The rumor mill holds that a deal for bull-bear fund pioneer Rydex will be announced in the not-too-distant future. MarketWatch says a deal in the $1 billion range could be in the works. E*Trade and Invesco seem to be the most-rumored suitors. Rydex manages more than 80 mutual funds and ETFs. Of course, ETFs remain hot, though the bloom will wilt as some point--probably soon. Rydex founder "Skip" Viragh passed away in December 2003. So the time for a sale appears now. The issue likely is a classic build or buy situation. Is it all that hard to get an ETF started up? Not really. If a firm plans on re-branding the products anyway, then $1 billion may be a bit pricey. But maybe a suitor sees something others don't. My guess is that they would want the product, not the brand.

For more:
- read the MarketWatch article

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