There has not been a lot of consensus in the bizarre, prolonged battle for control of Yahoo but all the participants are united in one belief: do not trust the other guy.

Carl Icahn, the activist investor, wants to kick out Jerry Yang, Yahoo's co-founder and chief executive, and Yahoo's board. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, has no interest in Yahoo unless Mr Yang is no longer around to cause trouble. For his part, Mr Yang told The Wall Street Journal yesterday that: "To trust Mr Icahn and his board is a really bad choice."