Bartz Puts Yahoo! in Ballmer's Court

Yahoo!'s (YHOO Quote) new hard-charging chief puts the big Microsoft (MSFT Quote) buyout dream to rest, as Wall Street ponders other less sensational strategies.

Incoming Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz wasn't greeted with the most rousing ovation this week. The stock is down 5% since Bartz was first named the front-runnerby Kara Swisher's BoomTown blog last week. Nothing against the former Autodesk (ADSK Quote) exec, but shareholders appear to have had their hopes on a man in that role, specifically Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer.

After watching a $33-a-share, $44.6 billion Microsoft takeover bid slip away a year ago, it's got to be a little humbling to realize that the final payoff is a possible outsourcing deal with Microsoft for Yahoo!'s search business.

But it's been a rather humbling year, with the recession, the collapse of the credit markets, a climbing jobless rate and a sharp drop in consumer spending, to name a few economic ills. So given all the woes, a search deal with a deep-pocketed Microsoft has a few fans.

Microsoft-Yahoo!'s Hurdles

Google's (GOOG Quote) proposed and later killed Yahoo! search joint venture provides a recent blueprint to how the deal would work. And, as some have pointed out, the federal antitrust scrutiny Google-Yahoo! received will probably visit any Microsoft-Yahoo! pact.

Bartz's appointment clears "the last hurdle before Microsoft could submit a possible search deal proposal to Yahoo," wrote Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal on Wednesday. The presumed revenue-sharing arrangement could be worth $8 to $10 a share to Yahoo!, Aggarwal said, adding that it would give Bartz more time to focus on Yahoo!'s other businesses.

What do you think about Yahoo!'s choice for a new CEO?
	Can't be worse than Jerry Yang She'll be great, and she'll turn the company around I would have preferred Sue Decker Just make something happen with Microsoft

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