Yahoo (YHOO) released third-quarter numbers after the bell on Tuesday, and they didn't do anything for the stock. Shares closed the regular session down 2.7% to $15.49. During the extended-hours period, I saw a quote go by of $15.53. That's right, the equity gained a measly four cents. Traders most certainly weren't applauding that performance.

Very recently, I wrote a bearish piece on the web portal. Since then, the stock has risen. Also, the company has been surrounded by some interesting speculation as of late regarding a potential takeover, with one theoretical scenario involving the owner of BloggingStocks, Aol (AOL).

Although indoctrinated Yahoo! (YHOO) CEO Carol Bartz is a sharp-tongued devil when it comes to dealing with the media, sometimes that is not a good thing.

Bartz was recently asked what Yahoo! was. Take a deep breath:

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) is continuing its transformation from an old-school internet portal to a destination for all types of original and unique content -- along with all the ad inventory that also brings. Its latest prize: the announced acquisition of Associated Content -- a network with 380,000 content contributors.

Yahoo! will now have a small army -- make that a large one -- of freelance contributors that should help spice up Yahoo!'s content offerings across the board. This follows along the lines of the social media explosion in the last 18 months; Yahoo!'s staple of offering news and content from an array of professional publishers is no longer sufficient. The $100 million it will cost to add Associated Content under its fold will most likely come back in less than two years in ad sales from that network alone. This is a smart play By Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz, but the market did not agree, pushing down YHOO shares every day since the announcement this week.

I'm not the biggest Yahoo! (YHOO) fan, but I concede that the stock's bias over the last twelve months has been to move higher. At times, it has been a good trade for many market players. Tuesday, the portal issued its first-quarter earnings at the close of the regular session. Is the stock a buy or a sell after the news?

Well, if you go by the after-hours price action, you'd have to opt for sell. The shares shed 3.5% of their value once the market digested the data. But that's just an initial reaction, of course. Wednesday's price action may tell a different tale.

Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), still is getting her company together to capitalize on the internet pioneer's huge global brand and leading customer visit numbers. Many in the analysis and tech/internet world have written off Yahoo! as a stodgy company that once owned the internet but has lost its way. Indeed, YHOO shares have flirted with the $20 mark in the last year, but were at a low of $15 in December and have not consistently cracked $20 in over a year. Would you buy it?

Is Yahoo!'s grip on the internet slipping? No sooner does this writer tackle that ongoing question than the company's top moneymaker announces she's resigning.

Yahoo!'s Joanne Bradford has announced that she's leaving the stagnant internet company for Demand Media. Seeing as though Bradford was going to be a key player in Yahoo!'s burgeoning partnership with Microsoft (MSFT), this leaves yet another gaping hole in Yahoo!'s revenue strategy.

Since Carol Bartz was announced as the incoming CEO of Yahoo! (YHOO) on Jan. 13, 2009, shares of the Internet giant have risen from $12.10 per share to their current price of $16.70 -- a gain of 38% in a little less than a year, and a nice rebound from what had been a multiyear tailspin for shareholders, but still lagging significantly behind peers.

So how does Bartz rate her performance? In an interview with Bloomberg, she gave herself a B-, saying that "It was a little tougher internally than I think I had anticipated. I did move fast, but this is a big job."

Carl Icahn, the famous activist investor, resigned from the Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) board of directors Friday.

This comes just over a year after he scored the position, following the seemingly endless talks the company had with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) over the possibility of a takeover. Icahn told Yahoo that he was resigning effective immediately because Yahoo! didn't need an activist investor on the board at this time.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) will be spending $100 million to market its new ... nothing. The internet pioneer who wants out of the tech biz and solely into the media biz (sounds like the Terry Semel days) will spend that sum over the next 15 months to gain new customers to its plethora of web properties and keep them there as long as possible (and charger advertisers appropriately).

What is new about this? From initial review, nothing. Yahoo! has always wanted to gain customers to its extensive internet collection and keep them there. What's so compelling a change that it's worth $100 million? So far, nothing this writer can determine. Just using Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Bing search services across all its properties is surely not a compelling reason.

Since coming on board Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) early this year, Carol Bartz has wasted little time in making changes. Part of the strategy is to get the company more focused.

So, it looks like Yahoo! is in the process of selling its small business unit. All in all, it's a good asset, with web hosting, domain name services, and merchant accounts. The deal may also include the HotJobs division.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), a web portal whose colleagues include Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL, reported Q1 numbers after the bell on Tuesday. According to an earnings preview done by colleague Mark Fightmaster, Wall Street was counting on something along the lines of 8 cents per share. Well, on a non-GAAP basis, Yahoo! earned 15 cents per share. Not bad.

Unfortunately, Yahoo! made three pennies more on the same adjusted basis in last year's similar quarter. Furthermore, revenues, adjusted for currency effects, dropped 8%. Oh, and one more thing. Free cash flow decreased over 60%.

A Yahoo spokesman declined to comment, but reports indicate that the payroll cuts could be announced next Tuesday, April 21, when the Internet portal is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings results. Since she first joined the company in January, Ms. Bartz has made it clear that serious restructuring efforts would be necessary to repair Yahoo's struggling business.