Cramer thinks Murdoch will get DJ

Jim Cramer of CNBC and The Street.com fame is wrong about a lot of things, but he's probably onto something in predicting that the Dow Jones board will ultimately accept Murdoch's buyout proposal. He figures that the board - not the Bancroft family, but the actual board of directors that's charged with overseeing the company - has stopped rubber stamping the wishes of the Bancrofts (or more precisely, their former consigliere, Roy Hammer) because the Bancrofts no longer speak with one voice. Here's Cramer's take:

This board is going to be very worried about being sued. These members are going to be very worried about why they are even on the board if they can't think about bringing out shareholder value. They are not on the board to protect the newsroom. They are on the board to assess whether Dow Jones can get to $60 on its own at some time in the future without the Murdoch bid. If they can't opine on the bid, they know they are a sham board, and these are not sham people. I believe that these board members are going to have to support this bid. I think they are going to pressure the Bancroft family -- which is no longer intransigent -- to take a higher deal or they will have to resign en masse and reveal the charade that is dual classes of stock. I also believe that they will be able to convince a couple of Bancrofts, and that will be enough to do the job.