Icahn gets FTC's OK for Yahoo stock buy
The Federal Trade Commission has given its approval to Carl Icahn's efforts to accumulate Yahoo holdings, according to a Reuters report.
In addition to overseeing actual mergers and so forth, the agency also looks at large stock purchases, the news agency noted, saying the approval was listed in an agency report that comes out several times a week.
Of course, of all the people looking to acquire pieces of Yahoo, Icahn is the one least likely to encounter antitrust scrutiny. Google has raised concerns over a Microsoft purchase, while Microsoft has questioned whether Yahoo should be allowed to do a deal with Google.
Meanwhile, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang said at the D: All Things Digital conference that his company is still talking, or rather listening, to proposals from Microsoft on something less than a full merger.
Many of those I talked to at the conference say they still expect a full merger, though plenty privately echoed Rupert Murdoch's very public puzzlement at why the two have not managed to reach an accord already.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
