When last we heard from Microhoo -- the humorous name given to Microsoft's unsolicited bid for Yahoo -- Kara Swisher at All Things Digital was reporting that sources close to both companies were certain that a deal was imminent. That was Tuesday, and since then there hasn't been so much as a peep from Microhoo, which could mean everything or nothing.

Perhaps believing that silence is golden -- or at the very least, telling -- Ina Fried at CNET is reporting that the absence of public barb-trading that has characterized the last two months of talks between Yahoo and Microsoft is actually proof that both sides are finally getting down to brass tacks.

So, is a deal really in the works? Fried seems to think so, yet her story -- by her own admission -- is long on speculation and short of facts. But reading tea leaves has been par for the course since Microsoft dropped its bombshell bid two months ago. 

For her part, Swisher, The Wall Street Journal M&A reporter who broke the latest story suggesting both sides were working on a deal, hasn't had much to say on the subject since Tuesday. In a post yesterday, Swisher noted that Microsoft raised its bid for Yahoo slightly, from $31 per share to $34. According to Swisher, that move could indicate that both sides are moving closer to an agreement.