The rest of the market is down this morning, but Crocs--the Niwot-based maker of the funky clog-like shoes--is trading up so far in already heavy volume. If you remember back to midweek, the shoe company (NASDAQ:CROX) announced that third-quarter demand had massively slipped and that fourth-quarter projections needed to be lowered, sending shares plunging in after-hours trading. So why is Crocs up today? Two possible reasons exist. Perhaps investors think it's irrational that a stock that traded at $75.21 in October 2007 is now trading near $1. Or maybe some hopeful investors think Crocs could be snapped up (pun intended) in a takeover. According to this story, the author thinks Crocs' proprietary Croslite material would be attractive to Nike or to Under Armor. But don't think that the spongy, stain-resistant Croslite is only for shoes. Crocs already has a line of clothing in which the material is woven into the fabric, giving shirts a stretchy characteristic. That, too, could be appealing to an athletic-apparel company. I wrote about Crocs' mounting troubles in our June issue.