Credit crisis-battered bank Wachovia Corp. has recorded recent stock gains on a deal rumor. CNBC reported on Friday that J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. reportedly may be looking to take advantage of the worsening credit conditions by possibly making an offer for struggling Wachovia. Wachovia's stock climbed 5.56% to close at $17.86 per share on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Circuit City Stores Inc. shareholders did not react as positively to a deal rumor spun by activist investor and 6.5% stakeholder Mark Wattles. Following Circuit City's annual meeting Tuesday, Wattles told Reuters that the retailer will very likely be approached by a buyer in the next three to four weeks and a sale agreement could be announced over the next month. Circuit City in early May agreed to open its books to an interested Blockbuster Inc. and its largest shareholder Carl Icahn, who said he would purchase the company if Blockbuster could not close a deal. Circuit City remained tight-lipped about a possible deal at its annual meeting, and shareholders seemed to take more stock in the company's silence than the loose lips of one activist as its shares crept down 0.59% to close at $3.39 on Tuesday.
A little deal truth was mixed in with all of the rumors on the Street. As Countrywide Financial Corp.'s shareholders are scheduled to vote on Wednesday on the long-awaited Bank of America Corp. acquisition, the home lender's shares jumped 4.72% to close at $4.66. - Michael Rudnick
The Street is barraged with deal rumors on a regular basis from
everyone, including bloggers, media outlets and stock-pumping vocal
investors. And the reactions are always varied. 
