UPDATE: Soros Buy Puts Shine On Lehman Shares

By Greg Morcroft

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Shares of Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. rose more than 6% at one point Friday as news that famed investor George Soros' hedge fund boosted its stake in the company brought out buyers.

An analyst report from David Trone at Fox-Pitt Kelton also lent support to the shares. He said that Lehman's upcoming losses should be smaller than the second quarter's as hedges in place at the firm appear to be working.

Soros Fund Management has raised its stake in Lehman Brothers (LEH) to 9.47 million common shares at the end of June 30, up from 10,000 shares at the end of March 31.

The fair market value of the stake is estimated at $187.7 million, according to a regulatory filing by the fund Thursday.

Billionaire George Soros is the chairman of the fund.

Lehman shares traded up 3%, at $16.70 in recent action.

For his part, Trone said that he expects Lehman's Lehman's hedges to revert to providing gains, "albeit not of the magnitude of the first quarter 2007 through first quarter 2008 period."

Trone said he believes the firm has quietly but effectively been selling assets in recent months, getting better than fire sale prices for them.

He still expects the firm to post write-downs of about $1.8 billion, including about $800 million of hedging gains, in its fiscal third quarter, which closes at the end of this month.

UPDATE: Cablevision Declares Dividend; Shareholder Pressure Increases

By Dan Gallagher

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Cablevision Systems Corp. announced its first quarterly dividend Friday morning as the company evaluates its strategic options under pressure from shareholders.

That shareholder pressure may be growing. On Thursday, activist hedge fund Harbinger Capital disclosed in a regulatory filing that it has bought about 11.45 million of the company's shares, making it Cablevision's fifth-largest shareholder with a 4.9% ownership stake, according to data from FactSet Research.

Shares of Cablevision were trading down 20 cents at $31.11 on Friday morning. The stock has jumped more than 45% since the first of the month.

Cablevision (CVC) announced that it will pay a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share to holders of both is Class A and Class B shares. The dividend will be payable on Sept. 18 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 26.

"This action is a part of the process we have undertaken to enhance shareholder value as we continue to explore other options that we believe will help align the market value of the company's common stock with Cablevision's underlying operating performance," CEO James Dolan said in a statement.