-tax write-downs as a consequence of sub-prime mortgage losses.

Our financial results reflect the continuation of the unprecedented market and credit environment and its impact on our historical risk positions. During the first quarter, valuations of our sub-prime related exposures in fixed income markets and leveraged finance assets have further declined and credit costs in our consumer lending businesses have increased. [Citi CEO Vikram Pandit]

The Board of Directors for Washington Mutual Inc (NYSE: WM) came under a barrage of fire Tuesday from angry shareholders who were demanding accountability for the thrift’s record losses that resulted in one Director leaving the board and that could lead to even more dramatic board-room changes.

"Mary E. Pugh, criticized by some shareholders, resigned from the 13-member board, Mr. Killinger announced at the Seattle company's meeting," The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

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These two airlines “reportedly have been in talks for months," Reuters said in an online article on Tuesday.

One the day after it was reported that the Ford Motor Co (F) and Tata Motors Ltd (TTM) seem close to striking a deal in which the former company would sell its Jaguar and Land Rover properties to Tata, it was reported that the Ford’s Chairman Bill Ford Jr will resume receiving compensation from the company.

The Wall Street Journal reported a late-breaking article on Wednesday afternoon that Ford made an SEC filing that notifies the agency on compensation details for the company’s Board of Directors.

Only hours after the Board of Directors of Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced its rejection of Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) $44.6 billion buyout bid, speculation began to mount in the business news media as to how the folks at Redmond would respond.

For example, the Financial Times reported that the Redmond software titan “is gearing up to take its bid to acquire Yahoo directly to the Silicon Valley company’s shareholders” (read the FT.com article by Chris Nuttall and Richard Waters ).

Although American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) reported on Monday that its full-year 2007 earnings per share rose 16 percent, it also said that its fourth-quarter 2007 earnings fell 3 percent from $0.73 in Q4 2006 to $0.71.

The company’s Q4 2007 net income was down 10 percent from $922 million a year ago to $831 million.

While the markets were closed on Monday for the holiday, speculation began to mount that Sprint Nextel Corp (NYSE: S) was on the verge of launching a price war against its competitors in an effort to win back its customers (see TheStreet.com’s article by Scott Moritz).

The depth of Sprint’s troubles became apparent on Friday when the company issued a statement that announced major layoffs of 4,000 positions and approximately 125 store closings in order to cut cost by $700-$800 million per year.

While the financial analysts and pundits were giving it a thumbs down, Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) showed investors that it remained a stalwart believer in its own value when it issued a statement on Thursday morning that affirmed the company’s commitment to pay out a dividend.

Amid mounting speculation that the economy is headed toward recession, IBM Corp (NYSE: IBM) bucked the downward trend by chalking up better-than-expected earnings for the fourth-quarter 2007, the company reported in a statement.

Specifically, the company’s fourth-quarter earnings increased by 24 percent or by $2.80 per share. By comparison, in the same period for 2006, the earnings were $2.26 per share. For the full-year 2007, IBM reported earnings of $7.18 per share, with revenues for all of 2007 at $98.8 billion.

Although the upscale jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) slightly tempered investor optimism by lowering its earnings projections from $2.28 to $2.30, it nevertheless reported that worldwide holiday sales increased by 8 percent over the same period last year, with a net increase of 6 percent when foreign currency exchanges are excluded, the company said in a statement.

Tiffany’s overseas stores performed more robustly than those in the U.S.

As another step in its long-term restructuring effort, Avon Products, Inc (NYSE: AVP) announced a series of initiatives, including additional layoffs, to trim further annualized costs by $430 million, which is $130 million more than the original projection made in 2005 when the company’s turnaround plan began.

Though Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) was able to end the year with a 38% increase in subscribers, analysts can’t help but question whether or not greater success would be seen with the approval of the company’s attempts at merging with XM Satellite Radio (XMSR). Not much faith is being put in Sirius’ viability as a stand-alone company, leading once again to speculation that a merger with XM could still be achieved.

Federal regulators have been quick to reject such a deal on the grounds that it would create a monopoly that would increase consumer costs and reduce competition. Through the creation of an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map (Internet Explorer required), we investigated the connections that could be preventing Sirius and XM from giving up on a deal so easily.

As 2007, characterized by countless mergers, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, hostile takeovers and credit turmoil, comes to a close, one individual can arguably be recognized as the year’s king of deal-making. Though his methods may have been controversial, Rupert Murdoch made big news during his highly publicized attempt at taking over Dow Jones (DJ); a difficult feat considering the company was controlled by the decidedly uncooperative Bancroft family.

Credited by The New York Times DealBook as having once again achieved the impossible by purchasing “virtually the only asset in the world that wasn’t for sale,” Murdoch certainly proved his top ranking as the unofficial deal-maker of 2007 (see article by Andrew Ross Sorkin).

This past year has been a good one for technology giant Apple Inc (AAPL), which saw consumers scrambling for iPhones, iPods, MacBooks and all the trendy accessories that hipsters couldn’t do without. Another growing factor into the company’s success is now its physical retail stores devoted to everything Apple, from which 20 percent of revenues are derived. The physical design and details of the stores combined with the unique approach to customer service is said to be what draws first-time customers in and brings them back time and again (see article by Katie Hafner in The New York Times).

UBS (UBS) is coming under scrutiny this week, and faces investigation by Swiss banking regulators over the company’s recent multi-billion dollar write-downs. One of the financial institutions hardest hit by the recent credit crises, UBS is estimated to have experienced write-downs of about $10 billion just this month, with regulators wanting to know how this happened and who is to blame (see article from The New York Times DealBook).

In a new strategic plan that seems tailored for reassuring investors on Wall Street, Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC) announced late Friday that it intends to sell off two of its business units for $2.75 billion so that the company can use the proceeds for a stock buy-back program.