Remember the halcyon days when HMV wanted to take over Ottakar's? Well even though the Competition Commission gave the merger the go-ahead, the news is all WHSmith, all the time. First there's confirmation that CEO Kate Swann is keen on expanding the company's bookselling stake by identifying between 50 and 100 towns where new bookstores could open up. Then there's the slightly more surprising plans to undergo a "demerger" -- specifically, splitting off its newspaper distribution arm from the rest of the company. Swann told the Guardian that there's no timetable for the split's completion (though it's expected to take between six and twelve months), but speculation is rampant that the WHSmith name could disappear from the stockmarket -- and that WHSmith will seriously give HMV a run to swallow up Ottakar's.

Richard Ratner, head of equities research at Seymour Pierce, certainly seemed to think it could happen, saying he was "75 per cent convinced" WH Smith would take on HMV in a bidding contest, a move he thought could result in a take-out price of about 400p. But with so many permutations and combinations already in play, is it reasonable to speculate further that this rollercoaster ride won't end for some time now?