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Is it just me or does it seem like there are more rumors about deals than actual deals going on these days? Today alone we have Microsoft and a New York Times board member denying reports about deals involving SAP in the first case and Google in the second.

I suppose that for day traders and those needing constant infotainment, rumors are good enough (and given how most deals work out, maybe even better than the real thing). But for everyone else, this stuff is really just a waste of time and energy. 

In my book, it's as ridiculous as and, at least in spirit, not completely unrelated to trying to instill confidence in the markets through psychological gamesmanship (a la the Fed's unstressful stress tests for banks). After all, the word "con" comes from "confidence."

Of course, rumor-mongering and the like may be an effective means of testing the waters. Still, I can't help but believe there's a better way.

Comments (2)

	1. 05-13-2009 09:11
	I, for one, welcome even the rumors at this point. For the last few years, strategic, corporate buyers have been sitting mostly on the sidelines. In 2007, it was because of the monsoon of private equity money flooding the market. And last year you had the shutdown of the credit markets. The deal chatter demonstrates that, at the very least, rumor-mongers have regained enough confidence to believe deals are on their way. Registered

Matthew Quinn

	2. 05-13-2009 14:24
	Let's not forget the most recent deal between Oracle/Sun. I enjoyed following coverage early on when IBM was in talks with SUN and Oracle ended up acquiring them instead. Most recently, Microsoft has always been talking a good game about acquiring another company or two, while Dell is desperately looking to hire a deal chief. These are all signs that the economy is starting to get back on the right track and the day of gloom and doom are coming to an end atleast from my perspective. Your mileage may vary. Registered

Jay Rajani

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