Is a Monster buyout in the works?

“Where there’s smoke, there’s a conflagration,” said Jim Cramer, during his Thursday broadcast of “Stop Trading!” on CNBC.

Thursday was an unusual day of trading for Monster Worldwide, with shares jumping 11%. According to TradingMarkets.com, Monster has exceeded its 50-day moving average and is currently trading higher by $1.03 at $45.

Cramer hinted of a leak in the alleged Monster buyout, by a company such as Google, Gannett, or eBay, possibly within the next six months.

Cramer implied alleged illegal insider information, suggesting that authorities will be investigating.

During his segment, Cramer indicated that Gannett is a front-runner in a possible buyout.

“If Gannett were to buy Monster…then they could consolidate CareerBuilder, and that would be game, set, match,” he noted.

According to Cramer, heavy call option buying in Monster could signal a buyout as high as $60 a share.

This isn’t the first time Cramer has made the connection between Monster and a company such as Gannett. In fact, last month on his “Mad Money” program, he noted that the “proud newspaper company that’s trying to stay relevant” should tell its banker it wants to buy Monster Worldwide.

Also last month, he drew the same parallels between a CareerBuilder/Monster merge. At that time, he explained that it would be a wise move for Gannett to consolidate the online job market.

But a purchase by Google, for example, would “swallow Monster up,” he said last month.

Monster Worldwide has seen some executive-level changes recently. On Wednesday, the company appointed Joan Blackwood to the position of chief marketing officer for North America. In this role, she will be leading all aspects of Monster’s overall corporate marketing position.

In April, Monster Worldwide announced that then-president and chief executive officer William Pastore was leaving (after less than seven months in that role).

In his place, the company appointed Sal Iannuzzi as its new chairman and chief executive officer.

The CEO shakeup followed a lower-than-expected first-quarter earnings announcement. Following the news in April, the company’s stock fell to a five-month low.

Meanwhile, Cramer speculated on his program that Iannuzzi — who previously oversaw Motorola’s acquisition of Symbol Technologies — was appointed to the CEO position to help broker another acquisition deal.