The Rumour Mill

Usually in this space we look at the top movers for the week and we will again today. But the most interesting event of the week is not reflected in our chart. And that is the effect of rumours and speculation. Take a look at what happened to Corel Corporation (TSE - COR) last Monday.

Corel closed the week on Nov. 26 at $20.75 after a considerable run-up on good news, not the least of which was an excellent reception at the COMDEX trade show in Las Vegas for their Linux software. But Monday things really got hot! Buzz about a possible takeover by red hot Red Hat sent Corel stock to an intraday high of $40.95, almost double its previous close, before settling at $30.40 at the closing bell.

Then, as the rumours steadily unwound, the stock did too. Both companies denied any merger or takeover plans and Corel CEO Michael Cowpland went so far as to say that "we don't see any need to merge with anybody". The stock closed Friday at $23.85, still up almost 15% for the week.

If a takeover were to occur, Corel would be the target as Red Hat's capitalization is $12 billion to Corel's $1 billion. But if you compare the two companies, Corel has greater assets and more solid products. And it is not Linux dependent for its success as it has an established and successful market for Windows based products. If there was ever a case of a stock being undervalued relative to another, it is Corel with respect to Red Hat. Though some might argue that Red Hat is hugely over-priced.

For all that, Corel has now had four consecutive weeks of double digit gains. Perhaps the market is giving those not yet invested in the company a chance to jump in now.

Looking now at this week's top gainers, Big Picture Technologies (CDNX - BPI), a newcomer to our index, took top honours with a 66.7% gain. The software maker released its new web-in-a-box e-Merchant Pro software Monday. It followed that up with the announcement that Ian Bonner, the IBM Vice President for Global Business Partner Marketing is joining Big Picture's Advisory Board. And on Dec. 1st it announced the appointment of Gregory Gross, former merchandising whiz with Egghead.com, as Vice President, Sales. A company on the move!

Also up over 60% is Chapters Online (TSE - COL) which recently announced a spate of new undertakings. On Nov. 29 it expanded into selling consumer electronics with two products - Palm™ organizers and several brands of MP3 players. Then on Nov. 30 it launched a joint venture with Air Miles - Extra Mile Books.com. Not only do book buyers get Air Miles, shipping is free within Canada.

Two great announcements, but there was more to come. On Dec. 1st they announced they would sell used video games online in cooperation with GTR Group. And on Dec. 2, an even bigger announcement. The company signed an exclusive e-commerce agreement with Ticketmaster Canada Ltd. to sell books, music, videos and DVDs at www.ticketmaster.ca. Enough with the announcements already? No! On Dec. 3 Chapters Online announced they would be the exclusive webcaster for an upcoming special Amanda Marshall concert in Toronto. Not a public concert, but a private concert at Sony Music Canada's studios exclusively for Chapters. Her CDs will be on sale online as the concert airs.

Online electronic sales, Air Miles, video game sales, exclusive deal with Ticketmaster and an exclusive live webcast. No wonder the stock took off!

And a third stock also jumped over 60% for the week. Montreal's DTM Information Technologies (TSE - DTM), named an IBM Web Integrator Premier Partner in late October, announced its first quarter profits on Dec. 2nd. Since re-focusing the company on consulting services, its service revenues have jumped 70% despite a general slowdown due to Y2K. Overall sales were up 13.4%. But the company expects to reap the whirlwind in 2000 as technology spending deferred because of Y2K really takes off.

The company also posted a first quarter profit of $0.01 a share compared to an $0.08 a share loss in the same quarter last year.

Another four stocks jumped over 30% for the week - Stox.com, Book4golf.com, Certicom and Infowave Software. Certicom is in its fourth consecutive week of double digit gains and Infowave in its third.

Another five gained over 20% for the week including Bid.com, which had been languishing for a while. Rumours of a possible takeover by eBay fuelled the move. The company declined comment.

Travelbyus.com is in its second week of big gains as is Open Text.

On the downside, T & E Theatre.com, formerly Em Net Corporation, is in its third week of major decline. 8 Crown Capital is on a two week slide.