Search Stocks & The Stock Crash: GOOG, YHOO, & MSFT

Today John Battelle noted what a plunge Google took on the stock market yesterday and in general through the current
year. I thought it would be fun to look at Microsoft and Yahoo as well.

The chart above covers the past month and shows Google (GOOG),
Yahoo (YHOO),
and Microsoft (MSFT)
against the NASDAQ over the past month. Of the three, Google’s had the greatest
decline, down 19.5 percent. Yahoo’s just behind at 18.5 percent, with Microsoft
at about 12.5 percent. The NASDAQ overall is at 15.5 percent.

No doubt, it’s a drop — but rather than being Google-specific, it seems more
tied to the overall decline in stock prices. That doesn’t negate the point John
makes — that Googlers do watch the stock price, and the drop will concern many,
especially those "underwater" with options to buy the stock at a price higher
than it is currently trading.

The dollar figures for yesterday:

• Google: Opened at $562.03, closed at $584.35, up 4 percent.
  Currently: $566.81
• Yahoo: Opened at $19.29, closed at $19.86, up 3 percent. Currently:
  $19.75
• Microsoft: Opened at $31.54, closed at $31.96, up 1.3 percent.
  Currently: $31.82

Postscript: See Day 2: Search Stocks & Is Search Recession Proof? for a second day look.