Carlos Slim Still Not Buying the New York Times

So says the Mexican investor’s spokesman. I’m sure the New York Times would say the same thing, too, but it usually doesn’t comment on rumor and speculation, etc.

But it doesn’t matter: Someone, somewhere, is buying up New York Times shares, and someone tells the press that the spike is based on speculation that Slim wants to buy the paper outright.

Happened in March, too, though it may have seemed more convincing then, because the (supposed?) rumor pushed the stock up to $12 a share. Today, the story only goosed NYT to $8.44.

Chart via Yahoo Finance:

Of course, one day, one of these stories could turn out to be true. But that doesn’t make it likely: Slim owns a seven percent stake in the company, and has lent it a big pile of money, at very steep rates. But the Sulzberger family still controls the company via ownership of the B stock, so it will take something extraordinary for that to change.