Doug Kass

Mister Softee Looks to Eat Google's Lunch

 

Since Google's initial public offering a bit more than a year ago, investors have perceived the company's growth as open-ended, and its shares have more than quadrupled. Google shares are now a must own for growth-oriented investors.

Despite today's ringing endorsements by investors and analysts (who are notoriously prone to extrapolate and overestimate future growth), Microsoft, Yahoo! and Google will eventually look a lot like the the three major television networks before the introduction of cable.

I started this opening missive with the notion that Google likely has several outstanding quarters in front of it. But there is no doubt, in this observer's mind, that Microsoft's troops (which are currently forming phalanxes in Redmond) are a competitive threat that will affect Google's growth rate adversely in the years to come.

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Doug Kass is general partner for two investment partnerships, Seabreeze Partners L.P. and Seabreeze Partners Short L.P. Until 1996, he was senior portfolio manager at Omega Advisors, a $4 billion investment partnership. Before that he was executive senior vice president and director of institutional equities of First Albany Corporation and JW Charles/CSG. He also was a General Partner of Glickenhaus & Co., and held various positions with Putnam Management and Kidder, Peabody. Kass received his bachelor's from Alfred University, and received a master's of business administration in finance from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1972. He co-authored "Citibank: The Ralph Nader Report" with Nader and the Center for the Study of Responsive Law and currently serves as a guest host on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Kass aappreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.

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