8.7% Dividend Payer Linn Energy Was Dissed At Ira Sohn - Is There Reason To Worry? [View article]
@MPlaut, I agree with you that yield-on-cost is more of a feel good about your investment vs yield-to-price which is meaningful for investing your money now. If I hold an equity with a yield to cost of 15% and a yield to price of 3% then I have to consider moving that money into an equity that is paying a higher yield to price. It's pretty simply to me. Right now I'm an income investor. What is going to give me the best yield today? I love to see the unit or stock price increase, and I love to see the distribution increase, but if I can get a steady 7% return without losing equity value I'm a happy camper.
Apple: Tim Cook Heads To Washington To Talk Taxes [View article]
@ThePatron, the economy was already in a recession when the Bush tax cuts went into effect. People seem to forget the economic damage caused by the 911 attacks. The airline and travel industry lost over 100,000 jobs instantly. This was after the tech bubble burst and we had the stock market crash in march of 2000. The tax cuts was designed to keep the economy from going into a depression. The stock market crash took a huge amount of money out of the market and then job losses in the airline, hotel and travel businesses only compounded the problem.
Apple: Tim Cook Heads To Washington To Talk Taxes [View article]
It will be interesting to see how well Mr. Cook fares. With the massive debt of our federal government, I think he is going to have a difficult time convincing our politicians to lower the tax rate. Especially those that aligned themselves with the "occupy wall street" crowd and against the tea party. However, if they were to modify the tax code and lower rates I can imagine a lot of cash being repatriated. Allowing over $1.5 trillion in overseas cash to repatriate would be much better economically than the current policy of printing trillions for the government to buy it's own bonds and treasuries. There is no doubt in my mind that our private companies will put that money to work in a much more positive way than the federal government.
GE: In-Depth Analysis Of Share Repurchase And Dividends [View article]
I first bought GE after Berkshire bought a huge amount of preferred shares. The common stock was priced around $30 when Berkshire stepped in. I waited and bought in at $22 and $17 and $15. So I'm happy with my return and the increased dividends I think that GE has balanced repurchasing shares with acquisitions and increasing dividends quite admirably. When the stock reaches $30 I will evaluate whether to hold or sell at that time. In the mean time I'm an income investor and happy to watch the dividends grow.
GE: In-Depth Analysis Of Share Repurchase And Dividends [View article]
@David, most public companies issue shares while buying back. They constantly are issuing shares for employees via stock purchase plans, incentive stock options, or other incentive plans.
@anonymousA I don't know what Edison has to do with Intel and smartphones, but I've done some reading on Edison as well as Tesla. It is well known that Edison didn't invent the light bulb. He saw some primitive versions inside of coal mine shafts. What Edison did was greatly improve on the incandescent bulb. He didn't do it buy brain power, but he tried all kinds of materials until he discovered tungsten. Then he figured out if put in a vacuum the bulb would last much longer.
Edison wasn't known so much for stealing from his employees as he was for going meeting with a guy at the patent office with a bottle of whiskey. The guy had a drinking problem, so Edison would bring him his favorite booze and then get access to current patents. Then Edison would develop something very similar that would not break the patent.
Tesla left Edison because Tesla knew AC was a much better way to transport power long distances. After words Edison would try to attack Tesla's theories. He even went as far as electrocuting animals with AC and eventual criminals on death row in an attempt to prove AC was more dangerous than DC.
Ashraf, I enjoy your articles but I think it would be a disaster for Intel to attempt to build smart phones.
First, they haven't any significant design wins in the mobile market today. Apparently none of the major players today think that Intel has the best chips for smartphones.
Second, the most important aspect of a smartphone is the OS. That is why in today's market we have Apple with IOS, and virtually everything else is some version of Android. To succeed, they might have to partner with one of those two. No way Intel can jump into the OS business and compete. They probably wouldn't do any better than Microsoft. (In the smartphone and tablet market)
Third, the last critical piece of the mobile market is packaging. What background does Intel have in that arena. This is arena is not as difficult to address, but does anyone think Intel can compete with the likes of a Jony Ive design? I don't.
Then Intel has to decide what other component to use in their design. What are their relationships with other chip vendors and how would that change if Intel were building a smartphone?
Last, but not least as has been mentioned in other posts. How would they expect to get design wins with other smartphone suppliers?
You Won't Lose Sleep Owning ConocoPhillips [View article]
I bought COP about 2 years ago. When I learned of the planned spin-off of PSX I bought more pre-split. I've been very pleased with the performance of both companies. I've been most impressed with the focus on lower risk assets located in politically stable regions. Considering the 2 discoveries in the gulf that were announced last week, (1find was massive at 1,000 of pay dirt) I believe COP is positioned for a very positive future.
There's a pattern here: China's "State Administration for Industry and Commerce" has mentioned Apple (AAPL -2.1%) in a notice urging authorities to protect consumer rights. The notice comes shortly after a front-page column in a state-owned newspaper and an "investigative special" from a state-owned TV channel took shots at Apple. [View news story]
China doesn't want any company with "rock star" status to get a foot hold in China unless the company is a Chinese company. Cisco was not, so they allow stealing of intellectual property for Huawei to compete. Google isn't Chinese and won't kiss up, so they create Baidu and favor it over Google. They let in Walmart, but only after Walmart dumps American suppliers in favor of Chinese suppliers.
Tim Cook will never demonstrate pioneering innovation comparable to Steve Jobs. However, within Apple there are creative minds and hopefully a star will emerge, or a group of innovators. Cook is a supply chain guy and a numbers guy. A whole different skill set than SJ. That made them a great 1, 2 combination. I don't think Jony Ive is the new innovator. He will do great with the physical package as he always has, but Apple needs to demonstrate it still has a visionary. Something more than a cool package. Someone that can take that step into the future and create radically new a different products. I'm a fan of Apple, but I am waiting to see what they create in the absence of SJ. I think a lot of investors are waiting to see something before they jump back in.
The U.S. version of Samsung's (SSNLF.PK) Galaxy S IV will use a quad-core Qualcomm (QCOM) processor, while international versions will use Samsung's Exynos Octa, Bloomberg reports. The S IV also said to include eye-tracking tech , but it won't support automatic scrolling (as was previously reported) just yet. Other details about the phone, which will be unveiled tomorrow, are in-line with past reports. Separately, the WSJ observes Samsung spent $401M in 2012 on phone advertising in the U.S. (per Kantar Media), more than Apple's (AAPL) $333M. [View news story]
Why are they using different processors for US vs International?
Apple Must Totally Change Its DNA To Survive And Thrive In A Brutal Competitive Environment [View article]
Just because another company is allowed to build the hardware and include IOS doesn't eliminate vertical integration. They build the hardware, iTunes and iCloud can still exist on the new hardware. Well not "on" the hardware, but with the new devices. Then comes the issue of what other garbage, if any, is allowed. It may be that to license IOS means you can't add anything other Apple approved apps.
8.7% Dividend Payer Linn Energy Was Dissed At Ira Sohn - Is There Reason To Worry? [View article]
Apple: Tim Cook Heads To Washington To Talk Taxes [View article]
Apple: Tim Cook Heads To Washington To Talk Taxes [View article]
What Is Apple's 'Rate Of Return' For The Next 3 Years? [View article]
GE: In-Depth Analysis Of Share Repurchase And Dividends [View article]
GE: In-Depth Analysis Of Share Repurchase And Dividends [View article]
Should Intel Sell Its Own Phones? [View article]
Edison wasn't known so much for stealing from his employees as he was for going meeting with a guy at the patent office with a bottle of whiskey. The guy had a drinking problem, so Edison would bring him his favorite booze and then get access to current patents. Then Edison would develop something very similar that would not break the patent.
Tesla left Edison because Tesla knew AC was a much better way to transport power long distances. After words Edison would try to attack Tesla's theories. He even went as far as electrocuting animals with AC and eventual criminals on death row in an attempt to prove AC was more dangerous than DC.
Should Intel Sell Its Own Phones? [View article]
Should Intel Sell Its Own Phones? [View article]
First, they haven't any significant design wins in the mobile market today. Apparently none of the major players today think that Intel has the best chips for smartphones.
Second, the most important aspect of a smartphone is the OS. That is why in today's market we have Apple with IOS, and virtually everything else is some version of Android. To succeed, they might have to partner with one of those two. No way Intel can jump into the OS business and compete. They probably wouldn't do any better than Microsoft. (In the smartphone and tablet market)
Third, the last critical piece of the mobile market is packaging. What background does Intel have in that arena. This is arena is not as difficult to address, but does anyone think Intel can compete with the likes of a Jony Ive design? I don't.
Then Intel has to decide what other component to use in their design. What are their relationships with other chip vendors and how would that change if Intel were building a smartphone?
Last, but not least as has been mentioned in other posts. How would they expect to get design wins with other smartphone suppliers?
To many stars are out of alignment.
You Won't Lose Sleep Owning ConocoPhillips [View article]
There's a pattern here: China's "State Administration for Industry and Commerce" has mentioned Apple (AAPL -2.1%) in a notice urging authorities to protect consumer rights. The notice comes shortly after a front-page column in a state-owned newspaper and an "investigative special" from a state-owned TV channel took shots at Apple. [View news story]
Apple's True Opportunities In 2013 [View article]
The U.S. version of Samsung's (SSNLF.PK) Galaxy S IV will use a quad-core Qualcomm (QCOM) processor, while international versions will use Samsung's Exynos Octa, Bloomberg reports. The S IV also said to include eye-tracking tech , but it won't support automatic scrolling (as was previously reported) just yet. Other details about the phone, which will be unveiled tomorrow, are in-line with past reports. Separately, the WSJ observes Samsung spent $401M in 2012 on phone advertising in the U.S. (per Kantar Media), more than Apple's (AAPL) $333M. [View news story]
Apple Must Totally Change Its DNA To Survive And Thrive In A Brutal Competitive Environment [View article]
Apple Must Totally Change Its DNA To Survive And Thrive In A Brutal Competitive Environment [View article]