Google (GOOG) has admitted it can no longer defy the laws of economic gravity and is cutting 10,000 jobs. The biggest single business idea in history, with turnover in excess of $21bn during 2008, has told the world's press it will cut its workforce by 10,000, about a third of the total number of staff. Quarter-on-quarter revenue growth, which hit 14% last year, was only 3% in the last three months to September 30th. In Britain this growth has all but stalled, with revenues falling from £406m in the first quarter to £392m in the second and rising only slightly to £409 in the third.
As you can see from this graph which shows the percentage of Google's shares outstanding on loan to short investors (%SOOL), short investors have started to increase their positions in the Internet giant, with the %SOOL rising from 0.8% in late October to 2% one week ago and then back down to 1.74% now, a three-year high. Utilisation, or the percentage of the supply out on loan, has risen to 10% from 4% in early November, above the previous three-year high figure of 7.5%.
Yahoo! (YHOO)'s %SOOL has also increased, up from 0.5% in early November to 1.65% now. Utilisation has also spiked in Yahoo!, up from 3% to 9% in the same timeframe.
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