AJ, Washington DC

Microsoft Should Listen to Its Heart (and ignore the bean counters)

hmmm. sage advice. it presupposes, of course, that MSFT has a heart. :)

What It Would Take To Fix Microsoft For Me

Amen.

Analyzing Analysts on GE, GOOG, C Earnings

Thank you for the article. My sentiments exactly. I was amazed that the analysts estimates on GE had not changed in months. granted, Mr. Immelt reiterated his guidance in mid-March that GE was on track, but isn't that just what the analysts are paid to investigate, analyze and report on? If we are just going to take the company's guidance as gospel, then what's the need for all these upgrades, downgrades and estimates? I found the downgrades on GE particularly galling... where were these people all quarter? as for the forward PE... it's worthless, since most are calculated for a 5 year projection, not 12 or 24 months. Price, PE, Cash flow, Current ratio and cash reserves are the criteria I depend on, and I don't need an analyst to tell me what they mean.

Was Peter Lynch Wrong? Crocs and Other Trendy Companies

Not sure what to make of this company. They don't seem to have any other product. Granted, the material they use is a patented closed cell plastic, but for the customer, there is no appreciable difference between a Crocs product and a clone/rip-off etc made from a brightly colored generic plastic - other than the price, of course. The stories about getting caught in escalators etc scared a lot of people, especially coming in on the heels (pun intended) of last years toy recalls. Still, we've just come out of a long winter... who buys these shoes in winter? they are a summer product. maybe they will have better sales in the next quarter as the weather grows warmer. I would not look to overseas and tropical markets for salvation, the product is too easy to copy (probably by the very firm that makes them for CROCS, using the same molds but different plastics.

A Trip to 'Fantasyland' - Should Google Buy Apple?

2 great companies, 2 different market places. fantasy? sure.... why not? While we're at it. why not imagine a AAPL-LG partnership? LG makes all kinds of appliances from cell phones to refrigerators. Even better would be a LG-Google partnership - truly intelligent appliances..

Last Year's Leaders Have Become This Year's Laggards

oops. I forgot to add buy 535 on GOOG and it opend at 460 this morning, currently at 447. yikes. so are the 4 Horsemen taking turns? first it was AAPL and now GOOG, on rumors. Are RIMM and AMZN next?

Last Year's Leaders Have Become This Year's Laggards

It wasn't Jonathan, Seeking Alpha has been balanced overall with respect to all the sectors. Perhaps it was Cramer and his 4 horsemen theory. He had a buy 535, and now its 460 pre-market on 02/26. Not sure that their fundamentals have changed at all - the PE was steep, even for a growth company, but did not warrant such a slide on so little data.