Tim Cook's Improbable Victory In Washington [View article]
If our Gov't takes in more taxes and use it exclusively to pay down debt, fine, I can live with that. But all it does is to spend every penny it gets plus more debt, it simply cannot stop.
Let Apple keep the money, I may not be an Apple fan, but I trust it more than I trust Washington DC.
Silver Bay Realty Trust - A Business Model Doomed To Fail [View article]
Of course you may forgot when the real estate was in the tank for 5 years, nobody would buy any house at any price, every city has 100s of 1,000s or empty or foreclosed houses. Some local investors started buying them in groups, doing exactly the same thing, all city governments loved and needed them. That is free enterprise coming to the rescue.
As article and all the comments above showed, there is great deal of risks, and takes a lot of management and money at whatever %. Low rate is more than justified to the risks and what they can do for your city specifically.
Depending on your local foreclosure and RE condition, maybe you should be thankful for the REITs buying RE in your town. If nothing else, it shows they have confidence in your town and in your house.
If it is successful, they should be handsomely rewarded, that "THEY" is you and me, not invisible evil rich guys, it is YOU.
Silver Bay Realty Trust - A Business Model Doomed To Fail [View article]
I can understand managing rental SFH is complicated and may not be profitable long term as it is messy for a large corp, but the whole point from the start is based on the low REO property cost, old fashion buy low sell high. I assume rental is mainly the holding period, use rent income to support keeping and managing the properties until they can be sold at profit. This article totally missed this main focus and assumes RE will not appreciate in the coming years, which does not reflect the reality or the long term RE history.
Was Jobs arrogant? is Larry Ellison arrogant? you name the big shots who change the commerce and industry, all arrogant as**oles, that is the way it got to be. Of course I am not joking, where were you in the last 100 years? There is no place for nice guys at the top, nice guys work for arrogant bosses. I want to make money with Apple stocks, I don't want nice guys which are a dime a dozen.
Wait a year or 2. Cook will not last, they are looking for someone.
I read Cook's interview with Business Week months ago, I don't remember anything he said, nothing significant, except I only remember one thing, he REPEATLY said how great his team is, again and again. So, he is a nice guy, a nice manager. He spent more time try to impress his staff then anyone else, he is not arrogant which means he is not confident. He is like my general manager, he does everything he should do very well, I can leave for weeks without worrying about anything, but I know he is not a top leader, he cannot lead a business, he does not step out of bound, he does not innovate. Cook is a manager, a vital person to handle things for the boss. Cook is not a boss, he doesn't have the brain nor character to innovate..
I always have solid confidence in Apple, more specifically in Steve Jobs, I bougth Apple stock in 1987. I am not sure about Cook, everyday good manager, never going to be a legend. But all ok. Until 2 days ago when I saw a picture of a cheap Chinese phone that looks almost exactly like an iPhone, this is not a no name cheap copy, but a famous Chinese branded phone with nationwide distribution, at 1/4 the iPhone price, made by the same supplier to Apple. My gut feeling is Apple's China market will be mostly gone.
Samsung copied most but they don't look exact same as iPhone, this new one is identical. On my business trip to China, people everywhere have iPhone, it is a status symbol, for usage, no need to pay triple price for Apple.
None of the directors have any experience selling fashion or running dept stores, directors are clueless. Take a look at the director's resumes. Selling radio Shack junk or tooth paste is not the same as selling cloth or run retail stores. Unless they change the board, there is no hope, and board will not fire themselves.
Johnson did well elsewhere because he was part of Target team and Steve Jobs, he carried out the bosses' wishes well, but he was not the brain. Not to mention he had no dept. stores or fashion experience.
JCP is mainly a clothing retailer, there is no one on the board with any clothing retail experience, a highly specialized trade. Selling tooth paste is not the same. There is no one on the board with any experience selling fashion or running dept stores.
Johnson may did well elsewhere, maybe the reason was Steve Jobs, or the Target bosses or team, Johnson was part of a team there, he carried out the boss's wishes and team's plan, he was not the brain. They did not know that, we all know that now. My company has done great in our trade, but if you take my general manager away to run a competitor's company, result would not be the same, guaranteed.
The 'De-Bestbuyification' Of Consumer Electronics [View article]
I have 2 sons, early 20s, one is a young Marine Corp officer, our gadget boy who always have the latest gadgets, electronics or guns, neither of them have been to Best Buy for years, phones and laptops, they buy in Apple store or online, Best Buy does not have anything they "want."
My current laptop, 8th laptoop for me, I bought online. I did visit BBY, nothing special or unique regardless of price.
The 'De-Bestbuyification' Of Consumer Electronics [View article]
I cannot predict future, I am just an average person going along the flow. I found out AFTERWARD whatever NEW THINGS I have been doing, everybody else have been doing the same NEW things.
I bought my sons sports cars when they reached 16, felt guilty, but I later read in Newsweek, the baby boomers did the same for their kids. I switched to CEFs 10 years ago, I found out later many investors did the same about the same time frame. I think there is no electronic toys to buy, I read in Business Week that is the problem for all electronic makers, no significant new toys.
Baby boomers reach varies stages in their lives, change what they do, new ways, new concepts and new ideas, it turned out everybody do the same. I am just one in tens of millions of baby boomers.
The 'De-Bestbuyification' Of Consumer Electronics [View article]
Maybe the problem is people don't buy as many of these gadgets anymore, TVs are cheaper and last forever, how many do you need? with cable, each additional TV costs monthly fees, so you can't have 7 TVs around the house anymore. laptops from Lenova or HP etc. are selling less and less, you buy phones from phone carriers. I always look at Sunday BBY ads, but there is nothing new, nothing to buy and nothing I need. I have money to buy and I want to buy but nothing new to buy.
I am the trend, everything I do, I later read in national press or magazines that is what everybody else is doing.
3 Low-Risk, High Dividend Stocks To Buy Now [View article]
I have CIK since Dec 2011, it has a stable price with a modest price gain, no big surprise. It has consistently paid 7%-8% div. A comfortable free range cow that produces milk.
ARR is a different story, it turned out to be a highly volatile stock, with a repeated reduced div and downward prices. The high div % is all eaten away by the price drop. This is not a carefree free range stock, this one is a diva or a Fiat that needs constant attention with a lean that feels like it is falling off a cliff. There is no shortage of praises for ARR on SA, which unfortunately were all wrong.
Undervalued, 13.2% Dividend Payer Armour Residential REIT May Be Due For A Rebound [View article]
Companies cut div when they have no choice, they know the consequence, in this case, stock price drops. When they repeatedly cut div. and price drops again, again because they have no choice. Sometimes people say it is good when a company cuts div, that shows the management is being responsible, and from now on it will be good. I don't agree, when the cut is done repeatedly, the company is sliding down the hill.
Undervalued, 13.2% Dividend Payer Armour Residential REIT May Be Due For A Rebound [View article]
If someone inside is holding $11.2mm of stock, that does not mean he paid what we paid, and there must be many other insider compensations, so the math is very different.
It may mean the company is not going under, but then again, Enron insiders held a lot of the stocks too, as well as Pan Am insiders did. It used to give me some comfort, if he has it, that means it is okay; NO, I don't care if he loses his shirts and pants or $50 million, I only worry about my tiny pot, that is all I care.
Tim Cook's Improbable Victory In Washington [View article]
Let Apple keep the money, I may not be an Apple fan, but I trust it more than I trust Washington DC.
Silver Bay Realty Trust - A Business Model Doomed To Fail [View article]
As article and all the comments above showed, there is great deal of risks, and takes a lot of management and money at whatever %. Low rate is more than justified to the risks and what they can do for your city specifically.
Depending on your local foreclosure and RE condition, maybe you should be thankful for the REITs buying RE in your town. If nothing else, it shows they have confidence in your town and in your house.
If it is successful, they should be handsomely rewarded, that "THEY" is you and me, not invisible evil rich guys, it is YOU.
Silver Bay Realty Trust - A Business Model Doomed To Fail [View article]
Apple: Quit Whining About Tim Cook [View article]
Wait a year or 2. Cook will not last, they are looking for someone.
Apple: Quit Whining About Tim Cook [View article]
Apple's Story: Only The Beginning? [View article]
Samsung copied most but they don't look exact same as iPhone, this new one is identical. On my business trip to China, people everywhere have iPhone, it is a status symbol, for usage, no need to pay triple price for Apple.
J.C. Penney: Is The End Near? [View article]
Johnson did well elsewhere because he was part of Target team and Steve Jobs, he carried out the bosses' wishes well, but he was not the brain. Not to mention he had no dept. stores or fashion experience.
J.C. Penney's Desperate Decision [View article]
Johnson may did well elsewhere, maybe the reason was Steve Jobs, or the Target bosses or team, Johnson was part of a team there, he carried out the boss's wishes and team's plan, he was not the brain. They did not know that, we all know that now. My company has done great in our trade, but if you take my general manager away to run a competitor's company, result would not be the same, guaranteed.
J.C. Penney's Desperate Decision [View article]
The 'De-Bestbuyification' Of Consumer Electronics [View article]
My current laptop, 8th laptoop for me, I bought online. I did visit BBY, nothing special or unique regardless of price.
The 'De-Bestbuyification' Of Consumer Electronics [View article]
I bought my sons sports cars when they reached 16, felt guilty, but I later read in Newsweek, the baby boomers did the same for their kids. I switched to CEFs 10 years ago, I found out later many investors did the same about the same time frame. I think there is no electronic toys to buy, I read in Business Week that is the problem for all electronic makers, no significant new toys.
Baby boomers reach varies stages in their lives, change what they do, new ways, new concepts and new ideas, it turned out everybody do the same. I am just one in tens of millions of baby boomers.
The 'De-Bestbuyification' Of Consumer Electronics [View article]
I am the trend, everything I do, I later read in national press or magazines that is what everybody else is doing.
3 Low-Risk, High Dividend Stocks To Buy Now [View article]
ARR is a different story, it turned out to be a highly volatile stock, with a repeated reduced div and downward prices. The high div % is all eaten away by the price drop. This is not a carefree free range stock, this one is a diva or a Fiat that needs constant attention with a lean that feels like it is falling off a cliff. There is no shortage of praises for ARR on SA, which unfortunately were all wrong.
Undervalued, 13.2% Dividend Payer Armour Residential REIT May Be Due For A Rebound [View article]
Undervalued, 13.2% Dividend Payer Armour Residential REIT May Be Due For A Rebound [View article]
It may mean the company is not going under, but then again, Enron insiders held a lot of the stocks too, as well as Pan Am insiders did. It used to give me some comfort, if he has it, that means it is okay; NO, I don't care if he loses his shirts and pants or $50 million, I only worry about my tiny pot, that is all I care.