It really was one of the worst conference calls from IBM that I've ever listened to. Mixed messages on why they missed. They obviously knew they were going to miss and should have put together what they were doing, how they were going to make the year, and had some excitement about where they are going. All the guy did was cover the numbers on the slides. Anyone could have read that. IBM is having shareholder days in various cities, so you may want to go to one of them close to you.
IBM (IBM -6.5%) would've missed Q1 EPS estimates by $0.34, rather than $0.05, if not for a lower tax rate, says BMO's Keith Bachman. Like others, Bachman is skeptical Big Blue's woes are solely due to execution, given weak results from peers (one can now add SAP to the list). "We think demand was perhaps weaker than we and the companies thought." Sterne Agee, however, is staying bullish precisely because it doesn't consider IBM's issues company-specific. Meanwhile, the WSJ is backing up CRN's report about the relatively low-margin x86 server unit being on sale. Morgan Stanley estimates the unit had 2012 sales of $4.9B. (previous) (transcript) [View news story]
At least IBM pays taxes while many companies do not.
IBM, And The Private Cloud, Will Get Here [View article]
Just an opinion...nothing more. The cloud is not a magic place. It requires systems, servers, storage, and software. Companies are interested in security and integrity of their data as well as immediate access, so they will restrict what is put on the cloud. Applications that use public information, email, chat, and things like that are more likely options for the cloud. But what they depend on for day to day operation as well as their confidential information will stay inhouse. If you understand the complexity of running a 24/7 datacenter with secure access, redundent servers and systems, offsite backup/recovery, and power generators, you will also understand that many businesses will not take the risk by moving their operational systems to the cloud. The cloud is more relevant when you have applications used by devices remotely that are not critical to your business. Even then, there is always technology required, including hardware and software. More users wanting to run apps, chat, blog about something, look up information will grow the cloud. Then as the business grows with more orders requiring production or purchasing or other business functions will require more inhouse systems. Both will grow and do well over the long term. And the way you know this is true, is that you rarely hear about an IT worker who can't find work, while clouds have existed now for years.
IBM, And The Private Cloud, Will Get Here [View article]
There really isn't much difference in the forward P/Es of MSFT and IBM now. But what we do know is IBM grew Total Net Income in 2012 by over $740M while MSFT's Total Net Income went down by over $6B in 2012. IBM reduced their share count in 2012 while MSFT didn't. IBM's P/E (from yahoo) is 13.24 while MSFT's is over 16. I have a small holding in MSFT; while I will never sell my IBM shares, if MSFT gets a few dollars higher, I will.
5 Stocks Warren Buffett Bought Heavily In The Past Year [View article]
GM news on the Spark EV getting 82 miles on a full charge is moving the stock higher and the 12% shorts are getting squeezed. I look for $35 pretty soon.
GM Is A Bargain: The Growth Drivers [View article]
The Chinese prefer GM Buick over TM and they have anomosity towards the Japanese in general. There is much regional discord, towards Korea as well. US products such as cars, cellphones, clothes, and accessories do well in the entire region. We should do more to promote our business there. You can read more about this if you translate Chinese websites.
GM is up 3% today on the Chevy Spark EV getting 82 miles on a full charge.
I really like the stock buybacks because I don't pay federal or state tax on buybacks, and my investment grows from the reduction in share count. If you have kids in college, dividends count as income on the FAFSA, increasing the parents' contribution towards college.
IBM was the first or second on the list on the WSJ Buying on Weakness page yesterday most of the time when I checked. IBM was in the top 5 buy orders on Fidelity. Today it is up 2% with over twice the normal volume. I think you are wrong about buying protection down here and I'm not buying any.
If you read the IBM news regularly, you will see that they are in many new ventures that have nothing to do with the cloud. They have science and technology centers all over the world. If they don't invent the next step forward while maintaining all the many data centers all over the world, then who will? Their customers are the ones leading the company's objectives and they have good reason to continue to do business with IBM as their own success depends on it. One serious breach,outage, or catastrophe and they are a step away from losing their business and bankruptcy.
There will always be people looking for cheap stock of good companies to buy, and Caterpillar is one of them. A trader may not see a reason to own the company. But when investors come back into the stock market, they may want to own Caterpillar because they think it is under-valued for a good company. If the stock trades down on Chinese news by programmed trades, that needs to be looked into by regulators. But I have no information that it happens and when real investors buy the stock, analysts who follow the stock will raise their rating on CAT.
Why You Need A Sell Target For Each Stock Held - And How To Set Them [View article]
One of my rules is never buy something you do not understand. And another one of my rules is never buy something that is not backed by real assets or revenue or cash.
If I Could Buy Just One Stock, It Would Be This One [View article]
IBM: CEO Rometty's Challenge [View article]
IBM is having shareholder days in various cities, so you may want to go to one of them close to you.
IBM (IBM -6.5%) would've missed Q1 EPS estimates by $0.34, rather than $0.05, if not for a lower tax rate, says BMO's Keith Bachman. Like others, Bachman is skeptical Big Blue's woes are solely due to execution, given weak results from peers (one can now add SAP to the list). "We think demand was perhaps weaker than we and the companies thought." Sterne Agee, however, is staying bullish precisely because it doesn't consider IBM's issues company-specific. Meanwhile, the WSJ is backing up CRN's report about the relatively low-margin x86 server unit being on sale. Morgan Stanley estimates the unit had 2012 sales of $4.9B. (previous) (transcript) [View news story]
IBM, And The Private Cloud, Will Get Here [View article]
IBM, And The Private Cloud, Will Get Here [View article]
5 Stocks Warren Buffett Bought Heavily In The Past Year [View article]
GM Is A Bargain: The Growth Drivers [View article]
You can read more about this if you translate Chinese websites.
GM is up 3% today on the Chevy Spark EV getting 82 miles on a full charge.
IBM Is Not A Falling Knife [View article]
IBM: A Disaster In The Making [View article]
Big Blue Is Black And Blue [View article]
IBM: A Disaster In The Making [View article]
5 Blue Chips With Solid Upside And Catalysts To Buy Now [View article]
Buy Caterpillar On 25% Pullback [View article]
Why You Need A Sell Target For Each Stock Held - And How To Set Them [View article]
Buy Caterpillar On 25% Pullback [View article]