No one seems satisfied with the plans that Sue Decker and Jerry Yang, Yahoo!'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) new management, have made for the company. Concerns about slow growth of display ads and a mediocre launch of the Panama search product have caused more grumbling among investors. No one thinks Q3 numbers are going to be impressive.

Yahoo! is up 3.5% this morning. 24/7 Wall St. published a summary of a report from Bernstein Research which shows that if the portal were broken into three pieces, the company would be worth $39 a share. The stock has been trading below $27.

The break-up document shows that Yahoo! should be cut into three pieces. The first is the display ad business. The second is the search business. And, the third is Yahoo!'s subscription operation. Bernstein is convinced that the three operations would do better with new owners For example, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) would do a better job of getting money from the Yahoo! search operation.

Bernstein earlier offered another option for Yahoo!. Out-source search to Google and cut 25% of total staff. The research house says that operating income would rise 206% next year compared to consensus numbers.

It is unlikely that Yahoo! management will take any of this advice, but the analysis does make one thing clear. The company is worth more than it stock price says.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Sprint Nextel Corporation's (NYSE: S) investors are unhappy, and led by the activist investor Ralph Whitworth, are voicing their displeasure with chairman and CEO Gary Forsee and the company's board, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Merrill Lynch and Company (NYSE: MER) has fired several top executives as a result of the fallout from the credit crunch, The Financial Times reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Associated Press reported that members of the United Automobile Workers union at two General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) locals have approved the union's tentative contract agreement with GM, local union officials said Wednesday.
• Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) has been ordered by a Delaware court to provide confidential information about its stock-granting practices to a Louisiana-based police pension fund that has invested in Countrywide, reported the Los Angeles Times.

WEBSITES:

• According to the Register, Alvarion Ltd (NASDAQ: ALVR) and Redline Performance Products (NASDAQ: REDL) are considered the most likely WiMAX companies to be acquired by Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), but Airspan Networks (NASDAQ: AIRN), Aperto, and Navini have also been mentioned as possible acquisitions for the Internet networking giant.
• CNet.com reported that Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) is upgrading its e-mail system starting today with technology designed to block phishing, spam, and other fraudulent e-mails that look like they come from eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) and PayPal, but actually don't.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• With its reputation at stake, Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) has launched an aggressive PR offensive beginning inside the firm, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" section reported that on Friday, two days after the stock dipped to $12.07, a 6-year low, Borders Group Inc (NYSE: BGP) CEO George Jones bought 50K shares, his first open market purchase since joining the retailer.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) CEO Chuck Prince is waiting for a review of the company's $3.3B in losses and writedowns in its banking business for Q3 before deciding whether to fire executives as a result of the poor performance, according to senior Citigroup executives.
• Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) said it was considering selling Kelkoo, the online shopping comparison service that it acquired in 2004, admitting the acquisition did not pan out as planned, reported the Financial Times.

WEBSITES:

• Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) is going to combine its storage and server product teams to create a new converged group called the Systems team, Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz wrote in his blog.
• Henry Blodget made a case for Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) stock going to $2,000 a share at AlleyInsider.com.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is releasing a major upgrade to its search engine technology. The company calls the new version an improvement, but only time can tell whether that is accurate. According to the FT the product promises "more relevant answers to queries and integrates audio, video and photos into its results pages." Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Ask.com have also released similar upgrades to their search products.

Yahoo! almost certainly spent a huge sum of money and precious engineering resources to bring the new product to market, but the company is in the unenviable position of launching a new version of its technology that is not likely to get it any additional marketshare. In other words, the company is running hard to stay in place.

It may be notable that the Yahoo! search improvement comes after those from Microsoft and Ask.com. It is a sign that being first to market in the most profitable part of the internet business is no longer prized because of Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) huge lead.

For beaten down Yahoo!, a better mouse trap is not terribly valuable if there are no mice to catch.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Jim Collins, editor of OTC Insight, uses a proprietary quantitative system to isolate high growth and momentum stocks trading at reasonable valuations relative to that growth.

His latest two featured stocks based on these criteria are both China-based companies: Internet search provider Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) and online gaming firm Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: SNDA).

Collins notes that Baidu's search engine was the most frequently used in China in 2006. Last December, he adds, Baidu announced its intention to enter the Japanese search market, which is currently dominated by Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

In March, he adds, the company launched a limited beta trial of its Japanese language search services, which included web and image search.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2007, he reports, Baidu showed earnings of $0.61 a share, compared with $0.21 per share in the prior year. Revenues, he states, increased 121% to $53 million. The stock, he explains, has a relative strength rating of 99 (out of 100) and garners a B+ for accumulation and distribution.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• It was revealed yesterday that Terra Firma is among the potential bidders for Ford Motor Company's (NYSE: F) Jaguar and Land Rover brands, reported the Financial Times.
• There is a 40% to 45% risk that a recession will be triggered by the housing market downturn in the U.S., the CEO of Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) warned, the Financial Times reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

• From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column:
  
• Investors looking for fast growth in the $110 billion business-enterprise telecom market are betting on Time Warner Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC), which offers broadband connections for data, high-speed Web access, local voice, and long-distance service.
• Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: PCL) is flying high despite the housing slump and market decline driven by the subprime mortgage crisis.
• Universal Electronics Inc (NASDAQ: UEIC), which makes the remote controls for TVs and other appliances, has caught the Street's eye.

WEBSITES:

• Unstrung.com reported that Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) is close to buying a WiMax base station company, according to sources, and one possible target is Alvarion (NASDAQ: ALVR).
• Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is reportedly going to reduce the amount of money and effort it spends on premium services related to music, games, TV, and movies, reported TechCrunch.com.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column reported that from Sept. 19-21, former Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) CEO David Glass grossed more than $13.3M by selling 300K Wal-Mart shares on the open market, according to SEC.
• The UAW walked out on General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) yesterday because negotiations stalled when the United Auto Workers said they should get some sort of job guarantees from GM, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that BP's (NYSE: BP) Q3 revenue will be "dreadful" and the company will undergo a far-reaching shakeup, BP CEO Tony Hayward has reportedly told his staff.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Having completed a deal with aQuantive for $6B, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) wants to make one more deal this year. The question the New York Post asks is, will it be with Facebook or Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO)?
• The Economic Times reported that Reliance Retail is in talks with the Gap Inc (NYSE: GPS) for a franchisee arrangement for Reliance Retail's apparel business.

WEBSITES:

• According to executives familiar with the review, the winner of Dell Inc's (NASDAQ: DELL) $760M ad account will either be the WPP Group (NASDAQ: WPPGY) or the Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE: IPG), with the final round of pitches to be made in three weeks, according to AdAge.com.

While gold and commodities around the world enjoy one heck of a bull market, the performance of technology stocks is steadily improving.

Last night, Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) once again reported solid results, although margin improvement was a little light and the software giant got a big boost from positive currency movement. Oracle's solid results follow a boost in outlook from Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC). Also, with EMC Corporation's (NYSE: EMC) offering of VMware Inc (NYSE: VMW) being a huge success, equity offerings for the tech sector are also picking up, with Equinix Inc (NASDAQ: EQIX), the data-center company, completing a secondary this week. Improved IPO and secondary markets for tech stocks have usually meant good things for tech in general.

Also, just the general tone in technology is pickup up as both Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) are remaining very active in the acquisition market as the two search-engine giants scoop more web-centric applications and Web 2.0 products.

While CNBC and Bloomberg focus on the booming commodities market, do not forget technology is beginning a very nice bull market.

Today's important stories from TheStreet.com: You Ask, Cramer Answers, Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Three Must-Go CEOs.

How do you play Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) here? How do you play the takeover chatter and the earnings chatter -- the so-called better-than-expected coming?

I would play it with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). The story on Yahoo!, from Pacific Crest, is an earnings story, the price of search going up -- at least that's how people are talking about the positive call. Believe me, if pricing is going up for Yahoo!, it must be soaring for Google.

Now, I also believe that Google's hiring has slowed and the company is getting more rational. The departure of George Reyes as CFO might help, as he seemed to have no check whatsoever on the gross margins and head count. With revenue up and expenses even flat, you are going to have a monster hit with Google, which never really got crushed, even though the shorts told me over and over again that the quarter was awful.

As for the takeover chatter for Yahoo!? Now that eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) has moved up a great bit, a deal for Yahoo! makes a lot more sense than it did at $32 for EBAY and $30 for Yahoo!. Plus Yahoo! has all of that cash and securities on the balance sheet, which could translate into $11 a share.

Should they do it? Yes. Will they do it? I think they are finally on a roll, why muck it up?

So, bottom line -- the way to play Yahoo! is Google!

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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in any of the stocks mentioned.

One look at the headline, and you can already tell this project is destined to fail.

In a recent post, I wondered whether we are entering a social networking bubble. Social networking is hot right now, and everyone wants a piece, including Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) whose last foray into the space, Yahoo! 360 failed miserably.

According to Bits, Yahoo! is now trying out Yahoo! Mash, which began its invitation-only preview on Friday: "... users can edit each other's profiles, redecorating, changing information, and adding features. Think the Wikipedia version of a social network."

Bits adds that the site currently lacks private messaging, a place to to post your school/job, and an emphasis on music/video. Funny, those are three of the things that have made social networking so big! The initial reviews for the site don't seem to be too positive, and I would expect this one to fade away just like Yahoo! 360. That seems to be what happens with most of Yahoo!'s projects lately, doesn't it?

This post is part of our Money Face-Offs feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.

Celebrities -- they're more than superior human beings, they're money-making machines. If these celebrities were stocks, which would be the shrewd buy?

The shrewd, cantankerous veteran vs. the trash-talking but talented kid -- who would you put your money on?

The veteran would be George Steinbrenner, head of the New York Yankees since 1973. Steinbrenner made his nut in the family shipbuilding business when he bought out the American Ship Building Co. He was always an avid sports fan, even serving as a football coach at Northwestern and Purdue before returning to the business world. His first acquisition, however, the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball Association, left him broke. But his taste for the big leagues remained.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is betting that search on wireless handsets will become a big business. The company understands that online search on the PC platform cannot grow at its current rate forever, so, at some point, revenue from its AdWords program will begin to flatten.

To combat the potential of a less robust growth environment on the web, Google is moving Adwords onto its Google Mobile Search product. The program will be free until November and ads will only run on websites designed for handset screens.

Silicon Alley Insider points to a recent survey by research firm Kelsey Group as the reason Google is so anxious to get a foothold in the new market. "Revenue from U.S. mobile search advertising will soar from $33.2 million this year to $1.4 billion in 2012."

Google has some potholes in its path. After being handily beaten in the PC-based search market, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) MSN Live Search are working to get their products on as many handsets as possible. However, they still have the disadvantage that their search products do not produce results as good as Google's and their text ad targeting products are inferior.

In moving to the mobile platform world, Google maintains its critical edge.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• After less than a year in office, Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, resigned, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• With its sights set on Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM), Volkswagen AG (OTC: VLKAY) CEO Stefan Jacoby says he'll nearly triple sales of vehicles in the U.S. over the next decade, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column reported that director James Burke purchased $1.1M worth of AnnTaylor Stores Corporation (NYSE: ANN) stock on Friday, marking the first open-market purchase by an AnnTaylor insider in at least five years, according to InsiderScore.com.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the U.K. Times, British bank Barclays (NYSE: BCS) has invested $1.5B in Golden Key, a fund that has gotten into trouble as a result of the global liquidity squeeze.
• Aluminum company Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL) is reportedly in talks to sell its packaging unit to India's Essel Group, reported the Economic Times.
• Music publishers have intensified their efforts to shut down popular Web sites that publish song lyrics without permission, reported the New York Post. The publishers are also demanding that Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) remove all references to the offending sites from their search engines.

Bebo is the largest social network you never heard of, and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) has locked up exclusive rights to sell display ads on the site's UK and Ireland sections. That will add 11 million unique users to the Yahoo! ad network. Bebo said its is interested in Yahoo! handling its business worldwide. That would bring Yahoo! a total of 38 million users to add to its display arsenal.

Yahoo! management told Reuters: "It's a core step for us in building up the largest and most effective advertising network. It's a big deal." Bebo says it picked Yahoo! because of its ability to target display ads based on things like user behavior.

While the deal is clearly good for Yahoo!, it merely pushes it further into the slowing market for display ads. Industry experts expect internet advertising to rise 25% in the current quarter, with the fastest growing part being text ads in search results. Display is expected to lag well behind.

For Yahoo!, Bebo is a good deal in the weak end of the online market.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) gave serious consideration to outsourcing its search function to either Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) or Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). The paper writes: "Such a move would likely give Yahoo an immediate revenue bump representing hundreds of millions of dollars annually, because Google, for one, generates about 40% more revenue for each consumer search than Yahoo! ..."

Yahoo! has spent a huge sum on developing its own Panama technology to improve its competitive position with Google, but there is not much evidence that this program has worked well. Another quarter or two of bad results could send Yahoo! back to Google to pick up the additional revenue.

The idea that Yahoo! would turn to a rival for its key search function shows how badly off the company is and how little management may be able to do about it. When Yahoo! decided not to make search a major part of its business, before Google had become a big company, it sealed its fate as a display advertising company, but the display market is no longer growing quickly.

Not matter how much pride Yahoo! would have to part with to set up a partnership with Google for search, it should do so. It needs the revenue and Wall Street needs a revival of the stock.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.