Can you see John Chambers directing Cisco to buy Alcatel-Lucent?

Alcatel-Lucent takeover talk heats up.

I always find it amusing when desperate Wall Street investment bankers float takeover rumors in the hope of putting lackluster performing companies into play while also simultaneously inflating the laggard company's stock price.

My case in point? Alcatel-Lucent!

Alcatel-Lucent vs. Cisco Stock Chart

According to a recent Reuters story:

Alcatel-Lucent takeover on radar as sector shrinks

"Buying Alcatel-Lucent, with its higher cost base and broad portfolio, would only drag down Ericsson's profitability, Nomura Securities technology specialist Richard Windsor said. Cisco Systems, which has a massive war chest of cash, could also be interested to secure a better foothold in mobile and IP technology. To date, Cisco's strategy has been targeted, smaller acquisitions to add promising technologies to its portfolio. Its appetite for a larger, more complicated deal is unknown. A Cisco spokeswoman declined to comment on its acquisition strategy. An Alcatel-Lucent spokesman declined to say whether it would put itself up for sale or had hired bankers to advise it."

Personally, I've got to admit that I find Alcatel-Lucent's most recent Form 6-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of keen interest:

Alcatel-Lucent Financials

(a) Translation of amounts from euros (“€”) into U.S. Dollars (“$”) has been made merely for the convenience of the reader at the Noon Buying Rate of €1 = $ 1.4020 on June 30, 2009.
(1) Classification of share-based payments between cost of sales, administrative and selling expenses and research and development costs is provided in note 5.

It's my opinion that if John Chambers directed Cisco to buy Alcatel-Lucent, then disgraced Silicon Alley Insider blogger Henry Blodget (who in 2003 was charged with civil securities fraud and then barred from the securities industry for life), might find partial redemption with his summer blog story headline:

Has Cisco's John Chambers Lost His Mind?

What's your take, can you see John Chambers directing Cisco to buy Alcatel-Lucent?

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• Cisco
• LANs / WANs
• VoIP / Convergence
• Wireless / Mobile
• Alcatel-Lucent Financials
• Alcatel-Lucent vs. Cisco Stock Chart
• Alcatel-Lucent's most recent Form 6-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Desperate Wall Street investment bankers float takeover rumors
• Disgraced Silicon Alley Insider blogger Henry Blodget