According to several media sources, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has signed a confidentiality agreement with Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) that would allow the software giant access to Yahoo! financial statements and senior management. Microsoft has been viewed as a suitor for Yahoo! for some time. Both use Microsoft’s Bing search platform. Yahoo! and the MSN portal could be merged which would allow the elimination of thousands of jobs.

Douglas A. McIntyre