There's been a good two-way market in these stocks for that reason. Other traders noted Placer is an institutional favorite and the subject of recent takeover rumors. Ronny Kraft, CEO of hedge fund Gotham Capital Management, who is long Placer Dome, said the action in gold stocks gets to the heart of an ongoing war regarding inflation's potential reemergence. The identity of the seller could not be determined. But I think gold makes sense if the breakout in oil is real.
Oil is at the center of it.
Meanwhile, SG Cowen lowered its recommendation on Mister Softee to buy from strong buy. RJR also plans to spin off its domestic tobacco unit, separating it from the company's Nabisco Holdings food business. The spinoff is expected to follow the completion of the international tobacco sale. CMGI is Lycos' largest stockholder. In an interview with Reuters, Wetherell said his firm hired Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to try to get other shareholders to press for changes in the proposed deal that would put television executive Barry Diller in charge of a new television-electronic commerce entity.