Just in time for the holidays, a financial expert has given a sort of present to Yahoo.  Or, perhaps, given everybody else a way to spend whatever cash they receive.  Regardless, Kaufman Bros. analyst Aaron Kessler has upgraded his rating on the search company from "hold" to "buy."

Earlier this week, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said at a conference that "things are looking up."  We also saw Nielsen report that time spent stats for the Yahoo homepage are on the rise.  With this additional outside-the-company approval, Yahoo seems to be on quite a roll.

As for the specifics, Kessler raised his price target to $20 (from $19), according to David B. Wilkerson, citing whispers about display ads and search performance as reasons why.  Kessler's also anticipating regulatory approval of the Microsoft-Yahoo deal.

Yahoo's stock appears to be heading up today as a result of this show of confidence.  While the Dow and Nasdaq are up 0.60 percent and down 0.09 percent, respectively, Yahoo's stock has managed to increase in value by 1.79 percent.

If you're interested in a couple more comparisons, Google's down 0.24 percent and Microsoft's down 0.10 percent.

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