[DanHibiki]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

Interesting how this came to be

• first, HP buys Palm for $1.8bn (actually, $1.2bn and then some directly-related expenses bring it up to $1.8bn)
• then, HP makes approx $5.1bn in 'support' acquisitions (music services, video libraries, cloud services, etc.)
• then, HP spends $0.6bn with TV and print advertising for the Veer and TouchPad
  
• then, HP discovers that it's going to take another 'several hundred million dollars' {source: earnings call} to achieve tenable position in tablet market. Hmm, spend another $0.7bn to get value out of $7.5bn investment? Obvious solution: pull plug, burn bridges, walk away.
• at the same time, HP's CEO decides he wants HP to be more like SAP. Oh, did I mention that HP's current CEO is the former CEO of SAP? And that he was turfed from SAP for diminishing shareholder value?
• so, HP announces that it's going to buy a software company that sorts e-mails for $10.4bn - approx 35x earnings. Analysts estimate value of company at about $4bn
• the market responds by selling HP stock like it was bubonic plague. Drops 22.6% and still falling...
• Estimated value wiped out in 48 hours on stock alone: $13.9bn
• Estimated value lost in Palm acquisition (so far): $7.5bn
• Estimated value pissed away on 'Autonomy' purchase: $10.4bn
• Total amount of money wasted: $31.8bn
• Likely cost of inevitable shareholder lawsuits: unknown
• Value of lost reputation, lost opportunities, etc.... Priceless

Sorry I don't quite understand this point, can you elaborate on it?