The Apple-Microsoft Comparison Is Valid [View article]
Once again, another Apple fan who can't see beyond his silly (but very expensive) little toys. Consumer products are only the tip of the iceburg. There is so much to IT that is not seen by the public eye... the very infrastructure that your iPhone and iPad owe their existence to. So what if the back office and servers aren't sexy? That is where the bread and butter of the industry is. And from what I've heard, for every 10 new smart phones / tablets sold to consumers, the service providers have to purchase another server to handle the data pumps needed to provide content for these gadgets. That's Ka-Ching for Microsoft / Intel / Sun / Oracle / IBM, etc. And those servers generate far, far more bucks and profit margins than those idiot boxes for the masses could ever produce.
Microsoft (MSFT) +1.6% after David Faber reports ValueAct Capital has taken a $2B stake (0.8%) in the company. Shares are now up 5% since Mister Softee delivered mixed FQ3 results Thursday afternoon. [View news story]
Amazing. The I-Hate-All-Things-Micr... crowd has so permeated our culture, that even good news is treated with a sneer. I remember when the Star Trek series slammed Microsoft by creating The Borg. The Inside joke was that the Borg was supposed to represent Bill's Org, who was assimilating (supposedly) other people's ideas and adding them to Windows. Bill Gates pretty much had to quit Microsoft and be a philanthropist because everyone hated him so much.
Apple $395: Time To Give Up And Abandon Ship? [View article]
Where did all the smug Apple evangelists go? You know... the ones who declared that everything "not apple" was already dead and buried, and that Apple's world conquest had only just begun?
Microsoft's 'Secret' Projects That Will Completely Rock Your World [View article]
If touch-screen is the future, then as a society, we will have to give up fried chicken, and all those other finger-licking foods that we love so much. I don't know about you, but I can't keep my Nokia phone or my touch pad screen clean! If this is progress, then you can kiss productivity out the window.
It's not enough nearly every prominent bear has decamped to the bullish ranks, but so-called "black swan" funds - set up to profit from market panics - have fallen out of favor. "If the world's central banks have decided they are going to do whatever to support the economy, then you are not going to have crazy volatility," says Nicolas Rousselet in the kind of quote the speaker will likely regret saying at some point. [View news story]
The reason there aren't any bears left isn't because they've become bulls; it's because they've been slaughtered! (or at least severly wounded).
I've been studying these markets for 5 years now, and it's like watching "Groundhog Day" over and over again. Every time a bear shows up, thinking he's going to make a killing off a market slide, the bear gets caught in a short-squeeze. And, every time the markets dip below their moving averages, "they" intervene, and the markets not only erase all the current losses, they surge on to new heights.
The usual explanations are that "investors are snapping up bargains", or that large institutions are "squaring up their positions", or that "shorts are covering their losses" : whatever, considering the amount of money QE is throwing in on a monthly basis, it still smells highly peculiar.
So go ahead... put your money on the bonfire along with the pile of corpses of negative naysayers. But you'd have a lot more fun going to Vegas, gambling, drinking, renting a high-priced hooker and lose your money that way... at least when you get screwed, you'll have a smile on your face.
Precious metals (GLD -1.4%, SLV -1.3%) tumble to new multi-month lows, with gold at $1,552/oz. the weakest since last summer and right near what technicians like to call long-term support going back to mid-2011. At $26.87, silver also threatens key chart levels. [View news story]
Who needs precious metals when you got Uncle Ben at your back preventing even the slightest downswing in equities? Watch... 48 hours from now, the stock market will "mysteriously" erase today's losses, ignore all (other) bad news, and surge forward to new heights. It's like having a rich uncle who erases all your gambling debts as long as you keep playing at the casino. this is so much better than that silly old capitalism we've been using for the last 1,400 years!
Makes you wonder why they have all those analysts who are continously blind-sided by all these "unexpected" events. Isn't it their job to know, and expect these things?
Stocks are at session highs midday with the S&P 500 (SPY +0.9%) - for the moment - just shy of getting back to its Friday close. The Nasdaq 100 (QQQ +1.1%) is green for the week. [View news story]
Hewlett-Packard Is A Fallen Angel That Can Double In 3-5 Years [View article]
I've always looked at HP computers as sluggish, over-priced, entry level products intended to bait first-time buyers. but most of their customers ended up frustrated, confused and feeling stupid because they didn't have the skills needed to use these machines. Their printers and scanners were good for a while, but lately their software drivers are constantly demanding the user to install the latest version, force you to reboot and or reinstall the entire software suite, not to mention try to get you install other software that you don't need or want.
And don't get me started on HP print cartridges that are ridiculously expensive and are "empty" when you've only used 80% of the ink! As long as they treat the customer as some dumb sucker, they will continue to lose market share.
What Does Microsoft's Balance Sheet Say About Its Financial Condition? [View article]
"15% of (Microsoft's) sales came from Entertainment and Devices"
Versus Apple's 100% sales from Entertainment and Devices. That's why I think the Apple fanatics are deceiving themselvs into thinking that Apple is "eating Microsoft's lunch". Apple will never be able to compete in servers, office products, business apps, or any other segment because they spend all their money developing consumer products that don't have any depth or functionality to them. It has taken decades for Microsoft to build the infrastructure needed to run servers and business apps... and no matter how much money Apple has, they don't have the expertise to develop those tools, much less convince businesses that they should be taken seriously.
Apple might be a pioneer in creating buzz and designing products that have wow and pizzazz, but in the end, they still just make consumer oriented products to entertain people who have more money than sensibility. The only way Apple can survive the hell they've created is to spend billions on R&D to create more questionably necessary products that are all the rage for six months and then thrown away.
Structural Change In The Mobile Processor Marketplace: Intel Wins; ARM, AMD Lose [View article]
Microsoft To Get A Major Revenue Growth Boost From Cloud Computing [View article]
The Apple-Microsoft Comparison Is Valid [View article]
Microsoft (MSFT) +1.6% after David Faber reports ValueAct Capital has taken a $2B stake (0.8%) in the company. Shares are now up 5% since Mister Softee delivered mixed FQ3 results Thursday afternoon. [View news story]
Apple $395: Time To Give Up And Abandon Ship? [View article]
Microsoft's 'Secret' Projects That Will Completely Rock Your World [View article]
The Real Reason No One's Buying PCs Anymore: They've Gotten Too Good
http://slate.me/16YMq2z
Microsoft's 'Secret' Projects That Will Completely Rock Your World [View article]
It's not enough nearly every prominent bear has decamped to the bullish ranks, but so-called "black swan" funds - set up to profit from market panics - have fallen out of favor. "If the world's central banks have decided they are going to do whatever to support the economy, then you are not going to have crazy volatility," says Nicolas Rousselet in the kind of quote the speaker will likely regret saying at some point. [View news story]
I've been studying these markets for 5 years now, and it's like watching "Groundhog Day" over and over again. Every time a bear shows up, thinking he's going to make a killing off a market slide, the bear gets caught in a short-squeeze. And, every time the markets dip below their moving averages, "they" intervene, and the markets not only erase all the current losses, they surge on to new heights.
The usual explanations are that "investors are snapping up bargains", or that large institutions are "squaring up their positions", or that "shorts are covering their losses" : whatever, considering the amount of money QE is throwing in on a monthly basis, it still smells highly peculiar.
So go ahead... put your money on the bonfire along with the pile of corpses of negative naysayers. But you'd have a lot more fun going to Vegas, gambling, drinking, renting a high-priced hooker and lose your money that way... at least when you get screwed, you'll have a smile on your face.
Precious metals (GLD -1.4%, SLV -1.3%) tumble to new multi-month lows, with gold at $1,552/oz. the weakest since last summer and right near what technicians like to call long-term support going back to mid-2011. At $26.87, silver also threatens key chart levels. [View news story]
The Fed Is Not Pushing Stock Prices Higher [View article]
Mar. Chicago PMI: 52.4 vs. 56.1 expected, 56.8 prior. [View news story]
Microsoft Positioned For Unrivaled Enterprise Ecosystem [View article]
Stocks are at session highs midday with the S&P 500 (SPY +0.9%) - for the moment - just shy of getting back to its Friday close. The Nasdaq 100 (QQQ +1.1%) is green for the week. [View news story]
Hewlett-Packard Is A Fallen Angel That Can Double In 3-5 Years [View article]
And don't get me started on HP print cartridges that are ridiculously expensive and are "empty" when you've only used 80% of the ink! As long as they treat the customer as some dumb sucker, they will continue to lose market share.
What Does Microsoft's Balance Sheet Say About Its Financial Condition? [View article]
Versus Apple's 100% sales from Entertainment and Devices. That's why I think the Apple fanatics are deceiving themselvs into thinking that Apple is "eating Microsoft's lunch". Apple will never be able to compete in servers, office products, business apps, or any other segment because they spend all their money developing consumer products that don't have any depth or functionality to them. It has taken decades for Microsoft to build the infrastructure needed to run servers and business apps... and no matter how much money Apple has, they don't have the expertise to develop those tools, much less convince businesses that they should be taken seriously.
Apple might be a pioneer in creating buzz and designing products that have wow and pizzazz, but in the end, they still just make consumer oriented products to entertain people who have more money than sensibility. The only way Apple can survive the hell they've created is to spend billions on R&D to create more questionably necessary products that are all the rage for six months and then thrown away.