Get in on the ground floor with Google (almost)

Disappointed that you weren't able to get in on Google when it launched its IPO in 2004? Well, now's your chance. After legislators voted down the Wall St. bailout, and the stock market responded by losing 777 points in one day, Google stock dropped $50 per share. It is now trading at $381, a full 11.6% down from Friday's close of $431. While $381 is nowhere near as attractive as Google's IPO asking price of $85, just wait. The bailout is still in legislative limbo, and the market may be heading for another freefall. Could we be trading Google at $100 or so in a couple of weeks? Considering the stock was trading as high as $750 just a year ago, even if it doesn't drop much more, this could be the time to get in on the ground floor with Google.

And Google's not alone. The tech-heavy NASDAQ fared far worse than the rest of the market, dropping a full 9.14%, compared with a 6.98% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As a result, there are huge deals to be had across the entire tech sector this morning. Consider virtual blue-chip stock Apple. It lost a full 18%, finishing at $105.26 per share, down from Friday's close of $128.24. Or what about Yahoo, which lost 10.8%, or Hewlett-Packard, which dropped 6.8%, or Intel (down 10%) or Oracle (down 9%). Even Cisco, dropped a full 8.5%.

The experts say that tech will be hit hard in the coming months as cash- and credit-strapped consumers decide to do without the latest iPod or XBox. But what they don't tell you is that both Apple and especially Google are cash-rich firms well suited to this ominous credit-starved financial era. They'll be just fine. And with money markets and T-bills imploding, the smart money may just be in newly bargain-like Google.