Hysteria Over Acer-Gateway

In his haste to get to all the varied interpretations of the Acer-Gateway(GTW Quote) deal, please forgive The Business Press Maven if he simply seizes up.

If anything, the coverage of this merger is a departure, because we usually get instant consensus marked by so much agreement across different media outlets that it comes at investors like thick, choking smoke. Here, strangely, there are different interpretations by the wagonload.

We'll eventually highlight the right interpretation. But your lasting lesson as a savvy investor is, as always, to never rely on one bit of reporting or opinion. (Note to reader: unless, of course, it is mine. Then rely away.)

Anyhow, to the Financial Times, the $710 million deal meant primarily that Acer's position will be strengthened in the American market.

The combined company's worldwide bragging rights in terms of gaining third place from Lenovo in global PC sales behind Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote) and Dell(DELL Quote) ("We're No. 3! We're No. 3!") is subordinated, which is good, I suppose. Market share rankings are fool's gold and come with no guarantee of profits. (Do you hear me, American auto industry?)

Though the FT led more modestly, Business Week, for its part, harked back to 1949, with Mao Zedong taking control of China and Chiang Kai-shek beating it across the Taiwan Strait.