Carol Bartz, Yahoo's Chief Executive Officer has begun a chain of doubt and concern that is spirally out of control within the company, after news crept out that she sold $830,000 worth of stock back in March this year, and a further $1.4 million in June, dishing out nearly half of the $5 million in options that she was presented when appointed CEO back in January.

The move has been slated as absurd, and is more than likely to upset shareholders, as well as will lower employee morale (even more so). Investors had generally expected Bartz to refrain from cashing in her stock, with $1 million salary and her apparent eagerness to help Yahoo after barely wriggling its way through 2008 alive.

Yahoo announced more than 2,000 job cuts last year, it instigated a salary freeze in January, and the recent deal signed with Microsoft, in which Bing will power Yahoo search, could result in further job cuts. Moreover, Yahoo's share price has fallen 10% in recent months.

Bartz has attempted to boost morale in an email to staff. "So get out of the sugar low. We have work to do. Stop staring at our navels, stop arguing with each other. Stop debate, debate, debate, and let's focus on the competition," she wrote.

However, morale is unlikely to improve when senior executives sell their stock options, as they should be the people with the most faith in the company. Meanwhile, investors tend to rest easier when executives own big stakes in the companies they run, as it is believed that they have the shareholders' interests at heart.