An Opportunity For The CEO To Put Some Rumors To Rest -- On Monday Afternoon?

Mr. Frazier always speaks at the JP Morgan Chase conference, live.

He will be there Monday afternoon, for the 32^nd Annual Healthcare Conference, in the City by the Bay.

Will he deny the likely Goldman-generated rumors?

Will he even mention them, beyond the ongoing "we are always evaluating options" mantra?

Who knows? I'll listen in, just in case. From the wires today, then:

. . . .Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that Kenneth C. Frazier, Merck's chairman and chief executive officer, is scheduled to present at the 32ndAnnual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on January 13 at 4:00 p.m. PST (7:00 p.m. EST). Investors, analysts, members of the media and the general public are invited to listen to a live audio webcast of the presentation. . . .

Do stay tuned -- but as I've said -- even if a big, splashy $5 billion multi-step swap deal gets announced, it will be a dickens to get closed. No. 2 can't easily add assets of this size, in these highly concentrated markets, without a lot of regulators (and competitors!) taking notice -- and squawking.