Yahoo! Rebuffs Microsoft's Advances

Though Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) appears to have gotten cold feet, Wall Street is still warm to the prospect of an acquisition by Microsoft(MSFT Quote).

Shares of Yahoo! slipped 2.4% to $30.23 in afternoon trading Monday, after speculation about an acquisition by Microsoft subsided. Early Friday, a media report that the two companies were discussing a merger sent shares of Yahoo! soaring almost 20%.

But the stock retreated to trade only about 7% higher than before the speculation began. Yahoo! shares gave back ground late Friday, after The Wall Street Journal reported that merger talks between the two companies were no longer active because of a lack of interest on Yahoo!'s part. ...