Russ Mould

They're being paid by somebody else, which they keep suggesting is actually the exporting country or exporting company, which I just don't believe is correct.

Yeah, it's a struggling member of the FTSE 100, the UK's biggest stock market index.

It's coughed up multiple profit warnings in the last couple of years.

It's put out through a dividend cut.

Its chief executive has gone.

And the new boss, Cindy Rose, in October launched what she called a strategic review because things are getting so tough and having to adapt to an AI world is part of that.

And also the ongoing dominance you can have in advertising of people like Google and

an amazon a meta that now suggestions that a european rival havas is sniffing around maybe for a stake maybe to take over the whole thing or for certain businesses and that private equity is sniffing which is exactly what i'd expect in an industry that is still very important where there is also merger and acquisition activity going on elsewhere between omnicom and ipg and where you've got a depressed that's very very a share price it's really really depressed so there may be some value to be had

Alphabet, yeah.

And this is interesting because there's been lots of press about Buffett's investment company, Barchath.

We're building up its cash pile to record highs of $382 billion.

And a lot of people, including myself, have thought, well, maybe he's getting ready for some tougher times ahead here.

He doesn't normally buy into tech companies.

He did buy IBM for a bit unsuccessfully.

He's had a big stake in Apple, which has gone really well, which he's now actually selling down.

And for the first time, he's buying shares in Alphabet, which, as you say, is Google's parent company.

It's now his 10th biggest holding.

And it does make me wonder, because Buffett, if you look at his type of business he likes to buy, he likes to buy things that are

really powerful in terms of the market positions, almost oligopolies, dare I say it, quasi monopolies.

Now, there's no shortage of competition for Alphabet out there, but it does have six, seven, eight businesses.