WebProNews

Yesterday was kind to investors, and given the remarkable nature of the stock market's rise, looked like the possible end of a bad era.  Unfortunately, things headed south again today, and the big three names in search fared even worse than overall market.

Let's start with Google.  In accordance with tradition, the search leader came out on top, and this meant that as the Nasdaq dropped 3.54 percent, Google's stock lost 4.81 percent of its value.  Or, to look at a less encouraging measure of its worth: this left Google standing (or perhaps lying) at less than half of its 52-week high. 

Microsoft, meanwhile, saw its stock slip by 5.49 percent, but is still worth about two-thirds of its 52-week high.

Yahoo isn't so lucky.  It ended the day at $12.65, not far off from its 52-week low of $11.96.  And its movements during trading amounted to a loss of 6.23 percent, the worst of this small group. 

One possible contributor to Yahoo's drop was a report that a merger with AOL had been completed, and the claim's since been withdrawn.  But since talks are still supposed to be taking place, investors may not ever be able to let the matter go, and it's not as if Yahoo was experiencing a good streak, anyway.

Keep your fingers crossed for a financially happy Hump Day.