New motto: no day is ever safely declared slow when Rupert Murdoch has money to spend.  As we wrote earlier, Murdoch has wanted Dow Jones for a long time—the WSJ and its editorial page are surely a draw but the business news itself online and off is core. The bid closely follows News Corp.‘s disentanglement from DirecTV and precedes the anticipated launch later this year of a Fox business channel.

Despite the obvious interest, the timing still caught people off guard. A favorite quote along those lines comes from Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff on CNBC: “I think it’s just amazing although I wouldn’t claim any insight here. I’m just as gobsmacked as anybody.” CNBC, which broke the story Tuesday morning, also reported that Murdoch had been given to believe a bid at the right price would not be unwelcome although it’s still termed an “unsolicited” bid. (Update: As we report here, in a statement released after the market closed, the family said it would reject this bid.)

I reached out to former Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine, who captured the situation in Blackberry speak: “Great price. Motivated buyer, ie loves the product and has 24 by 7 to fill on news channel. Shame on Bancrofts if they say no.”

Some elements to consider:

—Newco: News Corp. and NBCU have that nifty video JV yet to be named but are competitors in this arena. CNBC has a content deal with Dow Jones that runs for several more years; the proposed business channel already adds to the competition and the DJ element could complicate it.

—Murdoch is already in the newspaper business so he’s well aware of the challenges that industry faces. That also means his reputation precedes him, which may be a plus for some but not for others, especially those concerned about the journalism side. (DJ union IABE is already opposing the sale.)  When Pulitzer Publishing, which also had a two-class voting system, sold to Lee Enterprises, some provisions kept certain aspects of the company in place for several years—including running the Pulitzer mission statement. Would he be willing to buy with some limits imposed by the agreement? Say, for instance, keeping management intact for a certain time or promising the Journal autonomy?

—DJ in play: Whatever the result with News Corp., Dow Jones is now in play. It’s too big an offer to ignore. Is it too big for other possible buyers? It would be a huge bite to take for some of the media companies that might be a fit—Washington Post, NYT, Gannett. Affording it is one issue; living with it is another. McClatchy is still digesting Knight-Ridder and we’ve all seen how well the Tribune did absorbing Times Mirror. As for private equity, hard to believe someone won’t try. Then again, News Corp.‘s $5 billion offer may be too much to top.

—The CNBC Factor: The exclusive content deal between CNBC and Dow Jones runs through 2012 and is expected—on the GE/NBCU side, at least—to continue no matter who owns the company. I am told that NBCU has the right to terminate the deal.