Volume Spike Investor

Playboy Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: PLA) is almost never a volume spike candidate.  Reports yesterday sent this one soaring and it up again in the pre-market hours.  At 8:25 AM EST we have shares up another 8% at $4.40 ($1.03 to $4.75 52-week range).  Average volume is a mere 350,000 shares.  The reports put Playboy in discussions with two suitors at a price of more than $300 million.  That $300 million may include the ling-term debt though, so trying to take a 150% premium to the $136 million market cap after a near-40% gain yesterday might not be a fair assumption.  Still, the fix is in here if the repoirts and rumors are accurate.  We once looked into just how much Playboy could really fetch after the same $300 million was thrown out there.

JON OGG