The $31 a share offer for Yahoo! that Microsoft made on Jan. 31 was 62% higher than Yahoo!'s closing price the day before the offer was disclosed. So with the Fed Chairman saying the U.S. may be in a recession after losses tied to the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, it would hardly be surprising if the world's largest software company didn't revisit the offer terms and begin to wonder whether $31 a share is too much. And now Bloomberg.com is reporting that this is exactly what's happening.

"The possibility of a lower bid may step up pressure on Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang, who had sought an alternative that would appeal to investors," says Bloomberg's Ari Levy and Ian King.

Meantime Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch writes:

The meeting apparently took place near Yahoo! headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA, and the Journal notes that it is the second time top executives from the two companies have met in recent weeks. Neither meeting, says the Journal's Matthew Karnitschnig, included bankers.