mojotronic

What an Apple Tablet Has to Be

Having used Apple computers for nearly two decades I have not always been a fan of some of their business strategies. Recently I upgraded to a new mac mini after a friend recommended it and although my last mac was rock solid and steaming fast, I was blown away by the extras (mainly iLife & multiple fast ports) included in the new package as well as the incredible performance of this mighty mite. As always (and even moreso) the switch over and data transferance was seamless with no hassle "plug n play" of several external hard drives.

It took me a few hours to download and test several freeware programs that enabled me to open and run videos in all the various (PC) formats, other than that it came loaded with everything I need. All my old programs (like Office 04) ran perfectly on Snow leopard, the latest Mac OS.

I had almost crossed over to the dark side a month ago, after checking out my brother's brand new HP laptop... until he mentioned that two weeks after buying it he had to call tech support to get help removing over 160 viruses and worms infecting it. And I still shudder when I recall a recent attempt to install a new hard drive in a friend's PC, and how the process was sheer torture.

So whatever Apple's newest products might be, I wouldn't discount their computer and software divisions as sources of revenue growth. Although PCs may be cheaper out of the box, Macs are a bargain for their quality and their no hassle user friendliness, which is attracting more and more users of all ages. I believe that appeal will grow exponentially among the youth market, and Apple's future sales will far outpace any current predictions.

BTW, I (idiotically) divested myself of my Apple stock several months ago so I'm not here pumping my portfolio. Just making an observation.

Alt Energy and Trading Green

Thank you, Still Laughing. For a moment there I was losing my faith in the human race--although I suspect that some of the posters here with anti-green biases are actually aliens who need to breathe pollution to thrive on our planet.

China Organic Agriculture Buys Vineyard: Business or Pleasure?

Demand in China for foreign wines, including those produced in California, is growing rapidly. In 2007, the import of wine into China totaled approximately 54 million bottles, representing a 125% growth from 2006, according to the latest report of the International Wine and Spirit Competition. The market share of imported wines in China increased from 6.6% in 2006 to 10% in 2007, while industry analysts project that share will reach 18% in 2008. Total wine consumption in China is expected to increase 65% from 2001 to 2010, a growth rate 6.5 times faster than the global average.

CNOA has grown their rice profits exponentially for the last three years and should have no problem increasing their profits in the fast growing wine business. I like that they're aggressively expanding their business portfolio, and seriously suspect the author of this article is short on CNOA and unable to buy back in at the moment.

China Organic Agriculture Buys Vineyard: Business or Pleasure?

CEDC is one of the most successful stocks available. Their business is distributing liquor in Eastern Europe. Take a look at their charts for the past few years. I'm not saying CNOA will have the same sort of dynamic success because I haven't researched their competition, but if they do, this move could be the best they ever made. If you're already in CNOA, no sense bailing now. If not and you're a gambler, the stock is at a low for the year.

Short Ideas: Kick GM While It's Down

Mr. Wendling is totally correct about short manipulation of the market.
John Lee is naive and simplistic about "weak" and "strong" stocks.

Deregulated "short interest" in today's markets is probably the single most important factor creating instability, even more than the price of oil or the falling dollar. While millions of new investors pour into the markets due to the lure of cheap online trading, their attempts at fundamental or technical analysis are thwarted by the collusion of short fund managers and short editorialists, who attack entire sectors, driving down the price of good and bad companies indiscriminately.

Eventually all these new investors--the millions who are outside the Wall Street loop--will give up trying and take their money to the bond and real estate markets. If you can't sell a house, at least you can rent it.

Short-sighted, unregulated greed will be the downfall of Wall Street.

Green Bio-Refining Up, Solar Stocks Down

I'm sure there's an organic way to make this work. Maybe there's enough material left that's usable for fertilizer after the process. Or selection and rotation of crops may somewhat reduce the need for fertilizer.

As for solars, they are one of the most popular sectors for investors today, which means they are a prime target for short sellers. The relaxation of rules regarding short selling has created a boom short market, with short and ultra-short funds ruining entire sectors of otherwise good investments.

Perhaps when enough investors are turned off by the greatly increased risks in this unregulated "Wild West" market system and start pulling their money out in record droves, the SEC will wise up and restore some semblance of sanity and fair play.

Wind Is In - Cramer's Mad Money (5/27/08)

One wind stock Cramer failed to mention is AWNE. They distribute wind turbines
and although a young company have been very profitable.

China's Agriculture Sector Is Ripe for Investment

CNOA now trading at 4x its EPS. It just signed a multi-million dollar sales contract. Its ratios are high, and has no debt. It's insane that this stock is so low for a company so solid and profitable.

Should We Force a Housing Bottom?

As far as the housing market goes, the war on the middle class is being waged from both the right and the left, and the entire real estate policy of the Federal government needs to be reexamined from top to bottom. Entire cities are being destroyed by the cancer of Section 8--which is in fact corporate welfare for slum landlords. It's not a racial issue. Working and middle class families of all races are deprived of life quality and lose property value when too many Section 8 tenants invade their neighborhoods.

When mayors attempt to put reasonable restraints on the number of homes in any area that can be Section 8'ed, the Feds threaten to pull their Federal funds. Meanwhile Federal laws override state eviction laws making it extremely difficult to evict problem tenants, but don't reimburse landlords for damages done to property.

While the housing market was booming in upscale areas, Section 8 landlords were amassing huge portfolios of properties by renting to lowlife tenants who scared out older residents, driving property prices lower in those middle class neighborhoods, allowing the landlords to scoop them up without limitations. Horror stories abound about the activities of many Section 8 tenants, but like all slum landlords, the Section 8 landlords are only concerned about the government checks pouring into their mailboxes, which they use to bankroll more properties.

The combination of unrestrained acquisition, neglectful management and inability to discipline tenants means neighborhoods that were healthy and stable for half-a-century or longer have devolved in less than a decade into burned-out, half-occupied slums.

Unfortunately this is one problem that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans will ever address, so inner city neighborhoods will continue to be rotating slums, destined for the wrecking ball and eventual reclamation by tract housing developers (very far into the future). So even the most visionary mayor attempting to rebuild a blighted city will have his hands tied by the Feds.

China's Agriculture Sector Is Ripe for Investment

CNOA's CEO just announced a major buyback. Jump in if you can, it's already going up, still a little under the radar. Great company.

Rep. Kanjorski's Unreasonable, Unconscionably Ridiculous Idea

Ever since Standard Oil and Phillips Petroleum conspired with GM and Firestone to dismantle public transportation in 45 American cities via their front company National City Lines, big oil has managed to maintain their stranglehold on commuter transportation in the US, and to gouge them at every opportunity. Although free marketeers who wish to gorge themselves at the well of oil are entitled to their self-interested opinions, big oil deserves no sympathy from the American public.

Further Musings on Solar Stocks

After checking the key statistics for TSL versus SOLF I can't see how TSL is a better buy for the price. In some key statistics TSL looks better on paper, but SOLF has less debt and double the quarterly revenue growth. While trading at a fraction of TSL's cost, its EPS is projected to be double TSL's in a year. (A key statistic omitted from your chart.) It also has a production capacity of 120 Mw per year, double TSL's 59.8Mw. SOLF was overbought when the media pundits pushed it as "the" solar stock to own, then dramatically oversold after the markets dropped in January and the newbie lemmings who blindly follow certain celebrity pundits all panicked. The embarrassed pundits subsequently proclaimed it a "sell sell sell" and it's been a weak sister ever since.

Impact of Bad Weather May Spread to China Organic Agriculture

Considering that CNOA deals in rice, I find it highly doubtful that this storm will affect them in any substantive way. It seems far more likely to affect pork dealers and other more perishable goods. Overall it seemed like a silly article, with the author at least admitting he was relying on half-baked speculation to propose a theoretical impact.