Chad Brand

Google: A Year After The Wall St. Journal's Cover Story

Of course there are many other possible scenarios. I could have sold it at $330, or at $510, or at any other price in between. However, I can't speculate as to when/if I would have sold later if I chose to hold my stock, because it's unknowable.

Nothing fundamentally has changed with Google over the last year... they are still going into new markets, spending a lot of money to do so, and hoping to cash in on those other businesses as well as overseas. So, if I didn't sell for the reasons I did, I probably would have held the entire time like Mr. Gordon did.

The point is, since I sold my stock, Google has underperformed the market, so doing so has helped my returns. Long term holders like Mr. Gordon have also done well, as the stock has risen nearly 20% in the last year. So, both camps are happy. That was the point of the piece.