The Real Expert

Dell: No Angles Left?

The problem is that most of these guys have been following the stock market for the past 4 or 5 years and have no persepctive. That is why they do not that prior to the past 3 years, APPL performed poorly relative to its peers for nearly 15 years and underperformed the S&P for most years. You kids were still in diapers so you have no idea WTF you are talking about. I owned APPL computers in the 1980s and 1990s and they sucked! Jobs was clueless. And for the guy who saus APPL is not concerned with making less expensive computers but better ones, that is not at all true. Did you not realize APPL no longer makes its own chips because it has been trying to cut the costs down? In fact, that was one of the ENABLING reasons why marketshare expanded. Take a look at the chart since 1986 and maybe you will realize this. I rest my case. Seriously, you kids should be trying to figure out how you will be able to move out of your mom's place rather than thinking you stand a chance to compete against profession investors. You are only kidding yourselves.

Dell: No Angles Left?

Ok. No more wasting time with kids who watch e-trade commercials and think they are investors. Some of you guys really need to work on your reading comprehension skills.

dlw03: "Hi. I. want. to. be. a. big. time. in-ves-tor. so. I. will. sit. here. and. argue. trivia. while. missing. the. big. picture. because. I. really. have. no. money. to. invest. other. than. what. mom. gives. me. in. allowance. I. am. too. stupid. to. latch. onto. wisdom. I. like. to. argue. senselessly. like. all. other. 12. year. old. kids."

Investment professionals don't waste time with morons. Consider yourself lucky I wasted my time abusing you. But now you have been dismissed kid. When you become the top 1% of Wall Street minds come back and see me. I'll be glad to talk to those in my club. Somehow I can't see me dealing with you though. I doubt you could even pass the Series 7.

Dell: No Angles Left?

To User 200631.. You are obviously some kid who, after given access to the market via e-trade, thinks he really understands investments. Here is a tip...know when you are better fit to be a student rather than a teacher of investing.

Yes, Jobs has been a terrible CEO in the past and the inconsistent earnings proves that. His terrible decisions to resist Windows ostrasized his products. This was responsible for the tiny market Apple was stuck with for many years. Only his digital music strategy leveraging the iPod has saved him. Note that I did give him credit where credit is due - he is a marketing genius. Along with seizing digital commications and music opportunities, he has shown an impressive performance as a CEO as of late, but still his tenure at this level of success is still quite short. He still has much to prove.

As for Michael Dell, apparently you do not read too well. He created the premier supply-chain management model, which many others have attempted to mimic, including HP and IBM. Great companies, even technology-based are not always run by creating innovative products. At the end of the day, all that matter are revenues and profits. And in Dell's case, he revolutionized SCM which led to the company's tremendous growth and success. In fact, as a CEO I would have to score Michael Dell higher than Jobs since Dell created something that was not a fad. His SCM model turned the business world upside down. As for Jobs, he will need to continue his fads to repeat previous success.

To peter021...I cannot help you fail to realize what is happening with computers. If you chose to be an irational consumer then so be it. But I hope you enjoy paying a premium for the latest computer only to watch the price of better systems decline by 50% over the next 3 years. Apparently you have no idea what is going on in the components markets. I paid less than $400 for my Acer laptop 8 months ago. It has Vista premium (unfortunately), 1 GIG RAM, and 40 GIGs HD, as well as many other features (bluetooth, etc.). In 3 years it will be useless to me and I will buy another. In 3 years the laptop you bought for $1000 or $2000 will also be useless. Who will have won? Me and the company that you bought your computer from.

To dlw..you are clearly an idiot. I did not botehr to state the different SEC filings used by insiders because I did not want to cloud the minds of kids like you. And if you think that a CEO is unable to gradually sell off large blocks of shares of company stock without the share price staying afloat then you need to examine the case of Bill Gates over the past decade.

It is funny to see how people become irrational when they own a stock. Sadly, the irrational nature of investors often leads to their demise. Until those of you with ill-thought comments have spent real professional experience on Wall Street and have served as an investment strategist, you might be better off learning rather than proving how little you know.

The great thing about Seeking Alpha is that it really shows how much dumb money there is out there.

Dell: No Angles Left?

By teh way, the fate of Apple is by no means over. I have followed the company for many years and I have determined that Steve Jobbs is useless as a CEO. if you examine the historical stock price chart, this confirms my claim. This guy resisted for decades entering the Windows world and that cost him big. He also made all his processors...another stupid mistake.

What Steve Jobbs does better than anyone is marketing. He is a marketing genuis no doubt. It appears as if he has finally found a nitch for Apple; a niche that Microsoft missed. In conclusion, it looks like Apple has finally arrived as a legitamate company but I certainly would not be buying it here because you had better believe it has some big problems down the road. As for Dell, keep an eye on how much and how often he sells his stock..not options exercise but stock, as he still owns a large amount. If he starts to bail, you can bet that Dell will be pulverized. All that aside, I wouldn't be buying Dell unless it dropped below $14, and even en only for an intermediate-term trade based on undervaluation.

Dell: No Angles Left?

To Waf76...Yes well I did not address the relative quality of Dell versus Apple or HP. The point I wanted to make was that the author is clearly clueless as to the previous success of Dell - it was their spectacular supply-chain management. I doubt he even knows what it means. I wanted to illustrate how economic conditions can cause significant problems for even the best business models (i.e. lower prices for comps and higher oil prices) - all which neutralized Dell's previous success with its SCM model.

As for Apple, I am personally disgusted by their marketing ads and would never buy one for that reason. Apple is like Starbucks, both cater to wannabes who attach coolness to a product. If that works for you fine, but it certainly does not work for me. I am a leader not a follower.

I had an Apple IIc and a Macontosh many years ago but at that time they HD broke down so many times as they were cheaply made. Thus, Apple lost my support as a customer forever. The latest ad campaign by Apple makes my stomach turn even more.."buy our computers because they don't have the problems Windows has (a lie) and you will be cool if you do."

In my opinion, consumers should purchase the least affordable computers they can find for the features they want because computers are just commodities now. The only reason I ever bought a Dell was for the service warranty, which they failed to support. I feel worse for elderly people like the women above. The elderly are clueless about computers, yet Dell expects them to talk on the phone to some Indian who instructs them to open up their computer and check for things, despite teh fact they purchased a warranty. It's nothing short of fraud and I hope all state Attorneys General file suit.

Dell: No Angles Left?

Starting in his college dorm room, Michael Dell grew his company to be one of the world’s greatest. In just over a decade, Dell trampled IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Compaq in the computer PC business.

It is a much different story when you are the leader, as Dell discovered. As such, Dell recently lost its leadership position to Hewlett-Packard. Investors need to understand how Dell is dealing with these transitions. As PCs have become commoditized, Dell can no longer generate the earnings growth of the past, even with its super-efficient supply-chain management system. Therefore, Dell has not only expanded into a specialty consumer electronics company, but it is moving towards larger computing and storage systems. With extensive outsourcing to Asia, Dell is now able to leverage its huge customer base and offer the high profit margins of service contracts. Finally, Dell was rather unique in that it got into the consumer finance business early on as a way to gain PC market share, rather than as a last ditch effort to add earnings growth from financial transactions.

Michael Dell recently took over the CEO position due to loss of market share by HP. Interestingly, Dell began selling its computers in Wal-Mart and Staples, representing a clear deviation from its original business model. Understand that for so many years, Dell was able to undercut the cost of its competitors because it had a great supply-chain management system. Computers were made to order and shipped out one by one, rather than assembled in bulk and warehoused in store shelves and inventory centers. This enabled Dell to realize tremendous savings because it did not lock up capital for extended periods. Not only could it use the cash for other investment activities, but it was also protected from price declines for computer components since parts were ordered as needed.
So why is Dell now selling to Wal-Mart and Staples? Record energy costs combined with a 75 percent reduction in the average price of a computer over the past 8 years have neutralized the unique advantages of its supply chain management model. Now it’s less costly to keep inventory stocked. As well, it is cheaper to ship computers in bulk rather separately.
If you want to become a great investor and secure spectacular returns, you need to develop the ability to figure out analyses like the one just discussed.

It takes time, practice, and an inquisitive mind, something that apparently Barry Deen (the self-proclaimed Buffett Junior) lacks. But oh he plans to start an asset management firm soon!! Sign me up!! I've always wanted to let a web kid with no professional investment experience, an inflated ego, and ZERO investment aptitude invest my money for me.

Good luck kid. My advise is to let the pros deal with the market. You should stick to making websites. The problem with the Internet is that it somehow makes people feel like they are experts in everything.