Today in the greatest story that isn't! Dow Jones shares took a giant tumble yesterday amid speculation that Rupert Murdoch won't go any higher than his $60-a-share offer for the company. News Corp. shares, on the other hand, rose 6.2%, mainly because of profits from that movie where Ben Stiller is out-acted by a CGI Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. The Wall Street Journal suggests that the proposed merger between Thomson and Reuters "risks putting Dow Jones Newswires at a disadvantage compared with larger rivals, in particular a combined Reuters-Thomson," which will effect the way Dow Jones shareholders evaluate the bid.

Murdoch is keeping quiet about the offer for now, saying "It would have been our strong preference to negotiate our offer in a private setting, that was the manner in which we submitted it." Exactly when they submitted it is becoming something of an issue. Apparently Murdoch first suggested the takeover at a breakfast with Dow Jones CEO Richard Zannino on March 29th. The exact date is important because of the burgeoning insider trading investigation of the Hong Kong couple who made about $8 million on the news of the bid.

The investigation focuses on David Li, a Dow Jones director and Hong Kong businessman who denies any involvement. The Asia Sentinel notes that insider trading "is a way of life in Hong Kong but it doesn't play so well in more rigorous markets," which is funny when you realize that they're referring to the U.S. as a rigorous market. DealBreaker has a pretty good rundown of the implications.

Byron "Barney" Calame, outgoing Times ombudsman and former WSJ deputy managing editor, find the "prospect of Mr. Murdoch owning the Journal... disturbing and disconcerting." Finally, in Salon, Gary Weiss says that public ownership of newspapers "has been a disaster," and that the Bancrofts might as well throw in the towel. Which is sort of how we feel about these goddamn daily wrap-ups.

Yesterday: On The Seventh Day Of Dow Story, Rupert Rested