Apple may have more cash on hand, but Google is the one who loves to spend.

By the end of 2011, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) had spent $1.9 billion on a total of 79 acquisitions, TechCrunch reported. Comparatively, Google spent roughly half that amount on acquisitions in 2010 and added just 48 companies to its roster.

In 2012, Google plans to continue acquiring new companies that will either enhance its existing businesses or create new cash cow opportunities (like Android and YouTube). On that note, which five companies should Google buy next?

5. Adobe  (NASDAQ: ADBE)

Over the past 12 months, there were numerous rumors about which (if any) tech giant might attempt to acquire the Photoshop maker. Apple was the frontrunner. But many thought that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may also take control of the company. In either case, the consumer would lose. While the majority of Adobe’s products may have remained on Windows and Mac OS in the beginning, there’s little doubt that they would have slowly shifted to one platform.

The same could be true if Google were to acquire Adobe. But most of Google’s profits come from consumers who use its products (search, maps, e-mail, video, etc.) on …

Some have suggested that we here at Oakshire are out of touch, that we’re wilfully ignoring market reality and the economic facts of life, that we are poodles and water-carriers for the powers-that-be, and that we can’t be trusted.

Now, we admit that we’re by no means perfect people, without further work to do on our characters and intellect, but none can say that we’re sinister or degenerate in motive.  None can say that we’re simply a pack of demonic no-goodniks, hell bent on profit at the expense of all that is pure and innocent in the world.

Why, just the other day I was telling my son, the nefarious Rufus, all about the need to be straight in his personal and business dealings – even if it appears to ‘cost’ him in the short term.  Our name – our reputation – is something we have to treasure as we do our eyes.

Rufus understood.

Full Disclosure

In the name of keeping that good name with our readers, we now present the other side of the coin: all those things that keep us awake at night that could derail our faith in the current bull move.

Here they are.…

Although 2011 produced a record number 308 new exchange traded product offerings and 2012 gets underway with a record 268 names on ETF Deathwatch, ETF sponsors continue rolling out more.

Among the first listings of 2012 were three “volatility response” ETFs from Direxion, which attempt to achieve consistent volatility by controlling equity exposure based on observed volatility.  The first actively managed ETF launch of the year employs a Sector Scoring and Allocation Methodology (“SectorSAM)” to select other ETFs in a market neutral approach.  Two single-country (Singapore and Hong Kong) small cap ETFs were introduced by iShares, along with a fund covering all developed markets of the world.

1) Direxion S&P 1500 RC Volatility Response Shares (VSPR) listed on 1/11/12 with an expense ratio capped at 0.45% (VSPR overview).  The new Risk Control (“RC”) ETF seeks to provide a targeted risk level of 15% (annualized standard deviation) using a quantitative rules-based approach to dynamically reallocate exposure between equities (S&P 1500 Index) and U.S. Treasury Bills (T-Bills).

2) Direxion S&P 500 RC Volatility Response Shares (VSPY) listed on 1/11/12 with an expense ratio capped at 0.45% (VSPY overview).  The new ETF seeks to provide a targeted risk level of 15% using a quantitative rules-based approach …