THE MARKET: Will Yahoo be acquired by Microsoft in the second quarter of 2008? If Yahoo is acquired by Microsoft before July 1, shares are worth $100. If it isn’t, they’re worth $0. The market will close when a public announcement is made or on June 21st at midnight PST. (NOTE: this market does not seek to determine whether any potential deal would go through; it seeks to measure whether Yahoo will publicly accept an outside offer for acquisition.)
THE LOWDOWN: Things have been very quiet surrounding Microsoft’s $40-plus billion bid for Yahoo recently, which Kara Swisher says can only mean one thing: the deal is close to being done. Nisha Gandhi predicts Microsoft will sweeten the offer by offering more cash and fewer stock options. Will it all go down?
THE PR: Randall Stross at the New York Times thinks Microsoft has the wrong target in its crosshairs. Karina Rollins at The Heartland Institute says anyone concerned about a monopoly killing the deal can rest easy.