Rumors of Our Acquisition Were Greatly Exaggerated  Various
people are alternately scolding or feeling scolded about the
falseness of month-ago rumors that not-yet-launched photo
recognition service Riya is being acquired by Google.  Relax,
people.  Fine, Riya wasn’t bought. And fine, the initial
accounts that an acquisition was impending have turned out to be
incomplete.  But so what? That sort of thing — rumors of an
impending acquisition that then doesn’t happen — is commonplace
in the capital markets. Matter of fact, it is one of the
essential information-discounting mechanisms by which markets
and prices incorporate data. Sometimes that data is correct,
sometimes it is incorrect.  Telling people to keep quiet until
they have all their info-ducks lined up does, however, show a
lack of sophistication about how capital markets work. Because
acquisition rumors, large and small, can play many roles.
Sometimes it is the way that senior employees or investors
register unhappiness with a CEO. Sometimes it is the