So what's with Safeway?

Shares in the parent of Vons were up 2.7 percent in an otherwise down day on Wall Street. One logical explanation could be the tentative deal between Safeway, Kroger and Supervalu, and the United Food and Commercial Workers. A full-blown strike never seemed very likely, but investors still remember huge losses from the disastrous labor dispute back in 2003. But sometimes Wall Street just isn't satisfied with the obvious, so throughout the day there's been speculation that Eddie Lampert, who is chairman of Sears Holdings (and a master hedge fund strategist), might be after Safeway. Jon Najarian, co-founder of OptionMonster.com, threw a few logs into the fire with a note that said about 12,500 call options for Safeway changed hands Wednesday, compared with a daily average of just 1,737 in June. By the way, there have been rumors about Kroger also being a possible takeover candidate. Supermarkets offer good cash flow and lots of real estate - catnip to these private equity guys - so anything is possible. But Lambert seems like a bad bet. (Deal Journal)