You know, the price for Google is beginning to make the price of fuel look cheap. My fear is that it could crash and take most of the dot.com segment with them….

Google and its cavalcade of adoring analysts look set to pump 2006 full of the same unbridled optimism that dominated 2005. Or so we predict after seeing Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy hike his target on the ad broker up from $445 to $600.

And, why not? The analyst expects “new initiatives, in particular Google’s ad network and Google Base, to generate meaningful revenue be the end of ‘06.” Such bright prospects mean Google should maintain its current momentum and reach a new 2007 earnings per share target of $11.91 set by Rashtchy. [Read the rest]