The hot parlor game in Silicon Valley these days is guessing which new business the fast-growing Internet search engine company Google will extend its tentacles into next. After wireless Internet service, which the company is developing for the city of San Francisco, the best answer just might be financial information.

Google, say sources, is seriously considering launching a portal to rival the likes of Yahoo! Finance. Rumors about such a move have been swirling since a late-August report on the San Jose Mercury News' Web site raised the possibility.

The Mountain View, California, company is in talks with several data and content providers that could be partners in the venture. One of these, Revere Data, maintains a database of some 8,000 public and private companies that allows investors not only to view financial information about each company but also to generate lists of its suppliers and customers.

Glen Wolyner, Revere's CEO, won't comment on any talks with Google. "We have nothing to announce at this time," says a Google spokeswoman, noting that the company never talks about its plans in advance of a formal announcement. One thing, however, is crystal clear: Google has plenty of cash to spend on a finance portal. The company raised $4.4 billion in a secondary stock offering last month. Its shares are up an astounding 274 percent, to $318 each, since its August 2004 IPO. That's sure to make Google one of the most-queried companies on any Google finance site.