The financial side of Viacom-YouTube

CBS MarketWatch points out that Google’s stock has dropped 15 percent since it purchased YouTube. “Investor optimism regarding YouTube was misplaced,” said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry. “Google is failing to do anything with YouTube.” It’s important to point out that YouTube is just a drop in the bucket for a company the size of Google, but public perception — which has a big impact on Wall Street — is another matter. Google’s stock dropped 2.58 percent today (the Dow dropped 1.97 percent), and Viacom was basically flat. (Thanks, Saundra!)