Oh, those silly blogs, always messing with actual things in real life. Today’s example is TiVo, the kicking-to-stay-alive company who saw shares jump 3 [sarcastic exclamation point here] percent after a random rumor a blog seems to have fueled talk of a takeover attempt by a company (Cheap TV Spots) that nobody has ever heard of. Puts your faith back in the Nasdaq, eh?
Following a single blog posting speculating about a takeover bid, Cheap TV Spots issued a statement denying the rumor, which got investors hungry.
While the statement noted that Cheap TV Spots’ “star is rising” and that “buzz on the Internet is increasing about future moves by the company,” a quick Google search turns up only one mention of the company possibly buying TiVo.
That came at 7:13 p.m. on Dec. 8 from a blogger named “beachbasedbiz,” who posted a comment on CNET’s “TalkBack” forum speculating about a European group possibly funding deals for the company.
A Factiva search for Cheap TV Spots in the last 12 months turns up seven matches, including an Oct. 7 release by the company saying that it wasn’t planning on buying rival Spotrunner.
Like yesterday’s release, the October statement also cited blog rumors as rationale for its dissemination.
Really. If idiots on Wall Street give Jack Shafer one more reason to harp on our kin, we’re gonna start some shit.
No. 1
Foudgedurrough says:
emm.. just wanna say thank you
Posted: Dec 6, 2007 at 4:23 am