Dow Jones News Service via Dow Jones
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Source Media Inc. (SRCM) were up 50% on rumors of a bidding war for the company and unconfirmed market talk that America Online Inc. (AOL) or Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) have emerged as the top bidders, traders said.
One market source said he heard that Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and Excite Inc. (XCIT) had been outbid in their own plays for Source Media, which develops software that allows people to surf the World Wide Web on a television set without a cable modem.
All five companies declined comment and the rumors - which have been
circulating for weeks - couldn't be confirmed. Source Media also declined to comment, despite a Nasdaq request for a public statement in light of the unusual trading activity.
Source Media's shares, which closed at 21 3/8 Monday and were up early Tuesday on the rumors, began to shoot as word of the speculation spread and were then halted for 2 1/2 hours. Since they resumed trading at 3:15 EST, the shares have climbed as high as 39, a 52-week high.
The stock was recently up 11 1/4, or 52.6%, at 32 5/8 on Nasdaq volume of 6,734,700 compared with an average daily volume of 470,200.
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 07-14-98
04:00 PM
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:TICKER: AOL MSFT SRCM XCIT YHOO
:SUBJECT: BCST COSE SOFT CA TX VA WA STK ENTE
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