Yeah...I didn't buy Google so I could pee my pants in excitement on a quarterly basis. I bought it to have a stock that was worth a damn a decade or two from now.

Sun Worshiping Dog Launcher: Yeah...I didn't buy Google so I could pee my pants in excitement on a quarterly basis. I bought it to have a stock that was worth a damn a decade or two from now.

Who ever thinks making money every year off of stocks anyway?

You buy stocks for long term gain not for an income.

Also, FTA:

Google said on Thursday it earned $2.71 billion, or $8.22 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.54 billion, or $7.81 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding certain items, Google earned $9.50 per share, lagging estimates for $10.49 a share.

Some analysts questioned whether Google was investing heavily on projects -- such as its Android mobile software or Chrome Internet browser -- at the expense of the bottom line.

Another new initiative -- the fledgling Google+ -- appeared to be gaining momentum. Executives said three-fifths of the service's estimated 90 million users "engage" with it daily, and four-fifths do so weekly. User engagement or time spent on the social network, which Google hopes can eventually take on Facebook, is key to determining future revenue potential.

Several interesting things in here, starting with the fact that apparently Google+ not only isn't dead, but is actually doing okay. I had written it off months ago.

Second, it appears that their results were fine--they just weren't the lofty results that stock analysts had been hoping for.

Lastly, the concern that they are investing heavily in Android and Chrome at the expense of the bottom line...words fail me. Google is competitive and successful precisely because they invest in things like this. I'd rather they ding their bottom line doing R & D and implementing new technologies instead of always being second or third to market with a product and cruising on past successes. (Cough) Microsoft (Cough)

Soooo.... strong earnings, strong profits, extensive investment in new initiatives and products...

Sounds like a 8.7% discount on Google stock.

This is why analysts need to be told to STFU and GTFO with earnings predictions or any predictions. It's not the job of any company to live up to predictions that may and often do have little connection to reality.

steamingpile: Sun Worshiping Dog Launcher: Yeah...I didn't buy Google so I could pee my pants in excitement on a quarterly basis. I bought it to have a stock that was worth a damn a decade or two from now.

Who ever thinks making money every year off of stocks anyway?

You buy stocks for long term gain not for an income.

You do, hedge funds and institutional investors and such(you know, the people controlling the vast majority of investments) don't

That's ok subby, I'm still up 53.65% on GOOG since I bought it.

Magorn: Sun Worshiping Dog Launcher:

This is why I think the stock markets and modern finacial practices in general are ruining America. Google is worth *% less today than it was yesterday, not because they did anything wrong-they didn't, Not because they didn't make a huge profit-they did, not even because they said they'd do better than they did-because they didn't. No they are taking a hit because some people thought they might do even better than they did, so when they d ...

I think the explanation is that, before the earnings were reported, the stock price had already taken into account the prediction. As in, the price will be A if the earnings are X, the price will be B if the earnings are Y, and so on. The earnings were expected to be some amount, so the stock price had gone up to that amount. Had the earnings been better than expected, the stock price would have jumped up to the new value associated with the actual earnings. Because the earnings were less than expected, the stock price fell to an amount more in line with the actual earnings.

Sorry if that's a confusing explanation. And I'm not saying that you're wrong, I agree that modern financial practices are ruining this country. But they're not being punished by the markets like you say, the price of the stock is just readjusting to account for the actual earnings since the predicted earnings were already factored into the stock price.

Sun Worshiping Dog Launcher: Yeah...I didn't buy Google so I could pee my pants in excitement on a quarterly basis. I bought it to have a stock that was worth a damn a decade or two from now.

Nobody said you should.

But if, y'know, you wanted to, that would be kinda okay.

Magorn: This is why I think the stock markets and modern finacial practices in general are ruining America. Google is worth *% less today than it was yesterday,

No, Google is not worth less than it was yesterday, its market cap is just lower than it was yesterday. Don't confuse the market cap of a company with its value.

Post exaggerated predictions on a stock. When stock doesn't meed exaggerated predictions, stock price plummets 10% as idiots sell off. Buy up stock and watch stock go up 24 hours later. Profit.

MyPoolLeaks: That's ok subby, I'm still up 53.65% on GOOG since I bought it.

I bought at 185, so I'm up 215%.
Don't mean to sound like bragging though, and I only have 10 shares. In fact it's the only company stock I have left, all the rest is in indexes, funds, GLD etc.

Google is an evil fuvking company.

steamingpile: Who ever thinks making money every year off of stocks anyway?

Yearly? Pfffttt Daily. Sometimes by the second.

bhcompy: steamingpile: Sun Worshiping Dog Launcher: Yeah...I didn't buy Google so I could pee my pants in excitement on a quarterly basis. I bought it to have a stock that was worth a damn a decade or two from now.

Who ever thinks making money every year off of stocks anyway?

You buy stocks for long term gain not for an income.

You do, hedge funds and institutional investors and such(you know, the people controlling the vast majority of investments) don't

No, they look at the best investments for their clients which rely on reports but that is not what the subby implied.

Saiga410: Yearly? Pfffttt Daily. Sometimes by the second.

Then you are an idiot, day trading usually has worse odds that playing the slots.