The Great Debate

— Eric Auchard is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own –

A man keys in a message onto a mobile phone in a Milan bar March 3, 2006. REUTERS/Daniele LA Monaca When on trial, any attorney will tell you, the best defense is to stick with what you know and speculate about nothing.

That’s the situation virtually all of Europe’s biggest technology, media and telecoms executives found themselves in when making presentations at Morgan Stanley’s annual technology, media and telecoms conference, the season’s biggest industry gathering, with 75 speakers over three days ended Friday.

Investors generally consider company executives and the stocks they represent to be guilty until proven innocent. But even those that cry out and say they did nothing wrong, and that business looks good, sell off.

– Eric Auchard is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own –

Jerry Yang’s elevation to chief executive at Yahoo Inc after a long period of decline at the Web pioneer had the air of a fairy tale where the noble prince grows up and restores his kingdom’s faded glory.

But Yang has worn his leadership like an ill-fitting coat since coming to power last year, appearing reluctant to make the dramatic restructuring moves analysts and investors have long considered vital to get Yahoo to reaccelerate its growth.