Each week, I endeavor to report the results of the Big Idea Portfolio, a collection of five tech stocks that I believe will crush the market over a three-year period. I’ve done it before; my last tussle with Mr. Market ended with me beating the index’s average return by 13.35%.
Real money was on the line then as it is now, which means any one of the five stocks you see below could cause me a lot of public embarrassment. This time, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell slightly in a big week for the market indexes. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) deserve most of the blame.
Google stock retreated about 80 basis points last week as thousands awaited Friday’s official release of Facebook Home for Android. That appears to have been an overreaction. As of Sunday, more than 3,000 had downloaded and rated the app at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Play Store. Of those, nearly 1,600 give the app 1 out of 5 stars. Overall, they give it 2.4 stars.
“No widgets, kinda clunky, and pretty much just Facebook with access to your apps drawer. Meh, an unimpressive launcher compared to most others,” wrote reviewer Jeremy Noah, who called the app “good for Facebook-ophiles” after trying the app on his Samsung Galaxy S3.
We don’t yet know how EU officials will respond to Mr. Softy’s urging, or Google’s own efforts to settle existing grievances. The resulting uncertainty appears to be weighing on Google stock.
What’s the Big Idea this week?
Elsewhere, a small move in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares fell short of the market’s overall rally, costing me another 135 basis points in my three-year battle with Mr. Market. All four indexes reported strong gains.
| Company | Starting Price* | Recent Price | Total Return |
| Apple | $416.26** | $429.80 | 3.3% |
| $650.09 | $790.05 | 21.5% | |
| Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX) | $41.65 | $48.40 | 16.2% |
| Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVBD) | $25.95 | $14.60 | (43.7%) |
| salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) | $100.93 | $169.52 | 67.9% |
| AVERAGE RETURN | — | — | 13.04% |
| S&P 500 SPDR | $124.39** | $158.80 | 27.66% |
| DIFFERENCE | — | — | (14.62%) |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
* Tracking began at market close on Jan. 6, 2012.
** Adjusted for dividends and other returns of capital.
Notable newsmakers
Among the other tech stocks making news last week:
New data from IDC research found that first-quarter PC sales fell short of even the most pessimistic predictions. Global unit sales fell 14% in Q1, the biggest single-quarter drop in nearly two decades. Of the major PC players, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) stock took the biggest hit following the news and ended the week off nearly 5%.
On Thursday, Salesforce will complete a 4-for-1 stock split that has some in the industry salivating (even if the act is, in itself, meaningless). The company also announced new tools for creating mobile apps that tap into its cloud-computing platform, to which more than 1 million developers have already contributed code.
Finally, tomorrow is Tax Day here in the United States. Here are five last-minute tax tips you shouldn’t forget.
What’s caught your eye in the tech world? Do you believe Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) stock will rally following Thursday’s earnings report? Let us know what you think in the comments box below.
The article Is the Google Stock Rally Over for Now? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock-picking team and the Motley Fool Supernova Odyssey I mission. He owned shares of Apple, Google, Rackspace Hosting, Riverbed Technology, and salesforce.com at the time of publication. Check out Tim’s web home and portfolio holdings or connect with him on Google+, Tumblr, or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Facebook, Google, and salesforce.com and owns shares of Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
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