Saturday, September 24, 2011

Eric Schmidt Defends Google (Video) *Denies anti-competitive practices at Senate hearing*

GOOG!


Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt testified before the U.S. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee on September 21, 2011


Mr. Schmidt Goes to Washington Google Executive Chairman Eric Scmidt testified before the U.S. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee during a hearing on online competition titled, "The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or Threatening Competitors?". Schmidt denied competition issues and referenced Microsoft and their 1998 antitrust hearing in his opening statements. Does Google prioritize its content over competitors in search?. Schmidt denied this accusation and said "I can assure you we have not cooked anything" regarding manipulating its search algorithm to place Google products near the top. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is looking into Google as a potential monopoly while the U.S. Justice Department is looking into Google's acquisitions of other companies.

Google's Schmidt Defends Company at Senate Hearing Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) - Bloomberg's Lizzie O'Leary reports on today's testimony by Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt at a Senate hearing investigating possible anticompetitive practices by the company. Carol Massar also speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)


For more information, see InfoDocket for text, documents, and videos of the Senate hearing.

About Google Google describes itself in press releases as, "Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia."

Google's Mission Statement "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. The first step toward fulfilling that mission came when our founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, working out of a Stanford University dorm room, developed a new approach to online search that quickly spread to information seekers around the globe. Google is now widely recognized as the world's largest search engine -- a free service whose utility and ease of use have made it one of the world's best-known brands almost entirely through word of mouth from satisfied users."

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Google Drops With Markets (Chart, News) *Down -11.53% in 2011* GOOG

GOOG!


Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt testified before the U.S. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee on September 21, 2011


GOOGLE OVERVIEW

Google Inc. GOOG closed at $525.51 on Friday, September 23, 2011 and was down -3.87% for the week, is down -2.86% for September, is down -11.53% for 2011, and is up +80.66% since the March 9, 2009 market cyclical low. GOOG is down -17.84% from the 2011 and multi-year closing high of $639.63 on January 18, 2011. That was the highest close since $653.82 on January 14, 2008.

S&P 500 By comparison, the overall market, the S&P 500, was down -6.54% for the week, is down -6.77% for September, is down -9.64% for 2011, and is up +67.98% since the March 9, 2009 market cyclical low. SPX closed at a multi-year closing high of 1363.61 on April 29, 2011, the highest close since the June 9, 2008 close of 1404.05, and is now -16.66% below that peak. GOOG is outperforming the overall market long-term since the March 9, 2009 market bottom, underperformed the market in 2010, and is now underperforming the market in 2011, though both are negative for the year. A review of the S&P 500 is here, S&P 500 Plunges -6.5% for Week! (Chart) *Economic, fiscal, & political uncertainties increase*.

Google Fundamentals Google will report calendar Q3 2011 financial results in about a month. Google reported strong calendar Q2 2011 financial results on July 14 and are reviewed here, Google Reports Strong Q2 Financial Results (Charts) *Record revenues, net income and EPS increase*. Current Google financial data, charts, and review is at the Google Financial Performance page, updated for the latest calendar Q2 2011 financial results, reported on July 14, 2011. A review and analysis of the Q2 2011 earnings call is at the Google Earnings Conference Call page. Our updated valuation and target price for GOOG stock is posted at the Google Stock Valuation page. Revenues from outside of the United States were 53.97% of total revenues for Q2 2011, up from 53.29% QoQ and from 51.79% YoY.


GOOGLE DAILY CHART

Google Daily Chart Below is the GOOG daily chart since April 14, 2011 to illustrate some price interactions and an intermediate-term perspective.

Noteworthy Closing Prices
Current Close: $525.51
2011 and Multi-Year High: January 18 $639.63
2011 Low: June 24 $474.88
2010 High: November 8 $626.77
2010 Low: July 6 $436.07
YE December 31, 2010: $593.97
YE December 31, 2009: $619.98
Cyclical Low November 24, 2008: $257.44



Google Chart Review
Intermediate Term Trend ascending 25d avg less than slightly descending 50d avg since 9-1-11, GOOG is below both, bearish
Long Term Trend GOOG less than descending 10 month ema = 549, bearish
Key Resistance 20d avg 534, 100d avg 537, 400d avg 545, Fibonacci 23.6% retracement 550
Key Support 520-518, , 500 benchmark, recent closing low 491
Moving Averages now below 20d, 100d, 400d avgs, continues below 50d, 200d avgs
Uptrend Line below since 8-15-11; line from 11-24-08 cyclical closing low 257.44 up thru 7-6-10 closing low 436.07
Downtrend Line below since 1-18-11; line from 11-6-07 closing high 741.79 down thru 1-18-11 closing high 639.63
RSI 14 Day = 50.42 is reasonable, ascending
RSI 28 Day = 42.74 is reasonable, ascending
MACD (12,26,9) = +0.43, descending, multi-year low on 8-19-11 (-11.55), multi-year high on 7-19-11 (+10.07)
Volume low 2.8M latest day, 50 day avg = 3.98M
Price Earnings Ratio (ttm) lower 18.95, approximate historical average of 21-22+


GOOGLE SUMMARY

Conclusion Google dropped this past week along with the overall USA equity markets, but continues in its typical mid-to-late quarter doldrums, consolidation, and stabilization. GOOG has lost all the gains (from 529) from the strong Q2 2011 earnings report in July. Analysts raised their estimates and/or price targets for GOOG as a result. Google Co-Founder and CEO Larry Page redeemed himself after his initial disappointing Q1 2011 financial results as CEO, which created uncertainty over the management restructure. CEO Page is now advancing aggressively with the acquisition of Motorola Mobility. The Q2 2011 financial results are reviewed on the on the Google Financial Performance page. A review of the Q2 2011 earnings call is posted on the Google Earnings Conference Call.We reiterate our forecast that Google should have better financial performance ahead in 2011. The intermediate-term trend continues bearish. The long-term trend continues bearishMore about the value of GOOG stock on the Google Stock Valuation page.

Disclosure We have no position in GOOG. We continue bullish on GOOG for 2011 and even beyond.

Google News A summary of recent news & announcements; others are posted on this blog.
● Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt testified before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee on September 21 during a hearing examining online competition, "The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or Threatening Competitors?".
● Google and Intel announced a collaborative effort to maximize Intel processor architecture for the Android mobile OS.
● Google Offers, a daily deal effort to compete with Groupon and LivingSocial, has already experienced a decline in revenues in August even though the program is only 3 months old.
● UBS estimates 44% of all e-commerce transactions begin with a product-focused search query, with Google earning revenue as searchers click on paid ads.
● The Chinese government has renewed the 1-year regulatory licence for Google to continue operating. Google reroutes mainland China traffic to its Hong Kong page.
● Google purchased Zave, an incentives and coupon platform, and Zagat, a restaurant reviews company.
● Google has discontinued several products, including Aardvark, Desktop, Notebook, Labs, and Slide.
● Google Android had a leading 41.8% U.S. market share in July 2011 of smartphone subscribers per comScore. Apple iOS was second at 27%.
● Google announced a $500 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department for carrying ads of unlicensed pharmacies on August 24, 2011.
● Asia: China's Commerce Ministry says Google has not applied for approval of the Motorola Mobility acquisition. Google is opening a Bangkok, Thailand office to enter the Southeast Asia market, with a population of 120 million people. Google already has offices in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and South Korea.
● Google announced the acquisition of Motorola Mobility on August 15, 2011.
● Google search had a 65.1% USA market share in July 2011, down from 65.5% in June 2011.
● Google Android had a 48% global market share in Q2 2011 of smartphone shipments per Canalys.
● Google in August 2011 added support for its Google Voice-based Gmail calling service in 38 languages all over the world. Users may also now buy calling credit in Canadian dollars, British pounds or Euros.
● Google TV sales via Logitech have been disastrous through June 2011, returns have exceeded sales. The price has been slashed from $249 to $99.
● Google CFO Patrick Pichette said at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in July that Google Co-Founder and CEO Larry Page is "refocusing" Google back to its original "start-up philosophy" and specifically on products.
● Google CFO Patrick Pichette said at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in July that 550,000 Android devices are being activated daily and the Google Chrome web browser has 160 million users. Previously, Andrew Rubin tweeted on June 28 that 500,000 Android devices were being activated daily at a growth rate of +4.4% weekly. At the Google Chrome Event in December 2010, Google said the Chrome web browser had 120+ million users.
● Google announced June 24 the Federal Trade Commission had launched a "review of our business". This is believed to be an antitrust investigation into Google search. The European Commission began an investigation of Google for "abusing its dominance" in 2010 that is still in process.
● Google Voice Search was announced June 14.


ABOUT GOOGLE

Google Data Google's market capitalization is 12th worldwide at $169.35 billion. This is behind #1 Apple $373.88 billion, #4 Microsoft $211.33 billion, and #5 International Business Machines $205.10 billion (IBM initially passed $200B the week ended April 1, 2011). Google is the 4th largest technology company in the world by market capitalization behind Apple, Microsoft, and IBM. Current Google financial data is at the Google Financial Performance page. A review of the Q2 2011 earnings call is at the Google Earnings Conference Call page. More about the value of GOOG stock on the Google Stock Valuation page. Headcount: On a worldwide basis, Google employed 28,768 full-time employees as of June 30, 2011, up from 26,316 full-time employees as of March 31, 2011. Google is compared to other giant technology companies here [Largest USA Tech Companies: Financial Performance & Position Review].

GOOG! Google describes itself in press releases as, "Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia."

Google's Mission Statement "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. The first step toward fulfilling that mission came when our founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, working out of a Stanford University dorm room, developed a new approach to online search that quickly spread to information seekers around the globe. Google is now widely recognized as the world's largest search engine -- a free service whose utility and ease of use have made it one of the world's best-known brands almost entirely through word of mouth from satisfied users."


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