I have been following Google stock for a while now. It has been fluctuating between $290 and $305ish per share on average. I saw share prices peak this once but it's been pretty steady since. It's funny because I was reading Forbes magazine a while back and it asked the question "Is Google stock really worth $180 a share?" (I think it said $180). Anyway, it's funny to look back and see that, but also makes me wish I had agreed at the time and got on board. $300 a share now. :-/
I hear ya Andrew. My husband received an inheritance in 1997-ish? That was before Apple Computers came back with a bang. If we were thinking, we should have invested that money in Apple and just watched it grow. We had faith in the company (we are Mac addicts) but being young, we just never thought about the stock market. Doh!
Apple has been doing really well lately, but that's only because they changed their focus. They have been putting millions of dollars into what people want. Things like iPods, iBooks, and the likes. Almost any media professional would tell you that Mac is the way to go for graphic and media development. This is because Mac has been utilyzing the 64 bit processor in their new systems, making them astronomically faster than any IBM compatible system. Windows is releasing a 64 bit version next year, called Windows Vista, which they hope to use to gain some ground with. Getting back to Google, they have been doing everything right as well. Google Earth was a huge success. GMail has been a success, as well as their newly launched Google Talk, which will compete with Skype (Instant Messaging and phone calling technology), which was recently purchased by eBay. The only worry I have about Google is with the rate they are announcing and launching new ideas, their stock has risen dramatically. I just wonder how long they can keep these new technologies coming. At some point they will most likely take a step back to perfect and upgrade their current products, which will help, but in the meantime they could lose some important ground as competitors catch up.
You can't forget Apple has da man....STEVE JOBS! I would love to shadow him for a few days to learn something! Yeah, with Google, they did release the Google Earth (which is awesome) and they are powering sites like blingo.com (you can win stuff by just using that site to search Google). They have been on the up and up technology wise. There is a problem with being first...others are soon right on your tail. It will be interesting to see how Google can keep innovating. You'd think it will be rough to keep up their pace.
Greetings All, I have not really followed GOOG much, but it seems to be a stock sitting on the fence right now. On the downside, you have dilution of stock. Insiders are sitting on a ton of options. Also, didn't GOOG just shelf $4B in stock? At some point GOOG will also shift from a start-up with exponentail growth to a growth stock. It happened to eBay this year. EBAY released guidance earlier this year and said they would grow 15%(or so) next year. The stock tumbled because they were no longer growing at 30-60% year. Funny that most companies would kill for the kind of growth that eBay is forecasting. On the other side of the fence, you have rumors of what will be next. The big one of course is that GOOG will start an auction service. If true, today's prices will seem cheap in a few years. Also, check out BIDU, the Chinese equivalant of GOOG.
I think GOOG is one of the safest stocks on the market right now. The company is strong, and the products are innovative. As Google expands, they will most likely hit some bumps, but even so, in 10 years I think it's safe to say that as long as they keep up what they are doing, even assuming they slow down, they will easily be one of those companies that you look back on and wish you bought a few thousand shares.
Google WiFi looks like the next thing for the guys: << LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Online search leader Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is preparing to launch a wireless Internet service, Google WiFi, according to several pages found on the company's Web site on Tuesday. A WiFi service, which offers a high-speed connection to the Internet, would take Google even further from its Internet search roots and move it into the fiercely competitive world of Internet access providers and telecommunications companies.>> Google's got brand equity now. If google does it, you know its going to be good. They could probably sell frozen dinners right now for a profit. The auction rumor has be cooled lately, but I would love to see them tackle it.
If Google tacked the auction idea, they would sack eBay. The online auction market really needs some variety now to knock down the monopoly that is eBay.. Whatever happened to the Google version of PayPal that we heard about earlier this year? They were supposed to be working in an online payment idea as well...
Did anyone see the arcticle about GOOG building a new facility with NASA? The interesting line in the piece was Google hires an average of 10 people per day!! Consider that - that's a million bucks a day in earnings and benes that they are paying. Or 1/3 of $Billion per year. A company expanding like that is absolutely on FIRE. wow-figure they can get a measly 50% ROI per employee and you're talking a ton of fresh money coming in. amazing.
