Alphabet has had a weak six months, down over 7% while the S&P 500 was up 12%. I find its current crisis paradoxically comical. On the one hand, it’s facing unprecedented competitive challenges from AI search alternatives; on the other, the Department of Justice has ruled it an illegal monopoly.
DOJ remedies include forcing Alphabet to sell Chrome and share proprietary search data. The proposed penalties have really spooked the Market; however, judgment won’t be issued until late summer 2025 and Alphabet will surely appeal. A lot can happen between now and final settlement, as it did in the Microsoft monopoly case of the late 1990s. That legal battle wasn’t resolved until late 2001, when an appellate court affirmed that Microsoft was illegally monopolistic but didn’t force a breakup.
In terms of Alphabet’s chart action, so far it’s found support at the 200 day moving average. We’ll see if that holds.
In any case, I still like Alphabet and on Friday added to my small position.
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