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Google has now got a SELL rating according to Merriman Curhan Ford. Is this the beginning of the end or have is it the end of the beginning of a massive financial tsunami with Google being a SELL even at $259.  According to Richard Fetyko of Merriman Curhan Ford:

• Based on our checks, the decline in consumer and business purchasing is having a dampening effect on search-engine marketing (SEM) — keyword prices are down 5%-30% from the third-quarter of 2008, traffic to ecommerce sites is also down year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, and click-through-rates on ad listings are declining as well. These trends are not yet reflected in consensus estimates, in our view.
• Google’s paid-click volume is also under pressure. Since consumers and businesses have reined in their spending, they are searching for fewer commercial items and are clicking on fewer ads (click-through rates dropped), which translates into slower growth in paid-clicks volume (key revenue driver).
• We see the stock touching down to $200-$240 near term, which is where we would consider buying it.