apple

$QCOM Qualcomm, please settle with Apple and move on!

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Our read here is that both companies will ultimately end up winners. We are long QCOM but have no idea on the time frame for this investment and it has yet to make us any money.  This Bloomberg piece is one of the better pieces written on this complex situation. Qualcomm is at the center of a secular revolution in semiconductors and we are highly confident in the long-term future.  First there were personal computers, next the Internet, then smart phones, and the next leg up will be automobiles of all types; traditional, battery, and autonomous.  Semiconductors are at the … Read more

Some intelligent Apple comments

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Just what the world needs, some more comments on Apple?  Since it’s our largest position or near largest position and I have a blog, well, I can’t resist. 1. The new iPhone 6 and + is boss.  Everyone wants one.  I’m getting the big one, the really big one, the 6+.  Yes, I’ll look ridiculous making a phone call with it but actually making phone calls is one of the least used functions of my current iPhone.  Everything I do on my phone but phone calls benefits from a larger screen. 2. The Apple watch, well it looks kind of cool … Read more

Apple- a force for good

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Apple unveiled without much fun fare the slickest new computers in eons.  Combining blistering state of the art performance with a sense of design not seen in years, this new workstation computer is sure to blow away everything on the market.  The bad news is that no one is talking about workstation desk top computers any longer.  There is a hard core of professionals like myself that use multi processor computers for speed and their job functions.  At least now we won’t be trying to put them under the desk.  Apple – Mac Pro. It’s made in the USA. It … Read more

Thoughts on the Apple pain trade

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I don’t see the point in taking a needless loss.  They should have made a larger size screen phone and I assume they will.  When Google starts making a computer you really want to own then I’ll get worried but right now I don’t see how anyone can compete well with the whole Apple ecosystem.  but then again there are a lot of people that don’t care that much  about that but the counter to that is that the market itself is growing, Apple will innovate and at the multiple it’s trading at there is not much expectation for any … Read more

Apple probably a fist pounding heart thumping buy right now at $575

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I have to weigh my two cents in on the iPad mini.  This is probably the most innovative product I’ve seen from Apple in a long time. Innovative in the sense that how could you possibly place another IOS device in their product line without major cannibalization.  The mini is delicious.  To hold one is to want one.  It’s every bit an iPad and more.   Heavenly light, easy to read in bed and beautiful to behold.  I want one immediately.  Unfortunately they are sold out around the country. Could Apple have priced it any better?  Absolutely not, if you … Read more

Thoughts on Apple vs. Samsung trial

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I doubt if the two companies will settle and my guess is that it goes to the jury next week.  If someone blinks, it will be Samsung.  After all the trial is in Apple’s backyard and you know the last thing Steve Jobs would have said to Tim Cook was never settle this trial.  I think copycat suits in technology are a hard thing to win.  After all the mother of all copy cat suits was the first time Apple sued Microsoft for stealing the look and feel of the GUI.  They lost that one.  My guess is though the … Read more

Facebook IPO Seen Deepening Investor Distrust of Stocks – Bloomberg

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Facebook IPO Seen Deepening Investor Distrust Of Stocks By Elizabeth Ody and Margaret Collins – May 25, 2012 10:01 PM MT Facebook Inc. (FB)’s initial public offering, plagued by trading errors and a 16 percent drop in the share price, will push more individual investors out of a stock market they already distrust after the financial crisis. “This is clearly the latest in a long string of events that is eviscerating the confidence investors have in the market,” said Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago attorney who represents retail investors. “The perception is Wall Street jiggered this IPO so the underwriters made … Read more

Buybacks And A Dividend The Answer For Apple

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Looks like Apple finally has a solution for the pile of cash they have amassed.  According to SFGate, shareholders should expect a dividend of $2.65 and a significant buyback of stock that would return another 10 billion or so on a quarterly basis.  Apple’s decision will be completed over the next three years.  In the wake of the new iPad 3 selling out almost immediately, the tech giant knows that they need to start moving all this cash off their balance sheets.  Especially considering how it seems the massive company has been sucking some of the life out of the … Read more

China Dethrones iPhone, Samsung Sales Surge

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Apple’s market cap may rule the S&P, but it’s a different story in China.  The tech giant is struggling to efficiently capture a leading share of the country’s massive market, while Samsung is proving a substantial opponent.  With more than three times the market space over Apple (24.3% vs 7.5%), the South Korean company has a strong lead in subscribers which isn’t expected to be challenged any time soon.  According to Bloomberg, Samsung’s blanket strategy proved much more effective in gaining subscribers than Apple’s tactically narrow approach: “Apple’s partnerships with China’s second- and third-largest carriers give it access to about 34 … Read more

Apple Looking Up In Shanghai Trademark Case

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A local court denied a motion to surpress the sale of the iPad in Shanghai due to a similar ongoing case in the Guangdong Province, allowing Apple stores to continue selling the product until an outcome is decided.  Facing the unpredictability of Chinese courts, this is finally a glimmer of hope for the tech giant.  Although this has no bearing on how the Guangdong case will turn out, it shows that China is in support of Apple continuing with sales probably due to some political pressure. “Proview’s injunction request was rejected,” Carolyn Wu, the Apple spokeswoman, said in a telephone … Read more

Thought Pre-Release Lines for Apple Are Absurd? Try China, Bring Eggs..

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Beijing, China:  Several weeks ago, crowds of people amassed in front of Apple’s flagship store in the pre-dawn hours.  Eagerly awaiting the anticipated release of the new iPhone 4s, customers and scalpers alike grew restless as the chants of “Open the door!!” grow louder and louder.  At 7:15, already past the time when doors were supposed to open, a man steps outside with a bullhorn and announces to the crowd, “Please go back home! No iPhone 4s!!”  Anger spreads through the masses, fights break out between angry scalpers and frantic customers, and eggs start flying…. Read the complete account and … Read more

Facebook Under Fire as it Approaches IPO

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I’m sick of Facebook.  The name makes me cringe every time the talking heads on CNBC spout out the same regurgitated facts; all too reminiscent of Armani  clad penguins feeding vast fields of their young.  Regardless, here’s some news that might  get a smile out of your spiteful inner self: lawsuits against the social media giant are rapidly piling up as we near the initial public offering.  No, the company didn’t decided to go on one last rampant crime spree just before going public.  It’s the scent of money in the air that drives the shoals of patent lawyers into … Read more

Some interesting numbers on Netflix

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As the subscription based online movie provider soars as high as 15% in after hours trading on a decidedly positive earnings report, some investors are left scratching their heads.  While the company has shown an impressive rebound of 38% since touching on it’s 52 week low of 64.54 a share, the upward correction seems to lack a real catalyst.  In their trademark no-nonsense style, Zerohedge took a closer look at the hard data (spreadsheet can be downloaded here ) and found some interesting points.. Netflix generated $33.9MM in “Free Cash Flow”. Of this $25.6MM was from change in Net Working Capital; this compares … Read more

Google vs. Apple

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As I sit here typing out this post on my MacBook, occasionally running a question by Siri on my iPhone just for the heck of it, I can’t help but notice I’ve been blindsided by the Apple lifestyle… and I don’t seem to mind a bit.  An iPod sits in my car, next to the two iPod shuffles that I take on the mountain when I ride, and I’m long Apple stock.  My old HTC Incredible smartphone sits in a box, long forgotten.  And I’m certainly not the only one to completely buy into the way of life that Steve … Read more

The Week Ahead: Apple-HTC Smartphone Suit Moves Toward Ruling in U.S. – WSJ.com

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Judgment Day Looms for Apple, HTC   By IAN SHERR Apple Inc.’s claims that some smartphones running Google Inc.’s Android software copy its inventions are approaching their first big judgment day in the U.S. The International Trade Commission in Washington on Wednesday is expected to rule on whether some phones made by HTC Corp. violate Apple’s patents. The ruling could lead to a ban on handsets sold by the Taiwanese company, which uses the Android operating system and is the No. 3 smartphone provider in the U.S. market, according to research firm Nielsen. via The Week Ahead: Apple-HTC Smartphone Suit … Read more

DJ UPDATE: US Judge Rejects Apple Request To Ban Samsung Galaxy Sales

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I don’t think this will impact our pairs trade much but it certainly blows apart the thesis.  The bottom line is that Apple’s chart looks more bullish than Google’s this week.  There may be a short reaction Monday but there is still going to be a trial.  I like asymetric trades where if you are right there is potential big upside or in this case downside with Google.  And if you are wrong, there may be no major reaction at all.  Samsung already has 30% market share with its partner, Google and its doing little to hurt Apple as they … Read more

Five Reasons to Short Apple

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First of all let me defend this trade by saying that I’m like everyone else a huge Apple fan.  I even run 4 30″ Monitors on an Apple Desktop (although I do use Boot Camp and Windows 7)  And I think Apple is a very cheap stock and a fundamental buy. So this idea is really just a short-term trade and could provide some hedge in a bear market. 1. Apple flashing bearish RSI divergence on both daily and weekly charts. Recent run to $420 has over extended the stock technically.  I attached the daily chart but the weekly chart shows bearish divergence. … Read more

Can Apple Be Apple Without Jobs?

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Wednesday evening’s announcement from Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) that CEOSteve Jobs was resigning could hardly be called a surprise, but it will certainly accelerate a transition process that has been ongoing in fits and starts for a number of years. Apple has tapped a solid manager to replace Jobs, but competition in Apple’s core markets is heating up and investors may be right to wonder whether the company can maintain its over-the-horizon vision and ultra-confident operating strategy without such a rare visionary leading the show. News That Really Isn’t New That health issues would eventually force Steve Jobs to step down from … Read more

Apple is worth as much as all euro zone banks

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LONDON (Reuters) – Technology company Apple is now worth as much as the 32 biggest euro zone banks. That’s the stark result from a steep fall in the share price of banks including Spain’s Santander, France’s BNP Paribas, Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Italy’s Unicredit, compared to a steady rise in Apple’s valuation, according to Thomson Reuters data. Earlier on Friday the DJ STOXX euro zone banks index fell 4 percent, valuing its 32 members at $340 billion. That’s based on the market capitalization of their free-float shares, which for some French banks in particular is less than 100 percent. The … Read more

Apple Vs Samsung

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Court limits Apple’s ban on Samsung’s Galaxy tablet The ban on a Samsung Electronics Co. (KS:005930) tablet computer across Europe was lifted after the German court that granted Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) an injunction last week scaled back the ruling to within national borders. The iPad maker is not allowed to enforce its August 9 injunction outside of Germany against the South Korea- based Company, the Dusseldorf Regional Court decided yesterday. The ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany stands, court spokesman Peter Schuetz said in an interview. “The judges decided to limit the enforceability for now because there are … Read more

The Next Big Thing or NFC

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I don’t know how to play it yet but I have been looking for some time.  The problem is EVERYONE will be there.  This is a good article I found in my new favorite blog, Chipworks. NXP’s NFC technology in the PN544 controller by chipworks contributed by Sam Thumm First the smartphone came along and replaced our MP3 players, our paper maps, our portable gaming systems, and our in-car DVD players. Even before the smartphone, they held our kids photos and our contact lists so we no longer needed to carry these things in our wallets. However, they have not … Read more

Divergence- the best technical indicator

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Divergence A divergence is a move in the price of an asset not confirmed by a comparable move in the applied technical indicator. For example, a bullish divergence exists when a market reaches a new low without the indicator reaching a corresponding new low. Conversely, a bearish divergence exists when a market reaches a new high without the indicator reaching a corresponding new high. In my opinion, divergence is the most predictive of all the indicators. It will be early more often than not. Early can be very painful. A popular stock market tidbit of wisdom reads like this: “What’s … Read more

Weekend Reading Links

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The weekend is always a great time to catch up on some of the week’s reading you missed… Markets have gotten conditioned to central bankers flooding the market with money every time something goes wrong. [The Psy-Fi Blog] A profile of Jonathan Ive the “design genius” behind the rise of Apple. [I Heart Wall Street] Market bubbles and investor psychology.  [Vanguard Group] Buffett’s worst investment ever (and its not what you think) and7 other unusual things I learned about Warren Buffett. [The Altucher Confidential] Why are some cities happier than others?  [The Atlantic] Sirius is Clearning up its balance sheet. [Sirius Buzz] The frequency … Read more