In spite of market speculation that has driven up EchoStar shares more than 20% today, no deal between AT&T and EchoStar is imminent, people familiar with the matter tell us.

One person close to AT&T says the two sides aren’t even talking about an M&A deal at the moment. What is more, it still isn’t clear that any bankers have been hired to arrange the long-anticipated deal or that AT&T has decided to go after EchoStar and not DirecTV.

Of course, these conditions can always change at a moment’s notice. But from what we can divine so far, enthusiasts of an EchoStar acquisition may not feel much gratitude this Thanksgiving.

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2007/11/19/att-and-echostar-reasons-to-be-skeptical/

Does Goldman need Citigroup down? We know they are still massively short subprime. Why not add some fuel to the fire while the Fed is thinking about Thanksgiving instead of conducting monetary policy that is relevant to the market today? And advertise your views for all of Wall Street to see?

At any rate, we'll soon know if it was prescient!