walkman - 2:51 pm on Feb 5, 2008 (gmt 0)

It is the end of an era, in the same way that IBM once dominated the PC world. MSFT will not disappear but I guarantee it will be a very different company in 5-10 years.

so short their stock and a killing. After all you "guarantee it."

Guys, yahoo has some $17 billion in assets that can be sold if MSFT wanted to so no borrowing would happen:

One option being considered by Yahoo is the "monetising" of its stakes in Yahoo Japan and Alibaba.com (1688.HK) in China, said a person close to the situation, according to the report. In a report last month, Jeff Lindsay, a Sanford Bernstein analyst, estimated the value of the assets at $17.6 billion, or $13.24 a share - 55% of Yahoo's market capitalisation at the time, the FT said.

[marketwatch.com...]

Plus, suppose Msft borrows the entire $20 Billion, that is just 1.2 to 1.5 years of profits. Hardly a disaster. It's all relative and they still keep their $20 billion in cash they already have.