Briefcase

Report suggests Yahoo a target
Yahoo Inc.’s inability to snap out of a financial funk may be about to turn the embattled Internet company into a takeover target for the second time in less than three years.
That possibility, floated in a story posted online late Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal, lifted Yahoo’s shares by nearly 13 percent in Wednesday’s after-hours trading.
Yahoo snubbed a $47.5 billion buyout offer from Microsoft Corp. in 2008.
• Deal worth less: If Yahoo gets another offer, it will likely be for considerably less than what the company could have gotten had it embraced Microsoft. Yahoo’s market value now is less than $25 billion, even after factoring in the runup from the takeover speculation.
• Potential partners: The Wall Street Journal story identified Silver Lake Partners and Blackstone Group LP as two of the firms huddling with AOL.
Associated Press
Bing search includes Facebook links
Facebook members who use Microsoft Corp.’s Bing search engine will see information from Facebook friends incorporated into search results in the next few weeks.
• How it works: Bing is using Facebook’s “instant personalization” feature, which customizes websites based on the likes and interests of Facebook members and their friends.
• What it looks like: People who use Bing to search for a topic in the news might see articles friends shared on Facebook. Restaurants and movies that friends have “liked” could help Web surfers decide what to do. Searches for people by name may also turn up links to Facebook profiles.
Associated Press
GM chair predicts shares at $20 to $25
When General Motors Co. sells stock to the public, it will be priced from $20 to $25 per share, Chairman Ed Whitacre predicted Wednesday.
Whitacre told reporters at an event in San Antonio that the automaker’s initial public offering would take place sometime in November.
GM is waiting for U.S. regulators to sign off on its proposed plan to sell shares.
Associated Press
Apple tops $300
Apple’s shares topped $300 for the first time Wednesday. Shares climbed $1.60 to close at $300.14 after peaking at a record $301.96 earlier. This gives Apple a market capitalization of about $273 billion. Apple’s market cap now trails only Exxon Mobil Corp. as a U.S. publicly traded company. Exxon’s market cap hovers around $330 billion.
Associated Press