Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha Portfolio App for iPad
Finance
(1)
Market Currents

"High above the Alps my Gnome is hearing a rumor that Apple will announce a stock split at...

  • Tuesday, February 26, 1:54 PM ET
    "High above the Alps my Gnome is hearing a rumor that Apple will announce a stock split at tomorrow's shareholder meeting," tweets Doug Kass. The rumor has led Apple (AAPL +1%) shares to spike higher. Update (2:24 PM): Kass is using the post-rumor spike to sell part of his trading position in Apple.
Track new comments on this story

This news story has 72 comments:

  •  
    He has a Gnome??? I want one!!
    26 Feb, 01:57 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Grats bots and algos.
    26 Feb, 01:59 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Because as we all know stock splits make the company more valuable. 450 divided by 2 equals 300?

    If the rumor is true can someone please investigate why the news was leaked to certain people before coming public?
    26 Feb, 02:00 PM Reply Like
  •  
    welcome to the world of investing gsterling. there's always someone that knows ahead of time.
    26 Feb, 02:03 PM Reply Like
  •  
    It doesn't inherently make the company more valuable, but it can make the stock more valuable. This would be an attempt to bolster underperforming stock for a good company. I'm all for it.
    26 Feb, 04:36 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Look at the charts. A rumor or announcement every time it hits $440 or so.
    26 Feb, 02:04 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Not sure Kass knows. Might be a speculative guess. He is a pretty good guesser. Would be nice though.
    26 Feb, 02:04 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Or he could just be taking advantage of the relaxed marijuana laws in the U.S. :-)
    26 Feb, 02:07 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Yeah he "guessed" Apple had topped at $90!
    26 Feb, 02:38 PM Reply Like
  •  
    ... and shorting bonds for almost forever; how did that work out?
    26 Feb, 03:31 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Everyone knows that stock splits add zero to the basic financials of a company. However, a reasonable stock split can have a very positive psychological impact on the value of a companies stock - especially a significantly under-valued stock like where Apple stock is at present, IMO.
    26 Feb, 02:06 PM Reply Like
  •  
    So much for efficient markets :-D
    26 Feb, 02:10 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Stock splits are viewed as a positive sign for a stock.

    Also, in Apple's case, the split will lower the price and bring in more individual type investors not scared off by a $450+ stock price.

    Its a psychological thing.
    26 Feb, 03:05 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Don't you mean crapple?
    Bubble blowin Ben killed the efficient market along with the once Free Market System!
    Crap in,
    crapple out!
    26 Feb, 03:28 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Apple as the world's largest market cap company deserves to be in the DJIA 30. Due to its high price and the crazy the dow is computed, it cannot gain admission to the Dow 30.

    If the stock split were large enough, Apple will become part of Dow 30. Many Mutual Funds and ETF's by their charter are required to buy and hold Dow 30 stocks.

    The increased demand and the new individual investors will result in increased demand and therefore price. (At least temporarily).

    Fundamentals will improve only if Apple releases innovative, exciting new products.
    26 Feb, 05:01 PM Reply Like
  •  
    I will call your gnome and raise you a troll.
    26 Feb, 02:07 PM Reply Like
  •  
    more noise like all previous "rumors"
    26 Feb, 02:18 PM Reply Like
  •  
    If they did a stock split it won't involve the possible waste of money from a ( temporary ? ) boost in the price of shares following a buyback. When the bears lose interest in Apple and go after Google I'm thinking it's time to buy Apple.
    26 Feb, 02:18 PM Reply Like
  •  
    If the rumor is false... get the Gnome!
    26 Feb, 02:22 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Stock split would calm apples stock down. 10+ move in the stock right now means around 10 billion movement. with a 10/1 stock split. 10+ move would be 100 billion movement. This will make apples stock a value/dividend stock
    26 Feb, 02:24 PM Reply Like
  •  
    The best that could happen for the company is a stock price pop so all or most trapped here could break even. They would have to promise Apple not to buy shares again and therefore not ever hassle the company again over share price.
    26 Feb, 03:37 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Just Kass manipulating, as usual. That said, if true, wouldn't the split ruin all the fun that short sellers have all day playing Apple like a personal yoyo?
    26 Feb, 02:26 PM Reply Like
  •  
    it jumped before kass tweeted
    26 Feb, 02:30 PM Reply Like
  •  
    their was a rumor about a rumor :)
    26 Feb, 03:32 PM Reply Like
  •  
    It is more likely that it is a rumor about speculation!
    26 Feb, 03:36 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Stock splits don't mean anything, all they do is incur administrative costs. I hope AAPL doesn't split, to me it would be a signal that it is giving into bizarro Wall Street logic in which 1+1=3
    26 Feb, 02:29 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Does it really matter? A broken company is still a broken company.
    26 Feb, 02:30 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Slight margin compression and slowly revenue growth does not a broken company make.
    26 Feb, 02:32 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Having numbers triple your competitors flagship in the last quarter (iPhone 5 at 27 million, iPhone 4s at 17 v. SIII at 15...) also does not a "broken" make eh?
    26 Feb, 02:40 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Posting one of the highest revenues in history for any company and you call them broken?

    Wish my company was broken!
    26 Feb, 03:07 PM Reply Like
  •  
    wish GE was as broken as apple.!!!

    no debt, 100 bl in the bank, great margins, great following... feel free to come break by company any time.

    Don't own it but smart enough to know there is nothing broken there.
    26 Feb, 09:14 PM Reply Like
  •  
    So Kass is selling part of his position on the pop.....hmmm.
    26 Feb, 02:35 PM Reply Like
  •  
    A press release, or tweet is set for every time the price drops below $440. :)
    26 Feb, 03:06 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Although we all know a split does not by itself create value, we also know that people are not rational and that splits often do lead to (post-split) price increases.

    My own opinion is that real news of a split (or even a "solid" rumor) would cause MUCH more of a pop than today's action so far.
    26 Feb, 02:40 PM Reply Like
  •  
    I was looking at what happened to other companies when they started a new headquarters, like , say, for Citi when they started the Citi Center on east side of New York, say, the headquarters of BAC when they moved to midtown center at 43rd street and 6th avenue. Now we have AAPL with a new headquarters at Cupertino. It is like a evil omen any time this kind companies start a new life something goes wrong. This stock split people have been talking for a long time before the stock took a plunge. The thing with perpetual preferred stock is that the investor can not go to AAPL for redemption and therefore cash stays intact and annual cash outflow will be limited to the dividend paid out. Lets see what really happened.
    26 Feb, 02:41 PM Reply Like
  •  
    A split seems irrelevant to me! I'm guessing somebody with a lot of financial power saw the ridiculously low price of Apple and saw a great opportunity to jump at a discount!
    26 Feb, 02:42 PM Reply Like
  •  
    I understand all the financial zero's about stock splits. But this is the cheapest way for Apple to get their stock moving again. If the Gnome has spoken, maybe it means Apple might actually be starting to care about it's stock price.

    I wonder how often Tim Cook reflects on how quickly the old days have changed. I will always love and miss Steve Jobs, but not playing by the Street's rules has been hard on us and it doesn't appear that Mr. Cook has the charisma to tell WS to go to h ee ell ell in quite the same way that SJ could. Belated Happy Birthday, Steve (Feb 24).
    26 Feb, 02:43 PM Reply Like
  •  
    A stock split announcement is unlikely at the shareholders' meeting. Any kind of announcement regarding stock split, buy back or dividend hike will likely not happen until the BOD meeting next month. There's a reason Kass is selling. The media has been priming the stock for a disappointment at the shareholders meeting for a while now.
    26 Feb, 02:55 PM Reply Like
  •  
    I said it once before, AAPL will break below 500 and then split making it "more affordable". I don't see anyone talking about options that are for n10 shares, they start trading soon . These insruments are clealy intended for people who can't afford 3,000 for one reg 100 share contract.
    26 Feb, 02:59 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Yup -- one issue is options.
    26 Feb, 03:05 PM Reply Like
  •  
    stock splits are the difference between a colonial economy with large holders like british licence holders and the american revolution.

    split stock makes the stock affordable to the people. it takes the stock out of the realm of the easily manipulable.

    it's VERY important to a free and democratic marketplace.
    26 Feb, 03:03 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Trinity:

    A split

    Buyback

    Dividend increase
    26 Feb, 03:50 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Blatant manipulation to get out of position
    - I used it for a quick profit turn though

    Any Divy or split or buyback etc. - will only be announced in March at the Board meeting NOT at tomorrow's shareholder meeting
    26 Feb, 03:08 PM Reply Like
  •  
    It would stop the volatility and allow smaller investors to buy shares, which is positive.......if they split 10/1....!
    26 Feb, 03:12 PM Reply Like
  •  
    how about a stock 1-3 stock split AND a dividend increase... it would solve all of the compliants about shareholder equity and they can getback to business.
    26 Feb, 03:15 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Well, I heard on good authority, that Tim Cook will triple the dividends, split the stock, then do a 10-1 buyback, bring all iPhone manufacturing to the US and include a 6 pack of Becks' with every Apple product purchase.
    26 Feb, 03:45 PM Reply Like
  •  
    I wish I had the power to manipulate the market with rumors pulled out of my ass.
    I'd be rich.
    26 Feb, 03:55 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Some spike. It almost made up the loss from yesterday.
    26 Feb, 04:04 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Relying on market gimmicks instead of revolutionary product - looks a lot like Microsoft after 1999.

    Nonetheless, a 10-for-1 split, triple the dividend and buy back 20% of the float over the next 5 years might juice the shares back over $60.
    26 Feb, 04:08 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Kass is the gnome, among other things.
    26 Feb, 04:09 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Let's hope for 4:1, a dividend increase to 3.0-3.5% and a $30 billion stock buyback. That'll put one on the green.
    26 Feb, 04:20 PM Reply Like
  •  
    I for one am still very pro Apple----maybe it is time to get Apple back in the light it deserves by doing some financial benifits to the shareholders or announcing some product like being worked on--------------------...
    26 Feb, 04:22 PM Reply Like
  •  
    I like Doufg.He'sa superb tennis player but a gnome in the Alps or St. Maarten won't help us..Peter S.
    26 Feb, 04:22 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Splits don't change the value but how would this benefit them in any way?
    26 Feb, 04:22 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Can't imagine Apple letting this out to only Kass and his Gnome.
    Sure hope he's right. What about the dividend side?
    26 Feb, 04:22 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Stock split will be the mother of all solutions for Apple:
    *Millions of new investors will rush to buy Apple shares. It will be now affordable.
    *Manipulation of weekly option writers will stop.
    *Apple fans, parents, grand parents, college students, etc. will rush to buy Apple shares. There will be new type of investors added to the pool.No more only big institutions and big banks. These people will not speculate .They get the share certificates and put them in safe deposit boxes. The best thing will be split plus increase in dividends.Ordinary people will do the buyback for Apple free of Charge.
    26 Feb, 04:22 PM Reply Like
  •  
    That guy is about the most notorious manipulator that there is. If he's the only source of this rumor, it's a fabrication. He'll say anything once he takes a position in a stock. We've seen him in action before and he has zero credibility.
    26 Feb, 04:23 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Amen ,
    Translation for manipulator ?? Ans. - Common thief !
    26 Feb, 08:40 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Sorry - if there was any substance to the rumor Kass would not have turned around and sold some of his position and taken a profit. Manipulation at its best.
    26 Feb, 04:23 PM Reply Like
  •  
    A make believe friend of mine is fluent in Mandarin. He overheard several make believe Chinese business/government men talking about China making a move to take control of Apple. They spoke in hushed tones about how they were buying up Apple shares to reduce the final cost and would then go in with a $700 a share buy out offer. They figure Apple is a better investment than US treasuries; it pays a better return and of course there's that $130 billion in cash on the books. Actually, Apple stock is so depressed that the company would be a great buy for anyone that could come up with $600 billion or so, and I guess that limits the prospective customer base to ......China. My make believe rumor is just as likely as Kass's. Well, maybe it's just a little more likely :)
    26 Feb, 05:28 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Ah... but are you profiting from your OWN rumour like he has?

    Isn't what he did blatant manipulation and illegal?
    26 Feb, 11:11 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Another worthless rumour meant to disrupt the share.
    26 Feb, 08:26 PM Reply Like
  •  
    AAPL started spiking 8 minutes before his tweet. Find somebody else to blame!
    26 Feb, 09:01 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Vegas, That is called someone coming in and buying in large quantities before the big pop.

    On another note, we have the full set of DK's tweets with photo and Twitter ID going into the SEC tomorrow. I would call these snaps a smoking gun with someone holding it and publicaly discussing what are potentially illegal trades.

    The good news is that we have a new bulldog in charge of the SEC, Mary Jo White, who is not an insider:

    http://onforb.es/YyNTp8

    I think she might appreciate knowing that WS is playing with the share price of the largest by market cap publicaly traded company in America.

    Be ready for a crash tomorrow as it is very unlikely a split would be announced at Apple shareholders meeting
    26 Feb, 09:51 PM Reply Like
  •  
    You all just don't get Apple. They don't CARE what the market thinks, and they don't care about spending any time trying to please analyst and bloggers (not the same thing, obviously). They will continue doing what they have always done until it doesn't work anymore, and that's to follow the notion that great products sell in great numbers for great margins and, guess what, you don't have to worry about the competition because you don't really have any. Momma used to say, "stick to your knitting"!

    Which is to say, no stock split any time soon.
    26 Feb, 09:56 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Kass's tweet makes me think he has a secret short on the stock and it trying to build up a disappointment. Pump and dump.
    26 Feb, 11:12 PM Reply Like
  •  
    HOW DOES ONE WATCH THE CONFERENCE VIDEO LIVE?
    **********************...
    27 Feb, 12:07 AM Reply Like
  •  
    I've checked every source possible and it appears that there is no live video feed of the conference. The best we can hope for is a live blog but I haven't found anything for that yet either. I'll update if I find something.
    27 Feb, 10:51 AM Reply Like
  •  
    if his information is as good as his trading, the stock dropped in 6 months 37% and yday it rallied 2 % from the low and he used this pop to liquidate part of his position ?

    anyway a stock-split does little for share holders value, coca-cola did one last year and it did nothing for adding value, it's merely a psychological factor, you own more at less and as many are at a loss, it feels like your losing less and closer to the bottom, until you look at the amount of shares you have.
    what would be interesting is to see how the option market reacts.

    to me is all the same, Apple is looking good for those who want to add to Longs.
    fantastic level to take some on board, buy dips 400 may still be possible, but don't be too greedy, so far the minor support of 435 seems to be holding, although is thin.

    I think Apple may well surprise with some good new - most of the negative should be in the price by now - and i hope for 485 next week.
    27 Feb, 12:24 AM Reply Like
  •  
    When did a 1% increase become a spike? And what kind of fool would base an important sell decision on that?
    27 Feb, 05:26 AM Reply Like
  •  
    @ rs8762 : that special breed of people called " analysts ", whom are experts in giving advice in five minutes on other peoples money, but with their own cash they sit for hours listening to BS chit-chat from Bankers about whether they can get 0,25 or 0,35 % interest on their money.
    27 Feb, 05:59 AM Reply Like
  •  
    What I know is that the word Gnome is connected with the gene in cell and molecular biology. I guess here it means some cottage in the high Alps, it is a new usage.
    27 Feb, 10:37 AM Reply Like
LATEST|
TODAY SO FAR|
YESTERDAY
Other date
DJIA (DIA) S&P 500 (SPY)

TECH ETFs IN FOCUS

Latest Tech Articles
More Latest Articles »