The Guardian added a rather insightful rider this week to a report by it that the rumour mill surrounding the future of AIB was rolling again.

After a period of relative calm following the intense - and unfounded - speculation earlier this year that a bid for the State's largest bank was imminent, the newspaper suggested that three months on, bid rumour may be about to fly again.

Its Market Focus column reported: "It is said (admittedly by those who came up with the original story) that Deutsche Bank, irritated at the leaks, imposed a three-month moratorium on takeover discussions with AIB - and that moratorium is about to come to an end."

The newspaper added, however, that there was no suggestion that anyone at either bank had leaked anything in the past. Nor was there any hard evidence that Deutsche wanted to take over AIB.

It pointed out that a good rumour could be as profitable as the real thing and in this context, appended the following cautionary note: "Any new speculators chasing this story should remember an important rule - the one thing more important to an Irish stockbroker than making money is watching a British stockbroker lose it." Indeed.