Yahoo buyout rumor - a desperate gambit

Prediction - More rumors of consortia and bids will ensue

A rumor that an unnamed group of Silicon Valley executives are seeking to borrow money from Microsoft to buy Yahoo at $15 (20% premium over Tuesday's closing price), and sell the search business to Microsoft is being dismissed as "idiotic"  to being a "desperate" gambit. 

"We think this is simply the next in a series of increasingly desperate gambits and ploys aimed at provoking some sort of response from either Yahoo management, Microsoft or ideally both - like all the others, we think nothing will come of it, even if a real bid is cobbled together somehow," wrote Jeff Lindsay, an analyst at Bernstein.

"Yahoo is effectively adrift - leaderless and without a strategy - but with plenty of cash and sufficient cash flow  even under the current macro-environment to simply do nothing. There is no sense of crisis at the company, so increasingly frustrated investors are doing their best to provoke one." 

Grab the popcorn. I'm sure the trial balloons will keep on coming.