Barnes & Noble Stock Fizzles as Nook Buyout Rumor Fades

After gaining 24% last Thursday, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS ) shares were down as much as 13% today after a new report seemed to kill the rumor that sent the stock soaring, which was that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) was aiming to buy the entire Nook e-reader division.

So what: The blog TechCrunch had said last week that Microsoft was gearing up to buy the e-reader for $1.7 billion, but today business news site Insider Monkey said, "Nothing imminent is happening," quoting "a highly placed source." Shares of the bookseller bounced off their session low, but still finished