mike hough

25 Comments

    • Ethanol: Our Answer to Reducing U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil [view article]
      Corn ethanol is no solution. It is a problem. Nor is planting trees to 'absorb CO2'. They are a problem. Sequestration etc etc

      The solution is very very simple, and very very cheap - drive less or drive more economically (= smaller more efficient cars). Pushing 'technology' as a solution is simply a cop out. Oil industry propaganda to keep full production into the future.

      Not that you will find me doing any of those things. Why should I care about the planet when the US continues to produce 25% of the pollution from 4% of the population.       Aug 26 05:31 PM
    • 'Best of Breed' Business Model a Chink in Apple’s Armor? [view article]
      "I would have bought it the second time, but it was the South Beach store and it seemed the price was a couple hundred dollars higher than in Dallas (no surprise there)".

      No surprise to you perhaps but a hell of a surprise to me. In my experience there is NO price differential between Apple Store prices. Indeed Apple makes a point of NEVER discounting. So your comment seems somewhat suspicious to me. I cannot believe that Apple has MBA (a very new product) with a $200 discount. If I am wrong can you please post a link here where we can validate your claim.       Jun 23 01:17 PM
    • Sell the News, Buy the Rally [view article]
      No wonder there is a 'non recession' / 'tough patch' in the USA at the moment. With prats like this posing as economic experts things could get a lot worse. He would make a good replacement for dubbya in the White House.

      God help America.       Mar 13 11:07 AM
    • Apple's Guidance Games Are Hurting Shareholders [view article]
      Yawn, Yawn another ill informed article from Seeking Beta. Where is the evidence:

      "Phone sales in both France and the UK have been disappointing" CarPhone warehouse says best ever seller and is bringing in 300% footfall. Frenc connection says they have exceeded expectations for December and continue to sell very well after Xmas when they budgeted for a slowdown.

      "What if iPod sales which are basically flat, despite new products stay that way or decline?" Please god let them stay that way, sales only increased by 5% but revenue up 17%. Are you unable to understand that business is about profits not sales!

      Gross margin of 34.7 percent, up from 31.2 percent and another $3billion in the bank. God protect us from this bad management.

      The only people playing games here are the hedge funds and their friends in the 'media'.

       Jan 23 06:03 PM
    • 'ScareWare': A Sure Sign Apple Is on the Right Track [view article]
      The only thing more stupid than cpeople licking on MacSweeper was my clicking on this link. I got what I deserve, a rubbish piece of 'news' which is becoming all to frequent on Seeking Alpha.

      I really should get a life.       Jan 17 03:08 PM
    • Apple Earnings Expected to Beat Estimates [view article]
      140627. No you are not missing anything at all ......except expecting analysts to be accurate.

      We can now expect a batch of such experts to tell us that the company they trashed as 'missing targets' is now a 'buying opportunity' because they expect it to 'beat' targets. Of course they will make sure to tell their clients a day or two before they publish so the public will rush in and buy before Jan 22 and thereby fulfill the predictions made to their clients. No doubt they will then claim to be spot on with their predictions. All they need to do then is scream recession so loud that the taxpayer is obliged to bail them out of their subprime mess they put the world in etc etc. As the Times put it this morning:

      "In the case of Morgan Stanley, for example, the $5billion of new funding raised from the Chinese Government has been almost exactly matched by an increase in the bonus pool for payment to its supposedly talented employees. Citi, meanwhile, after paying out more than $100million to its sacked chief executive, is now planning to pay out roughly half the new capital it raised this week as a dividend next month."       Jan 17 06:48 AM
    • Apple Joins Microsoft in Fear Factor; Look to Lenovo [view article]
      If anything is bricked it is your reputation. A complete load of codswallop!

      As far as seeing Thinkpad's everywhere you obviously did not look here:

      duggmirror.com/apple/L...       Nov 30 05:12 AM
    • University Students Responsible For Booming Mac Sales [view article]
      For those who prefer a visual representation of data!

      thumbsnap.com/v/njTKXO...

      The other half:

      thumbsnap.com/v/odzVNc...       Oct 02 05:42 AM
    • Apple's iBrick Episode Should Be A Corporate Branding Disaster [view article]
      I won't add to the above critique of your hypothesis except to point out that Apple closed today at a new closing high of $156.33.

      The stock is on fire at the moment and and I would recommend that you devote your energy to buying the stock rather than writing such trivial nonsense.

      If you don't have the stomach (or cash) for that take a walk to your nearest Apple store and count the number of people who walk out with an iPhone(s).

      PS. I know a man, who knows a man, who does not like the Nintendo Wii but I would not build an 'article' on it.       Oct 01 04:26 PM
    • iPhone Price Drop Is A Bad Sign [view article]
      "Apple's (APPL) price cut on the iPhone means the phone is not selling the way they had hoped."

      Oh dear me, can we have your apology now? Eight times faster than the iPod. An all BEFORE the price drop.

      Apple iPhone Hits Million Mark

      us.rd.yahoo.com/financ...;cm_cat=FREE&c...       Sep 10 10:32 AM
    • iPhone Price Drop Is A Bad Sign [view article]
      As the writer of the first comment I am still awaiting how you reconcile the statement that iPhone is not selling when two independent surveys say it is above sales estimates and outselling ALL other smartphones. Your logic is at best prejudiced and at worst manipulative. I see that RIMM is upgraded todat. If I were to sell stock it would be RIMM who now have to compete with a $399 competitor which was already outselling them at $599!

      For all Americans can I point out that the US is not the same as the world. Ponder this when talking about product margins:

      iPod Touch price in US$

      8 Gig: $299 in the US and $402 in the UK (similar in rest of EU)

      16 Gig: $399 in US and $543 in the UK (similar in the rest of EU)

      The EU by the way has a much bigger population then the US

      The iPhone will have similar price comparisins.

      If you need me to tell you what the extra margins are on these prices please let me know! You might like to build them into your model.

      The US is a small component of the world. Just 4% at the last count.
       Sep 07 09:27 AM
    • iPhone Price Drop Is A Bad Sign [view article]
      Your logic does not correspond with the facts. iPhone was already the best selling Smartphone outselling Blackberry and all other Smartphones in the first month sales (iSuppli survey). It is on target to beat Apple's sales estimates (Piper Jaffray survey conducted before the price reduction).

      You cannot therefore claim "the phone is not selling the way they had hoped." Additionally you cannot claim "I believe this can be attributed to slowing consumer discretionary spending".

      The does NOT mean that selling stock is a bad idea as the market often moves in an irrational way. But please do not make claims which fly in the face of reason. Give your claims some context as any responsible journalist should. Your readers deserve this.

      Meanwhile I have sold some stock but, armed with the facts above, I am better prepared than I would be if I followed your article and concluded that Apple's iPhone was a failure. It clearly is not.

      Your readers might also like to consider selling RIMM (Blackberry) and other Smartphone stocks which now have to compete with a much lower priced iPhone which was already outselling them all! They might also like to know that iPhone is already selling more than all Microsoft based phones combined even with your assumption that it is a 'failure'.       Sep 06 04:43 AM
    • Expect New iPods on Sept. 5 [view article]
      There is inevitable speculation (free marketing) over what will be announced at the Apple event on 5 September. One possibility which I have not seen anywhere is the possible convergence of Apple and Google rumors.

      About a week ago (i.e. with two weeks to go to the Apple event) there were some comments about the 'Google phone' (gPhone) and a possible announcement/release in some two weeks time. That is, more or less, simultaneously with the Apple 5 September event. There was also comment about Google stabbing Apple in the back as a result of the Google CEO on Apple's board. This would seem somewhat unlikely as it would seem to be something Apple would have been prepared for before making the appointment.

      So, could it be that in fact we are talking about an Apple phone to be funded by Google adverts? An 'iPhone lite' funded by Google video adverts which coincidentally, have just been announced for YouTube.       Aug 30 11:51 AM
    • What's Next For Apple Stock? [view article]
      I never fail to be amazed at the awful standard of some 'analysts' 'opinion'. This guy writes without ever having seen an iPhone and he clearly did not research the points he made which the previous responder makes clear. Take for example the following point:

      1. "has less functionality than many of its competitors." and "The magic of owning this device is purely about the look and style."

      This is simply unbelievable rubbish. People buy Apple products because they 'work' beautifully and do not require a manual. They certainly admire 'style' ( after all Jonathan Ive is ranked 1st out of 25,000 industrial designers) but they buy on the 'experience' of using the product. They value simplicity and intuitive operation over zillions of features which most people simply never use.

      2. "Steep cost" (for an iPhone) - "Ninety-five percent of buyers in three markets, San Francisco, New York and Minneapolis, purchased the more expensive 8GB model ($599 vs. $499 for the 4GB model), per a survey of 253 people by Piper Jaffray" from Piper Jaffray.

      3. Andrew Horowitz might like to use the return journey to read what others think:

      "iPhone sells

      Apple Inc. sold as many as 200,000 iPhones in the product's first 24 hours in stores, (Bloomberg) and analysts said sales reached 520,000 by late Sunday after half of Apple's West Coast stores sold out. (Los Angeles Times, free registration required) Some new iPhone owners reported problems activating the device through exclusive carrier AT&T as the rush overwhelmed the company's servers. (AP in Yahoo! Finance) Tear-down firm Portelligent opened up an iPhone, and estimated that it cost Apple $220 to make, making Apple's gross margin about 60 percent -- high even by Apple's standards. "

      Ah well, another one to place on my 'ignore' list. Seeking Alpha needs to cull out idiots like this with no sense of professional reporting. Perhaps Andrew Horowitz will stay over in Moscow a little longer. Given that his article is so contrary to the facts does he have another agenda?       Jul 02 11:09 AM
    • No Hidden Agenda Behind Required iTunes Account for Apple's iPhone [view article]
      As usual Carl is one of the few who really understand Apple Inc. How anyone can have thought it would be any other way than iTunes is beyond me.

      In addition to the points made by Carl it might be worth restating (for those commentators who seem to need that little extra help) that iTunes is cross platform (Mac and PC) along with QuickTine and Safari. Safari is too new, QuickTime and Safari not 'account' oriented so that only leaves iTunes or a 'new' platform - which would have to be cross platform.

      iTunes certainly happens to be an excellent fit commercially (music + video + podcasts) but even if that were not it would still be the obvious vehicle. It is already available, ubiquitius, tested and secure. This is a no brainer.       Jun 15 09:33 AM
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