Yahoo leaks to Reuters that they’ll issue a letter tomorrow responding to Microsoft’s letter yesterday. In the letter, Yahoo is expected to very sternly reject Microsoft’s suggestion that its business is deteriorating.

You ever see two guys in a bar pushing each other saying “come on, man, let’s do this”? Then the other guy says “come on, I’m waiting.” Then the other guy says “right now…any time.” Then the other guy…zzzzzzz Someone, please throw a punch already.

The next milestone is Yahoo’s Q1 earnings, which will come some time around April 17. The only thing that Microsoft can do to push things along is announce their board slate, or pull their offer. If Yahoo’s earnings are as bad as people are predicting, they’ll be looking to get this deal wrapped up before that announcement. If they are surprisingly positive, they may want to wait. Either way, every signal I’m seeing from these companies screams that a deal is happening.

Update: Skip the Reuters article, just see the video below for a complete description of the Yahoo/Microsoft negotiations to date (per the comments, below) (this video is also being nominated):