A Smattering of items:

-- Apple antics: Chatter continues regarding Apple Computer's possible takeover of Menlo Park- based Be Inc., which has developed a snazzy new computer operating system. Originally, the speculation was that Be was asking upwards of $100 million.

Now the asking price is said to be as high as $500 million. Be officials couldn't be reached.

Bidding war, anybody?

-- Exodus?: Insiders appear to be bailing out of C-Cube Microsystems, the Milpitas chipmaker, left and right. ``What's interesting is that almost all of them sold earlier this year when the stock was 60 or 70, and now they're selling here,'' with the stock in the 30s, says Bob Gabele of CDA/InvestNet Insiders' Chronicle. ``We've always found that successive selling at lower prices is somewhat of a warning sign, because those selling don't expect to see those higher prices anymore.''

Sellers include former Marketing Vice President Alex Daly, who has filed to slice his holdings by 35.5 percent, and Sales Vice President Brian Conners, who has filed to lop off 32 percent.

C-Cube CEO Alex Balkansk warns about reading too much into the sales. He says the actual number of shares being dumped is really less than the amount the insiders filed to sell. He also says the sales follow a seven-month blackout on insider selling this year and a 10-month blackout last year. He adds that neither he nor Chairman Don Valentine have sold any shares.

Perhaps, but Gabele says the C- Cube sales are still significant relative to insider sales at other companies.

He adds, however, that during October he has seen a rise in insider sales at many companies, suggesting ``there could be some earnings surprises coming.''

-- Dumb and dumber: Why would anybody buy shares of IP Timberlands? I've asked that question a number of times over the past few years, and the answer remains the same: its fat yield of 15.3 percent.

But before you rush out and call your broker, or if a broker is calling you with this great-looking deal, take a look at the catch: this is a partnership, and it dissolves at the end of 1999.

From now until then, investors will receive a total payout of $6.50 per share.

The stock is currently trading at 13. That's right, if you buy the stock today, you'll be paying $13 for something that

will pay back only $6.50. Put another way, you'll be getting half the money you invested back in the form of a dividend that will be taxable, and in the year 2000 the stock will be virtually worthless.

Says Michael Murphy, who publishes the Overpriced Stock Service in Half Moon Bay: ``This is only appropriate for someone who is going to die.''

Based on trading volume, a lot of people must be on their deathbeds.

-- More fallout from recent items here regarding questionable accounting, starting with this, from reader Bill Braznell: ``The best advice I've heard for spotting creative accounting is to check the company's Statement of Cash Flows against its Income Statement. If reported earnings are on the upswing, but `net cash provided by operating income' is flat or heading down, you can be pretty sure you're dealing with an artist.''