In every industry, the dominant company and/or companies which are the companies investors like to own, because the dominant companies can make profits which turn into dividends, the US government occasionally has their eyes on the companies. Depending on how the public feels, The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice will have open files. In the case of the big tech companies including Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google files have been opened. Normally the departments do not acknowledge preparations for any investigations, according to Dianne Bratz and Jan Wolfe of Reuters reported in this case the government does acknowledge.
The acknowledge sent shares of prices down, however it is important to note although some people feel the firms have too much power and are exerting a harmful effect on users or competitive marketplace, proving it is different. What generally happens is the companies will be fined without admitting guilt and the case will be months old. The expectation of a break up of the companies is very low.
Linking to dividend paying stocks, large organizations are used to having been sued, there are contingency accounts set up for wrong doings, although most of the time companies are trying to do the correct thing but sometimes public sentiment is different than correct business practices. As investors, most of us are not used to getting sued so we react as an individual to the charges, the reality is often a soft landing for the file, or until the next file is open.
There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.