And companies lie. As I noted before, I've witnessed it first-hand, when a former employer swore for a year they would not sell our division-- and when they finally confessed that they were, it emerged that they had been in talks with potential suitors for that entire year.

But I understand why. Large corporations have to be cagey about mergers and acquisitions. It's a tricky business. Even a "no comment" can be interpreted broadly.

So take every corporate denial with a big grain of salt. They might not be telling the truth. Doesn't mean Nokia or Microsoft or anyone else is definitely lying or misleading the public now-- just that it's possible.

And no, it isn't "speculators like me that lead to stock price fluctuations". You're thinking of influential speculators, especially those managing huge stock portfolios and dropping highly-charged rumors. I'm just a small time investor who holds a few shares of Nokia stock and has mixed feelings on any possible acquisition. My rational speculations impact nothing, just like your naive naysaying.

The stockholder in me would love to see Nokia bought, and soon... but I have more personal reasons to hope they aren't at all.

Still... saying "never" is silly. "LOL" all you like-- no sane person is so absolute about negatives.