Let’s say you’re gonna buy a company. Wouldn’t one of the ways you choose to buy a company be based on what it’s gonna earn next year? They have a stat for that; it’s called Forward P/E. It’s the Market Cap of a Stock divided by How much the company is expected to profit next year.

A higher number means a more expensive company when comparing Apple’s to Apples. (Everyone still with me?)

GOOG and YHOO are arguably in the same business. What’s not arguable who is in a better position in the Industry. One is an 800 lb Gorilla, the other is Yahoo.

So even after this whole YHOO – MSFT debacle, for some reason the market thinks that YHOO should trade at Forward P/E (1 yr): of 43.52 while GOOG trades at a Forward P/E (1 yr) of 24.04.

Apples to Apples (or Pears to Pears so some dipshits don’t think I’m talking about AAPL stock), Investors value YHOO 79% higher than GOOG.

So . . . for the Universe to get back into balance, YHOO has to go to $13.61 / share, GOOG has to go to $1065 / share, or some combination of the two (like YHOO to $17.50 and GOOG to $833). Either that Jerry has to whip out that super secret sauce he’s been saving up to suddenly get Yahoo’s profits to start skyrocketing.

de’Nile ain’t Just a River in Egypt!

. . . it flows through wall street too. Some investors are still hoping or praying that MSFT is gonna up their offer and close the deal. They just can’t accept that this deal is deader than . . . umm . . . some really, really dead thing.

The other big reason the stock’s being propped up? Jerry Yang is putting his money where his balls are and is buying up $500 million of YHOO with his own wad.

It’s a Ballsy Move. Only time will tell if it’s a Brainy one too.

Ron Paul Made the front page of yahoo.com about an hour ago with this story under the title

“GOP’s Ron Paul has Unusual Appeal”

Then, 11 minutes later, the headline is changed to

“Ron Paul remains longshot for GOP nom”

Other than that, the 2 articles are identical.

But notice the incredible difference a headline can make. It looks like someone at Yahoo (or more likely at the AP) decided after the fact to push their own political agenda. The story went from the “Unusual Appeal of the favorite of those looking for a candidate outside the political mainstream” to a marginalized “Longshot”.

Isn’t the power of the written word Amazing? How, in the middle of the night (literally 2:11 am EST), a political hack can turn a positive story negative with just a few keystrokes.

Also note that this was NOT done to get more clicks or attract more visitors to the story. No one with half a brain could argue that “Ron Paul remains longshot for GOP nom” would get more clicks or reads than “GOP’s Ron Paul has Unusual Appeal.” This was 100% politically motivated.

I guarantee you that the word “Remains” in a headline does not sell newspapers. How is it news if something “remains”? Isn’t that the opposite of news? Isn’t it the antithesis of a magnetic headline?

The mystery is – Who made the change? Was it the Article’s Author, LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON Associated Press Writer, Yahoo, an editor at the Associated press . . . Smurfs? Who decided that the “Remains Longshot” title was the better way to paint this story than “Unusual Appeal”?