Senate Slams Apple On Tax Avoidance [View article]
And the lawmakers invest American Tax Money in foreign countries and that is supposed to be perfectly OK? We learnt a lesson from funding Bin Laden but we still continue to give in Pakistan and the Middle East.
Senate Slams Apple On Tax Avoidance [View article]
That's what they want to do. They are just using Apple. They left loopholes in the tax code so they could get some money for doing that and now they complain when everyone uses a loop hole.
Senate Slams Apple On Tax Avoidance [View article]
It appears to me that these Senators appeal to issues that push them into the limelight. I don't own Apple stock and I am long on Microsoft.
Apple has done nothing illegal. It is avoiding taxes like we all do when we can. That is nothing un-American about that. Senators should first look at themselves especially on how they use my taxes to benefit their constituency and not America in general. They cannot operate within budget and so they find companies like Apple to force them to give more so they have more to spend.
It is time the Senate and Congress look into taxation and how it has increased and taken a larger percentage of everyone's earnings. As a California Resident here is an approximate list.
10% Califonia income tax 35% Federal Tax 6.2% Social Security Tax 1.8% Medicare Tax 6.2% matching employer Social Security tax 1.8% matching employer Social Security tax 8.75% Sales tax 1.08% Real estate Tax (on a average $500K home in OC) 0.0025% tax to eliminate red ants...what a joke $0.18 fuel tax per gallon (I think the total is about $0.4 per gallon) And a tax in my phone bill and payments towards bonds And a tax in my gas bill and payments towards bonds And a tax in my electric bill and payments towards bonds And a tax in my water bill and payments towards bonds
Now if there were no write offs, I would be no better than a slave in a country of the brave and free
McCain and his friends and foes in the Senate and Congress would be doing us a service they promised and pledged by cutting taxes and consolidating taxes by adopting just one method of taxation.....a sales tax only so we can remove all other departments, IRS that harasses the Tea Party, the state departments, the social security administration etc. and reassign all the human capital to work for America versus collect taxes and harass US citizens.
The Senate and Congress created the laws and regulations and Apple and other found a way to maximize the profits for its shareholders. It is time that the Senate and Congress find a way to work for us with the least amount of our money. And in doing so if they can find a way to store my taxes in Ireland I am all for it. But no they have spent it before they have collected and they want Apple to do the same, make losses so they will never be harassed for not paying taxes.
Microsoft To Apple: 'Welcome To The Club' [View article]
The job of the management of a company is to increase revenue, profits and dividends. That is exactly what Ballmer has done in the last 10 years.
A for the stock price, in 2000 the stock price included future potential of all startups that Microsoft had invested in. With the .com bust, Microsoft wrote off billions in investments and the stock price crashed. A lot of companies disappeared or nearly disappeared but Microsoft continued to grow, its stock price was re-evaluated and the stock price crashed from nearly $60 to $15. It is nearly twice now.
Apple's stock price crashed too and it came back with new products. Google emerged as a search leader and lot of search companies disappeared. Microsoft is # 2 or #3 depending on how you look at it.
When one evaluates a business, one should look at it separately. Unless you are going to invest all your money in one stock. Microsoft is expected to deliver a minimum of 10% returns from here forward for the next 10 years. If you want the returns of APPL and Google more I would strongly advise that you look for emerging companies with new technologies. None of the three, Apple, Google or Microsoft will give you that kind of return. Not now.
Bottom line, Ballmer and Microsoft are on the right path and they are here to stay. Ballmer is an operations guy and he will never give you the flashy marketing type appearance you are looking for. All three will continue to grow at a slower pace. One more than another, so decide where you want to invest.
Who Will End Up Staying With The Windows Phone? [View article]
New technology is always tough to introduce especially against good technology with consumer acceptance. In spite of that Nokia is selling every Lumia device it produces. Watch the $159 Lumia phones going on sell on WalMart. It will be a game changer. The Android devices are great and so is the iPhone. But does everyone need all that power and features. Many will save the $400 and go with the features they need and are happy with.
Step back two decades. Apple was selling the Mac and had less than 5% share. It still made money, increased revenue and continued to grow until it hit the jackpot with "i" devices....ipod, itouch, iphone and ipad. Microsoft is in a much better situation. It is increasing revenue and profits with its current business. It is selling all its Surface devices it produces, and its partner Nokia is selling all the phones they manufacture. When you are in a hardware business as huge as it is with tablets and cell phones, 5% is a lot especially in the first year. Just imagine that Microsoft adds 2% more market share every year for the next 10 years, a very slow growth but that would place it pretty high up in a crowded market place (Android should not be looked at together but individually by each manufacturer).
Bottom line, MSFT is a winner and will only continue to dominate. Wait until the iPhone comes under price pressure.
Microsoft Is Too Expensive For This Moment In Time [View article]
Its great that you have a sell recommendation on the stock. Now will you write another article recommending a buy on the stock so I can sell my stock at this price. With your sell recommendation all the buyers will disappear. Thank you for the next article that you will be writing.
A forward PE of 10.65 and a trailing PE of 16.87 and you recommend a sale on the stock. I don't get your logic. This is like a 25% growth in earnings in the next 12 months.
Microsoft Short Sellers Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet [View article]
Ashraf,
Excellent assessment. You have been one of the positive writers on Microsoft even in its down days. I am seeing the tide turn a bit since the results of the last quarter. The herd mentality of "PC is dead" is wrong. It is just changing its form factor. IBM is still around and it has re-engineered its business several times and so has AT&T in going from landlines to wireless. Microsoft has survived its bad years since the dot.com bust of 2000 and its stock price is now aligned to the new evaluations. From here it is steady upward growth.
I would like to see it reinvest its money in the international markets into some international companies....maybe like buy Nokia. A 20 billion purchase of Nokia (a 40% premium to its current stock price will hardly put a dent in its funds) would be a great way to start. Except MSFT management will need to learn to manage such companies with a hands off approach and leave that independent like Johnson and Johnson does with its purchases.
Anyway great article. And thanks for being objective in your articles.
Windows 8 Tablets Are Already Displacing iPads With More To Come [View article]
Ya, and I connected my PC with Vista to my carpet and wrote a program to make it fly. The darn carpet does not even lift a millimeter. And the Microsoft customer service said (disclosure: I made this up) that if I want the carpet to fly I should roll it and aboard a helicopter or a airplane. Or maybe secure it behind them and watch it soar.
You pay $99 for what it is designed to deliver. Sorry it does not do what you want because it was not designed for it.
Windows 8 Tablets Are Already Displacing iPads With More To Come [View article]
I would beg to differ on the comment that Windows 8 tablets are displacing iPads. The numbers show that iPad placements are reaching a saturation point. Windows 8 tablets, especially Surface tablets generally serve a different market....the professional crowd who want to use windows applications for work and content development.
iPads have done a wonderful job. They have a heavy penetration in the tablet market and I have not heard of iPads been put out of service with end of life. This is the same issue nagging PCs especially those used by corporations and professionals and high end users and content developers.
iPads will show a slowdown as other rivals come with cheaper products and all those who can afford an iPad have purchased one. If Apple were to lower iPad prices, you will see a bump up in numbers as it will bring in the crowd that cannot afford or will not buy an iPad at this prices.
Like every business especially the phone business, the replacement cycle for Apple has been very long and I don't hear of iPads hitting the junk yard like cellphones every few years.
And eventually Windows 8 will take over as the operating system is consistent over every phone, tablet and PCs and the difference between the devices is going to be processing power/speed, size of screen, quality of accessories and pricing.
Windows 8 will be a winner. All the naysayers want to see success today. Windows 8 is competing against two great products....Win 7 and Win Xp that corporations and professionals love and will not let go that easily as it does the job for them.
MSFT will continue to grow. Its revenues and profits are now growing and its stock price is finally in tune with its current revenue and profits. Expect a 15% percent growth rate year over year for the long term. The proof is in the number verses all the opinions of stock analysts.
Microsoft Has A Plan To Beat Apple, But Will It Happen? [View article]
Microsoft....they are those guys with 73 billion in revenue that was about 25 billion some 10 years ago and growing. They are the manufacturer of the failed Surface Tablet line that will probably add $8 to $10 billion to their revenue, which will more than offset the fall in PC sells. They are #1 to #4 in pretty much every software related business and now # 6 to # 10 in the tablet and smartphone market. Their smartphone and tablet manufacturing business as a standalone business would place them in the top 1000 companies by revenue. Maybe top 500. Thought this would be helpful.
On the stock side. The stock is going through wild swings of a dollar or more every week, making it a great stock for day traders.
This is not a normal company. The PE for the company around 2000 was 50. With the .com bust that PE could not be sustained. A PE of around 18 was considered normal through the 60s, 70, and 80s. Today that PE is not normal. This is an adjustment that we are seeing. Today a PE of 12 to 15 is normal. Finally we are seeing that that adjustment has occurred.
Yes, I would like Steve Ballmer to do things different, like use the billions he has to convert Microsoft from a software company to a conglomerate so as to compete with GE, Samsung and the Indian companies like Tata and Reliance. The billions it has con be used to buy # 3 and # 4 companies in the pharma, device, consumer industry. Companies that are struggling because of debt but are generating cash can be purchased with this cash and allowed to continue to run themselves. The great alternative to a mutual fund but then again I am not Ballmer or its board and don't think like them.
But, I am supportive of MSFT's growth and 2013 and 2014 will see a growth in its stock price. A 15% growth in stock price would be great with a 15% dividend increase.
Microsoft's Xbox Can Dethrone Google [View article]
Senate Slams Apple On Tax Avoidance [View article]
Senate Slams Apple On Tax Avoidance [View article]
Senate Slams Apple On Tax Avoidance [View article]
Apple has done nothing illegal. It is avoiding taxes like we all do when we can. That is nothing un-American about that. Senators should first look at themselves especially on how they use my taxes to benefit their constituency and not America in general. They cannot operate within budget and so they find companies like Apple to force them to give more so they have more to spend.
It is time the Senate and Congress look into taxation and how it has increased and taken a larger percentage of everyone's earnings. As a California Resident here is an approximate list.
10% Califonia income tax
35% Federal Tax
6.2% Social Security Tax
1.8% Medicare Tax
6.2% matching employer Social Security tax
1.8% matching employer Social Security tax
8.75% Sales tax
1.08% Real estate Tax (on a average $500K home in OC)
0.0025% tax to eliminate red ants...what a joke
$0.18 fuel tax per gallon (I think the total is about $0.4 per gallon)
And a tax in my phone bill and payments towards bonds
And a tax in my gas bill and payments towards bonds
And a tax in my electric bill and payments towards bonds
And a tax in my water bill and payments towards bonds
Now if there were no write offs, I would be no better than a slave in a country of the brave and free
McCain and his friends and foes in the Senate and Congress would be doing us a service they promised and pledged by cutting taxes and consolidating taxes by adopting just one method of taxation.....a sales tax only so we can remove all other departments, IRS that harasses the Tea Party, the state departments, the social security administration etc. and reassign all the human capital to work for America versus collect taxes and harass US citizens.
The Senate and Congress created the laws and regulations and Apple and other found a way to maximize the profits for its shareholders. It is time that the Senate and Congress find a way to work for us with the least amount of our money. And in doing so if they can find a way to store my taxes in Ireland I am all for it. But no they have spent it before they have collected and they want Apple to do the same, make losses so they will never be harassed for not paying taxes.
Microsoft To Apple: 'Welcome To The Club' [View article]
A for the stock price, in 2000 the stock price included future potential of all startups that Microsoft had invested in. With the .com bust, Microsoft wrote off billions in investments and the stock price crashed. A lot of companies disappeared or nearly disappeared but Microsoft continued to grow, its stock price was re-evaluated and the stock price crashed from nearly $60 to $15. It is nearly twice now.
Apple's stock price crashed too and it came back with new products. Google emerged as a search leader and lot of search companies disappeared. Microsoft is # 2 or #3 depending on how you look at it.
When one evaluates a business, one should look at it separately. Unless you are going to invest all your money in one stock. Microsoft is expected to deliver a minimum of 10% returns from here forward for the next 10 years. If you want the returns of APPL and Google more I would strongly advise that you look for emerging companies with new technologies. None of the three, Apple, Google or Microsoft will give you that kind of return. Not now.
Bottom line, Ballmer and Microsoft are on the right path and they are here to stay. Ballmer is an operations guy and he will never give you the flashy marketing type appearance you are looking for. All three will continue to grow at a slower pace. One more than another, so decide where you want to invest.
Who Will End Up Staying With The Windows Phone? [View article]
Step back two decades. Apple was selling the Mac and had less than 5% share. It still made money, increased revenue and continued to grow until it hit the jackpot with "i" devices....ipod, itouch, iphone and ipad. Microsoft is in a much better situation. It is increasing revenue and profits with its current business. It is selling all its Surface devices it produces, and its partner Nokia is selling all the phones they manufacture. When you are in a hardware business as huge as it is with tablets and cell phones, 5% is a lot especially in the first year. Just imagine that Microsoft adds 2% more market share every year for the next 10 years, a very slow growth but that would place it pretty high up in a crowded market place (Android should not be looked at together but individually by each manufacturer).
Bottom line, MSFT is a winner and will only continue to dominate. Wait until the iPhone comes under price pressure.
Microsoft Is Too Expensive For This Moment In Time [View article]
A forward PE of 10.65 and a trailing PE of 16.87 and you recommend a sale on the stock. I don't get your logic. This is like a 25% growth in earnings in the next 12 months.
Microsoft Short Sellers Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet [View article]
Excellent assessment. You have been one of the positive writers on Microsoft even in its down days. I am seeing the tide turn a bit since the results of the last quarter. The herd mentality of "PC is dead" is wrong. It is just changing its form factor. IBM is still around and it has re-engineered its business several times and so has AT&T in going from landlines to wireless. Microsoft has survived its bad years since the dot.com bust of 2000 and its stock price is now aligned to the new evaluations. From here it is steady upward growth.
I would like to see it reinvest its money in the international markets into some international companies....maybe like buy Nokia. A 20 billion purchase of Nokia (a 40% premium to its current stock price will hardly put a dent in its funds) would be a great way to start. Except MSFT management will need to learn to manage such companies with a hands off approach and leave that independent like Johnson and Johnson does with its purchases.
Anyway great article. And thanks for being objective in your articles.
Windows 8 Tablets Are Already Displacing iPads With More To Come [View article]
http://bit.ly/ZB2Zkl
Windows 8 Tablets Are Already Displacing iPads With More To Come [View article]
You pay $99 for what it is designed to deliver. Sorry it does not do what you want because it was not designed for it.
Windows 8 Tablets Are Already Displacing iPads With More To Come [View article]
iPads have done a wonderful job. They have a heavy penetration in the tablet market and I have not heard of iPads been put out of service with end of life. This is the same issue nagging PCs especially those used by corporations and professionals and high end users and content developers.
iPads will show a slowdown as other rivals come with cheaper products and all those who can afford an iPad have purchased one. If Apple were to lower iPad prices, you will see a bump up in numbers as it will bring in the crowd that cannot afford or will not buy an iPad at this prices.
Like every business especially the phone business, the replacement cycle for Apple has been very long and I don't hear of iPads hitting the junk yard like cellphones every few years.
And eventually Windows 8 will take over as the operating system is consistent over every phone, tablet and PCs and the difference between the devices is going to be processing power/speed, size of screen, quality of accessories and pricing.
Windows 8 will be a winner. All the naysayers want to see success today. Windows 8 is competing against two great products....Win 7 and Win Xp that corporations and professionals love and will not let go that easily as it does the job for them.
Microsoft: Back With A Bang [View article]
Microsoft's 'Secret' Projects That Will Completely Rock Your World [View article]
Microsoft Has A Plan To Beat Apple, But Will It Happen? [View article]
On the stock side. The stock is going through wild swings of a dollar or more every week, making it a great stock for day traders.
Microsoft Dying? I Don't Think So [View article]
Yes, I would like Steve Ballmer to do things different, like use the billions he has to convert Microsoft from a software company to a conglomerate so as to compete with GE, Samsung and the Indian companies like Tata and Reliance. The billions it has con be used to buy # 3 and # 4 companies in the pharma, device, consumer industry. Companies that are struggling because of debt but are generating cash can be purchased with this cash and allowed to continue to run themselves. The great alternative to a mutual fund but then again I am not Ballmer or its board and don't think like them.
But, I am supportive of MSFT's growth and 2013 and 2014 will see a growth in its stock price. A 15% growth in stock price would be great with a 15% dividend increase.