I think its safe to assume (hopefully) that the Govt knows the bidders and has given feedback if not agreed to go along with the newest plan and possible partners. Would that announcement come prior to the SD  partnering announcement? I'm guessing no. I think at this stage the Govt has nothing to gain by that. They would wait unti the actual SD is signed and sealed to their satisfaction.

Just my hunch.

If we are in a news vacume for the next 6 weeks, I expect this type of trading and don't put much emphasis on trading like this. Bang it around and make a few more bucks would make sense if you were short, little big buying pressure to challenge them.

I disagree.  If serious final bids are being made by multiple bidding teams, that's a lot of activity.  Besides leaks. people will be noticing the activity.  Talking, posting, etc.  I see this heating up.