7 Stocks you need to know for Thursday

Washington Mutual (WM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is now officially on sale, with potential acquirers including JP Morgan Chase (JPM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating).

SanDisk (SNDK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is the target of an unsolicited takeover bid from Samsung Electronics. Samsung has offered $5.85 bn for the company.

Among the best performing stocks were those related to gold and mining. Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) was up nearly 13% on the day. Newmont Mining Corporation (NEM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) gained more than 9%

Reporting earnings Thursday morning before the market opens, FedEx (FDX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is expected to announce earnings per share of $1.21.

Shares of Morgan Stanley (MS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) fell more than 27% on Wednesday despite beating analyst estimates by more than 50 cents after the close on Tuesday.