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Advill on How Apple's Market Share Will Propel Stock to $500, Part 2 Many readers of SA could appreciate your commen...
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southbeach on How Apple's Market Share Will Propel Stock to $500, Part 2 Apple is a great company, and certainly executi...
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Graham and Dodd Investor on Premature Top Calls Continue After GDP Report It's possible that the market will move higher,...
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Stephanie Sammons on Apple's Market Share Will Propel Stock to $500 (Part 1) I'm a fan until we see two consecutive quarters...
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dano123 on Apple's Market Share Will Propel Stock to $500 (Part 1) If you had to envision a company that could hav...
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The Next Catalyst for Etrade LEAPS
1-The next major catalyst for ETFC is choosing a new CEO. This is one of the hottest jobs on Wall Street and should be in high demand. Whoever comes in will have free reign to get a deal done. There isn’t anyone left at Etrade who cares about the company’s history or who desperately wants it to remain as a stand alone. Current Etrade management appears to welcome a takeover. If Etrade brings in a CEO with experience in coordinating mergers and acquisitions that will be a very good sign. This really is a blockbuster opportunity for a CEO to sign on, get a chunk of stock options, and exit with $20 million worth of gains 6 months from now.
2-I still don’t think TD Ameritrade is the ideal takeover. Because of the mortgage mess on Etrade’s books, I see a larger bank being more suited to Etrade. Someone like Wells Fargo or JP Morgan Chase or even a regional bank that wants to make a splash in the brokerage business would be a tremendous fit. As a Wells Fargo customer myself, I would be ecstatic to see the Etrade platform become part of the service.
3-Don’t let the mortgage mess fool you. The Etrade platform is highly sought after. As one who has used TD and Schwab, the Etrade user experience is a breath of fresh air. Etrade is a major player in a quality industry.
So what happens next? The acquisition chatter will heat up then it will stall as these things typically do. The key for the new CEO will be to try and get more than one bidder. Who knows, maybe even Citadel will join the bidding process to try and push the price up although recent comments from the hedge fund indicate they are looking to diversify away from large positions in single companies. Investors need to be patient, have a good time horizon, and let the game come to you.
Option LEAPS alert: The November economictiming.com newsletter recommended owing the January 2011 $5 calls. This is a very high risk/high reward position. For those looking for something more secure, look to own the stock itself, or the January 2011 $2.5 strike, or even the April 2010 $1.50 strike. All represent great opportunities as we head into the new year.
Jason Schwarz
Disclosure: long ETFC
The Next Catalyst for Etrade LEAPS
1-The next major catalyst for ETFC is choosing a new CEO. This is one of the hottest jobs on Wall Street and should be in high demand. Whoever comes in will have free reign to get a deal done. There isn’t anyone left at Etrade who cares about the company’s history or who desperately wants it to remain as a stand alone. Current Etrade management appears to welcome a takeover. If Etrade brings in a CEO with experience in coordinating mergers and acquisitions that will be a very good sign. This really is a blockbuster opportunity for a CEO to sign on, get a chunk of stock options, and exit with $20 million worth of gains 6 months from now.
2-I still don’t think TD Ameritrade is the ideal takeover. Because of the mortgage mess on Etrade’s books, I see a larger bank being more suited to Etrade. Someone like Wells Fargo or JP Morgan Chase or even a regional bank that wants to make a splash in the brokerage business would be a tremendous fit. As a Wells Fargo customer myself, I would be ecstatic to see the Etrade platform become part of the service.
3-Don’t let the mortgage mess fool you. The Etrade platform is highly sought after. As one who has used TD and Schwab, the Etrade user experience is a breath of fresh air. Etrade is a major player in a quality industry.
So what happens next? The acquisition chatter will heat up then it will stall as these things typically do. The key for the new CEO will be to try and get more than one bidder. Who knows, maybe even Citadel will join the bidding process to try and push the price up although recent comments from the hedge fund indicate they are looking to diversify away from large positions in single companies. Investors need to be patient, have a good time horizon, and let the game come to you.
Option LEAPS alert: The November economictiming.com newsletter recommended owing the January 2011 $5 calls. This is a very high risk/high reward position. For those looking for something more secure, look to own the stock itself, or the January 2011 $2.5 strike, or even the April 2010 $1.50 strike. All represent great opportunities as we head into the new year.
Jason Schwarz
Disclosure: long ETFC
Is Google Setting Itself Up For Failure?
Google is looking to grow through acquisitions. Is this good news for investors? Let me offer up a sports analogy. In baseball, the lifeblood of a franchise is the minor league farm system. Producing your own talent produces a success that is more sure than trying to build a winner through free agency. Once every ten years the Yankees might win a World Series with a team built through free agency but I’ll show you example after example of how a team with a solid farm system outperforms. Growth through acquisition is akin to a baseball team that abandons their farm system. Google management is sucking the life out of their R&D team each time they purchase a Youtube or an AdMob. Employees who innovate at Google might get used to the new growth through acquisition model and come to expect it. It doesn’t seem like working R&D at Google is as appealing as it once was.
More »How Apple's Market Share Will Propel Stock to $500, Part 2
Back on December 5, 2007 I sent the following note to investors (economictiming.com):
More »Premature Top Calls Continue After GDP Report
The easy money has been made! That 3.5% GDP report was artificial! When the first time home buyer credit expires we’re doomed! Yes, it seems to be that time again. The bears are telling us that the rally is over. I first warned you about premature top calls when the bears came out in full force with the Dow at 8400 back on May 7th (http://seekingalpha.com/article/136078-2009-is-the-year-of-premature-top-calls), then I warned you again with the Dow at 9500 on August 28th (http://seekingalpha.com/article/158844-four-reasons-we-re-headed-even-higher). Here we go again.
More »Apple's Market Share Will Propel Stock to $500 (Part 1)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave us a glimpse into Apple’s future with a statement he made at the Windows 7 release. When asked by CNBC’s Jim Goldman to respond to the threat of competition from Apple, Ballmer remarked,(www.cnbc.com/id/33419795) “It's amazing: people say Apple sells 10 million PCs. There will be 300 million Windows PCs sold in the same time frame. So it is interesting to me that people spend so much time talking about the 3 percent of the market in that case...I wouldn't trade our 300 million new users a year for their 10 million. I just wouldn't do it. I kind of like what we're doing and the way we're serving the market.”
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