That most of the increment due to a settlement, should one occur, is already priced in.
In case you missed it, here's an article that might make you see the light at the end of the tunnel.
``It'll go through the roof,' if the case settles, said William Epifanio, a J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. analyst who has a ``buy' rating on Microsoft. ``I've been telling investors to hold onto their stock. If it settles, it will open 20 points up the next morning, and it could easily go to 150.'
quote.bloomberg.com
Microsoft Antitrust Talks Focusing on Keeping Company Intact, People Say
By James Rowley
Microsoft Talks Might Keep Company Intact, People Say (Update6)
(Closes share price in third paragraph.)
Washington, March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. has
intensified discussions with U.S. and state lawyers in an effort to settle a landmark antitrust case without breaking up the software giant, said people familiar with the talks.
Attorneys for Microsoft, the Justice Department, and 19
states have been exchanging e-mails, phone calls and memos in the last two weeks through Chicago federal appeals court judge Richard Posner, the people said. Posner was recruited to mediate a possible settlement by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who is presiding over the case against Microsoft.
Shares of the company, the second most actively traded U.S.
stock, surged 8 5/8 to 111 7/8 in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. The market capitalization of Microsoft, already the world's most valuable company, increased $44.9 billion.
``It'll go through the roof,' if the case settles, said William Epifanio, a J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. analyst who has a ``buy' rating on Microsoft. ``I've been telling investors to hold onto their stock. If it settles, it will open 20 points up the next morning, and it could easily go to 150.'
Both sides left a meeting with Jackson on Tuesday with the
clear impression they had only limited time to reach an accord, said people familiar with the discussions. Jackson may be delaying his ruling on whether Microsoft broke the law to give the mediation process one last chance to succeed.
News of the pickup in settlement talks was reported in
today's Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Both said the arms-length negotiations, which still could founder, are focusing on changes in Microsoft's business practices.
With Jackson poised to rule whether Microsoft violated the
law, ``the parties now know for certain that the train will leave the station relatively soon, with or without them on it,' said William Kovacic, an antitrust expert at George Washington University's law school. ``If they're making progress, he will stay his hand.' |
