Yahoo Shares Jump

Those of you watching those big search engine stock market deals, take a look at this latest development regarding Yahoo.

Microsoft Corp. chief Steve Ballmer signaled his openness to a deal with Yahoo Inc., sending Yahoo shares up as much as 15% on investor hopes that Microsoft's failed acquisition for the Internet search company might rematerialize.

After the comments touched off a surge in Yahoo shares, Microsoft tried to downplay its chief executive's remarks. "Our position hasn't changed," a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement. "Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo. There are no discussions between the companies."

Mr. Ballmer, speaking at a technology conference in Orlando on Thursday, said a deal with Yahoo "would make sense economically." It wasn't clear whether Mr. Ballmer was referring to a hypothetical acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft or a more narrow agreement to acquire the company's search business.

Mr. Ballmer also cautioned in his speech that Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., wasn't in any discussions with Yahoo about a deal and that Yahoo wished to remain independent.

A Yahoo spokesman declined to comment.

Yahoo shares gave up some of their early gains but were changing hands up 11%, or $1.31, at $13.06 in late afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Microsoft earlier this year abandoned an unsolicited bid of $33-a-share to acquire its Internet rival. Yahoo's board rejected the offer, worth nearly $50 billion, as inadequate. Since then Yahoo shares have fallen to almost a third of Microsoft's offer price.

Intel Shares Hit 5 Year Low

Reading BusinessWeek today, I came across this...

Shares of Intel Corp., the world's largest computer chip maker, fell along with the broader market Monday to hit their lowest price in five years.

The stock, which is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell 59 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $16.72 in early afternoon trading. Earlier, the stock hit $16.61, its lowest level since 2003.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel's shares are down about 37 percent since the start of the year, a bigger drop than the Dow Jones industrials, which are down about 25.5 percent year-to-date.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 500 points to below 10,000 for the first time in four years amid credit fears.

While Intel is generally considered a relatively safe bet amid the economic turmoil -- it is by far the world's largest computer chip maker -- it is not immune to a downturn and it stock price has declined amid fears that declining PC demand will mean lower demand for its semiconductors.

Apple Stocks & Citizen Journalism

Reading a little about Steve Job's health scare, Apple stocks, and citizen journalism.

CNN's plunge into online citizen- journalism backfired yesterday when the cable-news outlet posted what turned out to be a bogus report claiming that Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack.

Apple shares fell as much as 5.4 percent after the post on CNN's iReport.com and rebounded after the Cupertino, California- based company said the story was false. Atlanta-based CNN, owned by Time Warner Inc., disabled the user's account and said it tried unsuccessfully to contact the individual.

The event underscores the need for news organizations to verify content generated by users before it is published, William Grueskin, dean of academic affairs at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, said in an interview from New York. CNN competitors Fox and MSNBC also have added interactive features to stretch resources and follow their audience to the Web.

I guess it can have it's ups and downs... as Bloomberg reports...

``It can be a very powerful influence when harnessed the right way, but sometimes it goes awry as it clearly did in this case,'' Grueskin said. ``News organizations are really getting squeezed and so it's incumbent on them to be looking for ways to engage citizens in the process.''

The Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement unit is trying to determine whether the posting was intended to push down Apple's stock price. CNN is cooperating with the probe, Jennifer Martin, a spokeswoman for the network, said in a telephone interview. She declined to say whether CNN provided the user's IP address to the SEC.

The ability to publish unconfirmed material on the Internet can have a far-reaching impact.

In June, Yahoo! Inc. shares surged after a technology blog said acquisition talks with Microsoft had resumed. The report was later contradicted by CNBC and the shares gave back most of the 11 percent gain.

Citigroup Shares Drop

Can't stop following the financial drama in the news tonight.

Shares in Citigroup Inc. fell sharply Friday after the bank's deal to buy Wachovia Corp.'s banking assets for about $2.1 billion was trumped by an offer from Wells Fargo & Co.

Citi shares lost $4.15, or 18.4 percent, to close at $18.35. In the past year the stock has ranged between $12.85 and $48.95. Wachovia shares soared 59 percent on the new deal, which will pay shareholders about $7 per share, or about $14.8 billion.

The bank had agreed to absorb as much as $42 billion in losses from Wachovia's $312 billion loan portfolio. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. agreed to cover losses above that level. The Wells Fargo bid does not include any government guarantees.

Citi is balking at the deal, saying it had an exclusivity agreement that precluded Wachovia from talking to other suitors.

People are being very careful with what they are doing with their money right now.