Jon at Cheap Stocks writes a letter to Bill Miller.

"Carl C. Icahn would have more support in his proxy battle against Yahoo if he pledged not to sell the company for less than $33 a share, Legg Mason portfolio manager Bill Miller said on Tuesday. Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management is the third-largest institutional shareholder of Yahoo, with a 5.23 percent stake as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing."

The mid-year performance report for the Fat Pitch Financials Portfolio. The number remain ugly, but not much worse than the S&P 500.

Can Gannett turn around it's decreasing revenue, compressing margins, falling return on capital, and dropping stock price? An analysis of Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S.

After its second bid was rejected, a frustrated Microsoft turned its back and walked away. This infuriated Yahoo shareholders who had seen the bid as the company’s last chance to regain profitability. A contingent led by Carl Icahn instigated a proxy battle, seeking to oust Yahoo’s current board of directors and replace it with candidates of his choosing.

Turley presents an interesting analysis comparing the value of Google to Yahoo, and why Microsoft was smart in not upping their bid for Yahoo.

Jeff Matthews recalls his impressions of seeing Bill Gates and Sue Decker at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. Maybe Buffett's friendship with Bill Gates has had an impact on how Microsoft operates.

It appears that the Microsoft and Yahoo saga is over. Microsoft withdrew its offer today and it doesn't appear they are going to pursue a merger with Yahoo anymore. There were a lot of rumors flying, so I wanted to share this official release.

The Fat Pitch Financials Portfolio was down 1.21% in April. I held tight as the markets continued to be stormy.

The term long tail, coined by Wired editor Chris Anderson in the October 2004 issue, refers to a socio-economic trend away from a hit-based economy to a niche-based one. In essence, the theory of the long tail states that the revenue potention of all the less popular, long tail markets taken together far exceeds the revenue potential of the most popular hits.

The Fat Pitch Financials Portfolio held steady in February. I added a position in Premier Exhibitions (PRXI) and watched several positive developments in other positions. The portfolio continues to beat out the S&P 500.

Comparing the Microsoft/Yahoo! merger to past mega-mergers shows that these two companies are unlikely to live in perfect harmony.

A great interview with Joe Rosenberg, Chief Investment Strategist for Loews. He discusses why Microsoft might be better off without Yahoo, the value of Johnson & Johnson, and Comcast.

Now the WSJ "get's it wrong"

All too often people hear plenty of good things about Google. What about Yahoo? Here are some of the upside potentials Yahoo has going for it and some of the reasons I think Yahoo will grow faster (in percentage terms) than Google.