HEADLINE STOCKS-Some U.S. stocks to watch on Oct. 5

NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Some U.S. stocks to watch on Monday:

BROCADE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS INC (BRCD.O), $8.30, up 8.5 pct

The company has put itself up for sale, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The paper said Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) and Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) were potential bidders for the company but a deal was not imminent and Brocade might not even go ahead with a sale. [ID:nBNG500277]

PEPSICO INC (PEP.N), $61.79, up 1.5 pct

The company will combine the North American operations of Pepsi Bottling Group Inc (PBG.N) and PepsiAmericas Inc (PAS.N) in a new bottling unit to be run by Pepsi Bottling's current chief executive, Eric Foss. [ID:nN05369418]

BANK OF AMERICA CORP (BAC.N), $16.66, up 2 pct

The Dow component plans to select an emergency chief executive officer this week, if legal issues force Ken Lewis to leave before the end of the year, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which cited a person familiar with the situation. [ID:nBNG157382]

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP (GD.N), $63.08, Friday close

Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "equal-weight," expecting a recovery in the company's Gulfstream jet unit starting in 2011. [ID:nBNG85098]

FORD MOTOR CO (F.N), $6.88, up 0.6 pct

A U.S.-led group has entered the race to buy Ford's Volvo unit, according to a report in the Financial Times. [ID:nL5718294]

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC (GS.N), $182.35, up 1.5 pct

The company would be due a $1 billion payment if CIT Group CIT.N were to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to a Sunday report in the Financial Times which cited people familiar with the matter. [ID:nN04333832]

MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT.O), $24.96, Friday close

Steve Ballmer, the company's chief executive officer, told Reuters he doesn't expect the company to make acquisitions that will help it challenge Google's (GOOG.O) dominance in the Internet search market. [ID:nL5689476]

COVENTRY HEALTH CARE INC (CVH.N), $19, Friday close