Two reports suggest that the word had leaked to insiders about the deal to take the world's largest gaming company private. Trading in Harrah's options was unusually active last week, reports Reuters and Bloomberg reports that traders in credit-default swaps also seem to have had an idea that a deal was imminent.

There was already "unconfirmed chatter across options trading desks regarding a leverage buyout on Harrah's," Paul Foster of financial-information Web site theflyonthewall.com in Chicago tells Reuters. Another analyst says flatly that there was insider trading in the options. The trading involved buying options at a lower price knowing that the announcement of the $25 billion-plus buyout would drive the stock price higher. Harrah's put options traded at more than double the usual rate and were being bought at $70 which was clearly out of the money when they were bought.

On the credit-default front, the price of swaps, on Harrah’s $7.83 billion in bonds, rose 21 percent ahead of Monday's announcement. Traders typically charge more for this bond-default "insurance" because the private equity deal typically involves a whole lot more debt. And S&P showed what they think of Harrah's debt in the wake of the deal by downgrading the company's bonds to junk. All this pessimism is par for the course but whoever ends up owning Harrah's will have to make sure that loyalty program keeps the slots pumping money into the company's coffers.