Par for the course

Philippe Dauman is not shy about using investor confabs to put a stake in the ground on film deals; one such gathering last year is where he first suggested he was willing not to negotiate hard for DreamWorks. Today Dauman made a statement in the other direction, saying that he has no intention to sell Paramount.

"It's not one we want to sell," he said at the Dow Jones/Nielsen Media and Money conference in New York, Georg Szalai reports. "(It's) a very fast-growing business. Paramount has done great for us. Brad Grey has done a terrific job."

This all comes on the heels of a report from Pali analyst Rich Greenfield suggesting that the conglom sell Paramount. ("Paramount has become Sumner Redstone's 'sports team,' " Greenfield said, noting that he thought it could net as much as $5 billion in a sale.) Of course Greenfield has a history of contrarian mischief-making that often does not bear fruit. And congloms rarely telegraph plans to sell a unit even when they are interested. But Wall Street agitation is noteworthy -- as are exec votes of confidence.