The PC business has been bizarre lately. Of course, there was the case of Dell's exploding laptops.

Something else that has been unusual: Gateway's stock has been surging.

Then again, as I wrote about in BloggingStocks.com this week, a hedge fund put the company "in play" by purchasing 10% of the stock. The fund also hired Firebrand Partners, which uses strategies to encourage shareholder value.

Firebrand's first step was writing a letter to Gateway's management. Yes, so far, it has been sheer poetry for Gateway shareholders. In fact, Firebrand Partners gets 10% of the profits on the adventure – and is well in-the-money already.

Now, another player has joined the fray: Lap Shun Hui, who was the former backer of eMachines. This company was sold to Gateway several years ago. In other words, Hui has a pretty good understanding of Gateway's value.

He is prepared to write a check for $450 for the retail operations of Gateway. He's even hinted that he might be interested in buying the whole company.

Yes, investors got a nice pop this week on Gateway. No doubt, Hui's offer is probably not the final one (anyone who has $450 million to spend certainly knows how to negotiate).

However, these buyout scenarios can get crazy and is really a game for those who are speculators – not investors.

Tom Taulli is the author of a variety of books, such as the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.