Weekly wrap-up for Yahoo! October 23-27: YHOO gained over 9% -- is it back?

Can you believe this? Yahoo!, Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) started the week at $23.21 and finished it up 9.18% at $25.34. Is Yahoo! back in favor?

Everybody, and I mean everybody, seem to think they know best what Yahoo! should do next. I find a large discrepancy between what mainstream media or wired news say, and what alternative media such as blogs say.

For example: Last week, Cramer, the CNBC guru, had a few suggestions, all of them involving acquisitions of what he deems to be growth companies. This week, it was Fortune's writers' turn to offer Semel, Yahoo! CEO, some advice. The way they see it, Yahoo!'s options boil down to four: Yahoo! should buy Time Warner, Inc.'s (NYSE:TWX) AOL, Yahoo! should sell to Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Yahoo! should merge with eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY), Yahoo! should stay the course.

Now let's look at alternative media: Seeking Alpha makes the point that to beat Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Yahoo! should concede search. An interesting and provocative point, don't you think? Then, the writer says, Yahoo! could concentrate on its strength -- verticals -- and probably acquire Technorati in the process too.

I'm not saying one advice is better than the other, I just wanted to point out a problem that could also be plaguing Yahoo!'s management - conformity in their way of thinking. Perhaps Semel needs to add some people who can think outside the box and offer new strategies. Otherwise, Yahoo! would constantly continue to miss the good deals and opportunities, just as it might be losing this one. News Corp. (NYSE:NWS), which brilliantly snatched MySpace, may now be in discussions to acquire Digg, according to rumors.

So while Yahoo!'s stock performed remarkably well this past week, I do want to hear an occasional rumor about its talks with some young, trendy company. Until Yahoo! realizes that potential, it may not be back.