2snazzy

Three Thriving Companies: Wal-Mart, Apple, Apollo Group

No room to grow for Apple in cell phones? You idiot - they are still rolling them out in foreign countries and the Walmart roll out has just started. I can't stand commentators who can't or won't do research!

Apple Rules Teen Segment, but Will It Last?

Actually, I don't believe it is Apple that is going to suffer as much as it is the wireless cell phone carriers. The iPhone is the razor - cellular service is the blade. Apple has gotten ATT (and other carriers worldwide) to subsidize the iPhone so that Apple gets it's money (and profit) up front. Cell phone carriers are depending on iPhone users to run up large monthly bills. Even though a 2 year plan on ATT has a fixed cost, ATT expects that a certain percentage of users will exceed their monthly plan allowances and generate additional. Certainly some parents who are planning to purchase an iPhone for their kids will pull back. However, more pressure will be exerted by parents to get the kids to "dial down" their monthly usage of cell phones (including the iPhone).

As to the issue of declining iPod sales, remember that ultimately, an iPod is cheap enterainment. Songs cost 99 cents on iTunes. iPods are a social event and teens are not going to give them up. Each time a new hip artist releases a hit, you can count on millions of downloads by "hip" teens. Podcasts are a way of cheap information for literally millions of people including adults. As other forms of entertainment go up in cost (movies, etc), teens (and younger) will continue to "hang out", and when they do, they will have an iPod plugged into their ear and continue to purchase more songs. iPod sales may not grow at rates seen in earlier years, but until a "hipper" technology comes along to replace MP3 players, Apple will continue to sell iPods and make money.

Looking for a Cause for Thursday's Sell-off? Blame Greenspan

Yes, Greenspan pushed low interest rates as a cure for a sagging economy after 9/11. It was like pushing booze to a chronic alcoholic. The real culprits in this sorry saga were the mortgage sharks who saw an opportunity to take advantage of a rising real estate market, and more importantly a Republican majority house and senate who continued to legislate in favor of "Big Business" by refusing to enact the controls that were just placed on the mortgage industry. The motto of the party in power is "What is good for Big Business is good for the country." The truth is that capitalism does not have a conscience, and if you let Big Business run without any checks or regulations, you will get abuses, and we did. Now we're paying for the abuses. Maybe Greenspan should have been smart enough to see the results of his cheap money policies, but ultimately the mortgage industry should have been regulated long ago, and our good friends in the Republican led Congress were drunk on power and rich on the funds being provided by the Big Business lobbyists.

Time to Stand Up for Steve Jobs

Totally Agree! There are a list of companies a mile long that would kill to be able to report the numbers that Apple just turned in (numbers that don't reflect the 3G iPhone launch mind you). What has happened to sound business practices to ensure growth rather than making forecasts that can't be achieved just to impress analysts? Like it or not, Jobs has built his career(s) on delivering the finest products possible regardless of analysts opinions. His reward? To have the street pummel the stock because the philosophy at Apple is to undercommit and overdeliver. Certainly I believe the current forecast for the coming quarter is light. However, as a stock holder, I want and NEED to know that the management team running this company understands market and economic conditions. The last thing I want is a forecast designed to impress the street that can't be achieved only to have the stock crash as a result. I learned to quit betting against Jobs a long time ago. People said that when he was thrown out of Apple in the 90's and built NEXT that NEXT was a failure. Turns out that the programming efforts done at NEXT was the foundation for the current Mac OS. Also, NEXT made Jobs a TON of $$ when he sold it to Apple. Pixar was a homerun that not only made a TON of $$, but also provided Disney with an additional business unit that cements their hold in film animation. Certainly I'm concerned about Jobs health and wish that more information had been released to clear up confusion and rumors. However, bottom line, Apple has built and continues to build a multi-product company with a focus on excellence, consumer appeal, and INNOVATION. Jobs is truly a rare breed in terms of CEOs, but people lose sight of the fact that behind him there is a team of people who have helped remake Apple into the company that it is today. Not only are consumers lined up to purchase Apple's products. Potential employees are also lined up to be able to work for this company. COO Tim Cook is rock solid and had a strong history at Compaq before coming to Apple. Ron Johnson at Apple has built a retail franchise in the Apple stores that is producing five times the revenue per square foot of it's nearest competitor (Best Buy) and shows no evidence of letting up. There are absolutely no "me-too" products at Apple and no "me-too" retail experiences at Apple stores. Can the company screw up? Absolutely. But Jobs has built a culture that has evolved over several years and is not going to go away overnight if something happens to him. $19B in the bank and absolutely NO DEBT. Products that people line up for in an economy that is weak at best. And now we're seeing global demand for these products. Record results in EACH product category every quarter. And the result? The stock tanks on earnings. Like all humans Jobs has his flaws, but running Apple isn't one of them.