E*Trade bidding for Quote.com
The online brokerage joins the roster of firms such as Intuit that are interested in buying the financial Web site.
Quote.com and E*Trade both declined comment.
Quote.com recently has been shopping itself around to fetch the highest price, but the talks have hit repeated snags, the sources said. No deal is expected this week but could occur by year's end.
Privately held Quote.com provides live stock-quote information and stock charts. The company is looking to raise more money, either by selling itself or through another round of financing.
Both Intuit and E*Trade previously have expressed an interest in Quote.com. The talks with CNBC, which occurred in August, hit an impasse. A buyer would gain access to Quote.com's subscriber base as well as its technology.
The possible sale of Quote.com comes amid continued consolidation in the Internet industry. Online trading is one of the fastest-growing areas of e-commerce. The number of online trading accounts is expected to reach 12.7 million in 2001, up from 1.5 million in 1996, according to Forrester Reserach.
CNET News.com's Sandeep Junnarkar contributed to this report.