The takeover-rumor driven rally in Netflix (NFLX) shares has continued today, as investors debate the potential for an acquisition of the company by Amazon (AMZN)–or Microsoft (MSFT).

The focus of yesterday’s rumors was on a potential bid from Amazon, but a number of commentators have shot down that idea.

Cowen analyst Jim Friedland wrote in a research note late yesterday that an acquisition of Netflix by Amazon is unlikely.

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So, I’m skeptical about this, but in the interest of keeping you fully informed, here goes: Salesforce.com (CRM) shares are trading sharply higher today, in a move TheFlyOnTheWall.com asserts is due to “renewed takeover chatter.” This is not the first time TFOTW has reported “chatter” of this variety, and nothing has materialized before, so I’m not sure why this round of rumors is any more convincing.

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We have seen extensive press coverage of Microsoft’s pursuit of Yahoo over the last few months. However, I have not seen a detailed analysis of how a full hostile takeover might play out–the kind of analysis that you would be receiving if you were a Microsoft or Yahoo board member. So I asked a pair of expert corporate attorneys–Michael Sullivan and Ed Deibert at Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk and Rabkin in San Francisco–to work up such an analysis.

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We hear from two sources that News Corp. and Yahoo are still discussing a possible transaction, designed to create an alternative to a Microsoft takeover. (Or at least the appearance of one). News Corp. [owner of Dow Jones, which owns this site--Ed.] declined to comment, and we don’t have details. We do not believe News Corp. is considering an outright acquisition of Yahoo. News Corp. has repeatedly said it’s not interested in buying Yahoo, and it’s hard to see how the company could afford to compete with Microsoft’s resources.

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