The big 5 in tech

[Jan]

If you would have to buy stocks from one of the big 5 in the tech scene, which one would you buy?

[VelesHomais]

Google because it diversifies its investments. They may fail in one project, but succeed in another. Amazon is a pretty safe option too.

Facebook, on the other hand, could go under any day.

[Jan]

When it comes to putting the money where my mouth is (ie. stocks) out of the top 5 I have it on Google and Amazon as Google's core business is information and Amazon's is content, which is where I think the growth and potential is, compared to hardware (Apple), social (Facebook) and software (Microsoft). If Yahoo rebrands itself with a core focus as a content company they might be interesting again.

Then again, my gut feeling with stocks ranks about the same level as playing roulette in a casino.

[VelesHomais]

I don't have anything to invest at the moment, but if I did, I'd read a few books on investments first and then would research market trends.

Virgin Galactic would seem like a safe investment as well, they're ready to launch anytime now and there will not be a shortage of customers. Once it goes profitable on suborbital flights, then orbital hotels and round-the-moon trips are next. There are relatively numerous companies planning this, but Virgin Galactic is literally 99% ready to go. SpaceX is probably a good investment too. I would guess that some mid-size companies that will start renting out autonomous vehicles are going to be excellent investments, but that's ~ two years away.

[Dmerdude]

Originally Posted by Jan

If you would have to buy stocks from one of the big 5 in the tech scene, which one would you buy?

Google will rule the future.

[MasonicStage™]

Google

[FREKI]

Hmm - while I certainly think Google is great at spreading out they also fail and cancels and does a lot of half-baked things.. that of course also increases the risk of getting the next big thing ( like selfdriving cars or "Facebook 2" or "Netflix 2" ) so while MS and Apple has huge profits today and especially Apple knowing how to profit on hardware, I think in the long run Google has the biggest potential of truly huge things..

Amazon does nothings others can't do or doesn't already offer and while Facebook has revolutionized communication it's not something that there is all that money in, especially now when smartphones and desktop OS's focusses so much on smaller apps..


So if it was me I'd focus on Apple for short term gains and Google in the long run..

MS does well financially and will have a new XBOX out next winter, but they were too slow to pick up on the smartphone OS's that people want and the Surface hardware is too expensive and too PC like to make it big alongside iOS and Andriod devices..
As long as MS sticks to software and gaming consoles with media capabilities I think they will do okay, but eventually they will have to rely on own inventions instead of always copying others, especially now where Google does the same at a cheaper price..

[kayanathera]

not a single one of those is a TECHNOLOGY company

[Cosmin]

ALL of these are, of course, technology companies, but I already know you really love to spread your "wisdom" around randomly, so I won't bother much.

[Xusein]

Amazon. They don't offer the most technologically advanced things, but they excel at delivery and content that the others can't compare.

[Jan]

^ good point, Amazon's core business isn't easy to copy. Especially when they expand as King of Content and King of Cloud, they got good business. Of these 5, I wouldn't put any money on Facebook. Their core business is relatively easy to copy, plus I think that this kind of social tends to go dwindling down in favor of the next big thing.

[kvasoc]

It seems that everyone favors Google and Amazon. My vote goes for Microsoft.

[Spartan_X]

[Jan]

Originally Posted by kvasoc

It seems that everyone favors Google and Amazon. My vote goes for Microsoft.

Ik can see the reasons why one would pick the unlikely guy, here are ten reasons why my money won't be on Microsoft. With their core business (software) being replaced and even becoming irrelevant, I really wouldn't know what their resilience would be based on.

[Spartan_X]

Microsoft has lost the game in mobile devices. Google with their Android OS and Apple are too far ahead to catch.

[Jan]

True but that's already incorporated in stock price. The question relevant for stock picking is who is going to come up with the next big thing?

[Suburbanist]

Amazon is the least risky of them all (not necessarily the most posed to skyrocket either). What is has assembled, though, is simply (in US and increasingly in Europe as well) the best supply chain management system and infrastructure for order-to-shop market. That is incredibly difficult to replicate.

Amazon, contrary to what many thing, have dozens of massive warehouses.