[Fri 1:05 pm Mar 10]

PhyCor Inc. (PHYC) shares were up 63% at 1 p.m. Friday on extraordinarily heavy volume.

NashvillePost.com has not yet ascertained the reason for the unusual market activity. A report on CNN/FNN said that an analyst speculated that the company might be taking itself private.

Joe Hutts, chief executive of Phycor, told the Post that he did not know what accounted for the market activity.

"If I had to guess, people are beginning to understand that Phycor is going to be here and that there really is great opportunity", he said. "A lot of people had counted us out and I think there's a rethinking of that. Otherwise, there's no news that would account for such a spike in one day."

On Thursday, Phycor shares also traded very heavily but did not experience much price movement. In early Friday afternoon trading, Phycor shares were up 63 cents to $1.63 on 16 million shares, 15 times the daily average.

NashvillePost.com will file an update to this article if a reason for the unusual trading activity is learned.