Shares of beleaguered Internet-portal firm Yahoo! (YHOO: sentiment, chart, options) are up sharply heading into the final half-hour of trading this afternoon. At last check, YHOO was up more than 5% at $11.33 per share, down from their intraday peak of $12.50. Prompting the surge was a report in The Wall Street Journal that former AOL Chief Executive Jonathan Miller is trying to raise money to purchase part or all of the company.

According to the Journal, Miller has held talks with private equity investors and sovereign wealth funds, and believes he can finalize a deal that would be worth around $20 to $22 per share. Such a move would involve raising about $28 billion to $30 billion to buy Yahoo! outright, the Journal reported.

Yahooligans may remember that rumors were circulating yesterday that Microsoft (MSFT: sentiment, chart, options) could be interested in purchasing the company's search business. What impact the MSFT rumors will have on Miller's proposed plans is unclear. It will be interesting to see if the once great Yahoo! will be divvied up, or if Miller will be able to pull the rug out from under Microsoft.

Technically, today's news has been unable to pressure YHOO above growing short-term resistance at the 12.50 level. Furthermore, the 11.50 level appears to be emerging as a point of contention, having limited the stock's daily closing price since early November.

If either deal comes to fruition, it could bolster the wealth of call positions that speculative investors have placed on YHOO. According to the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) or 0.40, calls more than double puts among near-term options. Furthermore, this ratio ranks below 79% of all those taken during the past year. However, if these rumors add up to nothing more than hot air, YHOO shares could be in for a quick trip back to their November lows near $9 per share.