Hey, did you hear that it's all over? Rupert Murdoch's play for Dow Jones, that is! Seems that a couple of analysts have told their investors that because nothing has happened so far with the bid in the three weeks since it became public, News Corp. is going to take its $60-a-share offer and walk away. And, you know, if two analysts say it, it's going to happen! Everyone's repeating it, so it must be true!

Or, you know, we could snap back to reality and realize that this thing is going to play out forever. There will be shareholder agitation, various factions of the Bancroft family will fight amongst themselves, Dow Jones' stock price will fall a bit, Murdoch will make noises about withdrawing to ratchet up pressure on the family, someone (a wackjob!) will come in with an alternate bid that is slightly lower than Murdoch's that will test the Bancroft's principles, shareholders seeking maximum value will sue, and eventually, the Bancrofts will wind up selling to Murdoch, who will stay hands-off for about a year until the deal is completely final. Then he'll start putting hot girls with their knockers out on Page Three, Paula Froelich will be named head of the editorial page, and the Weekend Pursuits section will be written solely from the perspective of Steve Dunleavy's liver.

Which will be awesome!

How can we be so sure? Because we're making it all up. Just like the two analysts. (We suppose they call it "prediction analysis" or somesuch.) Jesus Christ, no one wants to see this story end more than we do, but let's show a little restraint here, okay? Just because a couple of guys from Pali Research say something doesn't make it so. Don't be so bloody credulous. Thanks.

News Corp. May `Walk Away' From Dow Jones, Pali Says [Bloomberg]

Disclaimer: Should the Pali version come to pass in exactly the way they predicted, we will delete this post and pretend it never happened. Should someone find a cached version hidden on the internets, we will claim Choire ruined it in edit. Should we turn out to be correct, we will never shut up about it. Thank you for your time.