JamesD

With Apple, There's a Fine Line Between Paying a Premium and Being a Sucker

I thought is was silly to pay extra money for a wireless keyboard and mouse ("it's just a couple of wires!"). Then I got them, and now I insist on wireless.

It seems to me that the interaction with the mouse would be a major part of the "computing experience" that you're willing to pay so much for. I'd be interested to see if you change your mind, if you get a chance to use one of these devices for a few days.

Is a Case of Quant Trading Sabotage About to Destroy Goldman Sachs?

The software is useless if you can't run it in the NYSE datacenter -- which is actually in New Jersey. The whole thing is set up to take advantage of a lower latency than the rest of us schlubs could ever dream of.

I suspect the guy just wanted to use the code, or at least the algorithms, to impress his new bosses. He's full of crap when he says he only wanted the "public" part, of course... he was flat out trying to steal it.

The really mysterious thing is GS dropping off that trading report. Hard to believe it's a coincidence!

Physical Media Is Dying

With terabyte drives coming down to the $100 mark, physical media isn't dead - it's just not going to be optical. People are going to be making the choice between buying a download and paying less to watch it without owning it. Which way people lean will be interesting to see.

Is the New iTunes Sirius App a Sign of Things to Come?

Somehow, I don't see people listening to a whole lot of radio on a device that has no way to pop in fresh batteries. A brand-new iPhone is good for "up to" 5 hours of 3G communications; "up to" probably doesn't apply to continuously-streamed data. And AT&T may not be too thrilled with streaming audio clogging their network. This could be one of those ideas that sound great but never fly. If SIRI compresses the information and transmits it in bursts, on the other hand, it could be workable.

Tough Times for Netflix - Barron's

Barron's is making a habit of bashing NFLX. (Weak arguments that they'd never trot out under any other circumstances seem to be good enough when it comes to NFLX.)
Redbox and BBI can slug it out for the kiosk business all they like; it doesn't affect NFLX. Different business, different market. As NFLX moves to online distribution, the kiosks will become even less relevant.

BTW, the 'saving gas' argument is a bit bogus: nobody is expected to hop into the car for a 5-mile expedition to the nearest kiosk. The whole idea behind a kiosk is to snag the consumer while (s)he's already out of the house ... that's why they're located in malls and retail stores. And they're counting on impulse rentals ("Hey, look! Star Trek LXVII is out ... let's watch it tonight!"), a type of demand that NFLX can't meet. I think there's room for kiosks and for NFLX to make money in parallel. There will be some competition, but they won't need to be at each other's throats.

Opportunity to Buy China Natural Gas Before Nasdaq Listing

I own CHNG, and can't complain about the stock's performance, but there is a wild card that potential investors need to be aware of: gas prices in China are fixed by the government, not set by the market. That can work to CHNG's advantage, or not -- the point being that it's a huge but unpredictable factor. It's hard enough forecasting energy prices, but Chinese Communist Party political decisions add several layers of opacity to your crystal ball.

The Happy Three: Chinese Smallcaps with Big Potential

Add my endorsement of CHNG. Under all the volatility, a stable company with no competition and nearly-inevitable steady growth.

I also like ABAT, for similar reasons, although it's in a more competitive niche. (Batteries for China's growing fleet of hybrid and all-electric cars and trucks.)

Why I'm Still Rooting for Amazon, Netflix and Google

Have to disagree about NFLX. They are moving rapidly into the view-on-demand market. (New TV sets from LG and Visio will be Netflix-enabled right out of the box, which is brilliant.) The only thing that could derail them would be a failure to license studio content. (Rented DVDs are owned outright by NFLX, but digital rights require a license.) Will studios sign exclusive licenses with the likes of Hulu or YouTube? Not likely -- they'll want to sign with whoever has the biggest PAYING audience, and to my eyes NFLX stands alone. NFLX may not get exclusive licenses (and the FTC might be unhappy if they did), but they will get the content they need.

Netflix: High Flier or Falling Star?

You're ignoring the fact that most of investors' high expectations ride on Blockbuster going bust. Whether BBI holds up or folds up is far and away the biggest driver of Netflix's pps.

BTW, if content price can whipsaw NFLX profits, how on earth can you say in the next breath that the cost of entry is low? (Ask Redbox how cheap it is to get up and running!) The only serious competition for NFLX is going to be Apple's iTunes store, and Apple's software wizardry and mountains of cash makes them a formidable foe. (They could buy NFLX in a minute, out of petty cash.) I'll get nervous about NFLX share price only when that battle starts heating up. Even then, Apple seems not to be predatory -- unlike MSFT, they just roll out incredible products and let you compete, if you can -- so NFLX has a fighting chance.

Confidence in Banks and Government While Fools Reign Supreme

The Feds' move matters in a big way, because it amounts to dilution. There's now no way for shareholders to make back what they've lost, even if Citi's balance sheet miraculously returns to its former glory. With the upside thus slashed, a share of C is worth much, much less -- and the market reacted with perfect logic. That's not foolishness. It's reality.

Netflix Gets Serious About Streaming Media to Replace DVDs

If I read the plans correctly, I can pay $8.99 a month and stream content 24 hours a day, all month long. Sounds like a steal. If NFLX can insert ads -- basically acting like a 100% on-demand cable channel -- they could do very, very well indeed with streaming content. Combine what the customer is watching with demographics about the customer, and it becomes a Google-type targeted advertising environment. (Rumor has it that Google makes a bit of money doing exactly this.)

Strong Growth in Lithium Demand to Power FMC Corp., Rockwood Holdings

The number you really want is amp-hours (or Coulombs). Every electron coming out of a battery comes from a lithium atom, so the closest correlation with lithium content will be in the amp-hours. You need to divide watt-hours by the voltage of the batteries to make the comparison.

If the voltage in the auto batteries is 350v, that cuts down quite a bit on the ratio. Nonetheless, since you can run a laptop from the cigarette lighter plug in your car, there's obviously a vast difference in capacity. My gut feeling is that we're talking about a 50-fold difference.

Putting PETS Down

At some point, the company WILL be taken seriously by investors. Quarter-over-quarter growth may not do the trick, but year-over year growth certainly grabs the attention of analysts and portfolio and fund managers. If they hit on all cylinders for one more quarter, PETS will graduate from "speculative" and start appearing on lists of "growth" stocks.