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Steve Jobs' Return: What Does It Mean for Apple and RIM Stock?

If Mr. Jobs is ready to come back as the buzz indicates, he has an opportunity to redefine and reduce his role to more conceptual and strategic, and let those who have been running things to take more credit. This will reduce the market's focus on him and more on the performance of the company. Some day he will leave permanently and AAPL should cook the frog, not scald it.

I technically own AAPL but I'm short Jun 130 calls, so I'm probably out.

Why I'm (Still) Long Apple

I too am still long AAPL, and I agree that (assuming) they are growing market share, it is with the young, now college-aged consumer. But they have been using this strategy since Jobs1, with give-aways of Apple 2s to elementary schools in the 80s.

I'm a double 60s guy (in my 20s in the 60s and now just in my 60s) and have been negative the MSFT/PC platform since 1977 when I started computing with Tandy products and fought the tide all the way through the Tandy 2000. (Why is a Tandy 2000 like a bowling ball? No software for either one.)

Finally I adopted the hated WinTel machine for one reason only. If software existed, it existed for the PC. It made money for me and it still does.

In my business (CPA), a switch to AAPL would mean real money out of my pocket... first with the cost of the hardware... then with the time spent searching for the applications I need and use, or to find a compromise... then the higher software cost.

I will probably switch when retire or change professions, or if the applications I use become web based where the platform is not relevant.

In the meantime, my AAPL purchases will be limited to stock, options and iPods/iPhones.

How Will Apple - Amazon Partnership Change the e-Book Industry?

I am an e-book reader. I would own a Kindle for <$100, but in the meantime, I had planned to continue to read e-books (I use MobiPocket) on my HP PDA. Now I will definitely give Amazon e-books a try on my iPhone.

My understanding is that Amazon e-books use a variation of the MobiPocket format Since I have a substantial MobiPocket library that won't play on my iPhone, I hope this means that I may soon be able to read my MobiPocket books on my iPhone.

Apple's Annual Shareholder Meeting: Any Surprises?

By the way, regarding number 1 in your Q & A summary, just where in the U S Constitution is the right to privacy mentioned?

Memo to Bank of America's Directors: Shame on You!

Watch out for companies whose CEO is also the Chairman of the Board.

Nationalizing Bank Losses

I'm a "Pop" (as opposed to Mom and Pop) and I hold 300 shares of BAC directly. I've personally capitulated and have a tight stop-loss order on my position, that I expect to be filled Monday or Tuesday.

I have some faith that in the long-term (assuming I don't pass-on before the long-term) BAC will (could) be viable on it's own. I might be willing to risk my remaining $2,000 of value if it weren't for the possibility (probability?) that the federal government will cause common shareholders to lose all.

I may also own additional equity in this and/or other banks through my "diversified" mutual funds which only lost 30% in 2008. Even with diversification, those mutual funds will lose all of their bank equity if Secretary Tim decides to "nationalize" the banks (or what other spinned description he comes up with).

Currently, the federal government is the primary source of uncertainty, not stability, in the financials.


On Jan 31 02:08 PM Roger Knights wrote:

> Nowadays, aren't most mom &amp; pop investors invested via a fund
> or ETF that diversifies for them?

Apple's Software Sales: Investors' Heaven

I'm waiting for the law of large numbers to catch up with the federal deficit.

With numbers being thrown around these days, Apple at a Trillion market cap appears doable.


On Jan 30 03:36 PM valueinvestor69 wrote:

> 30% of free is still zero.
>
> Apple's market cap is $90m at these "depressed" prices. What's the
> upside from here? If id doubles or tripples, it would be worth $200b
> - $300b making it the largest market cap company in the US, larger
> then Exxon, by far. Could it be a ten-bagger long term from here?:
> If so, it will be have a1 trillion market cap.
>
> All mathematically possible, but the law of large numbers must catch
> up with them at some point. Most people, don't live past 100, and
> trees don't grow to the sky, although they could if they just kept
> going.

Have We Turned All Economic Authority Over to Highly-Principled Accountants?

Although I’m a CPA, I’m not an auditor. I was an auditor early in my career and I’ve taught accounting at the university level at various times over the past 35 years. I currently live in the world of federal income tax so this comment is general and not meant as expert analysis.

Assuming mark-to-market accounting is an attempt to provide current value information about the assets of publicly traded, for-profit entities, I’m not sure how hiding this information from the public makes these entities more profitable, or a better investment.

Some assets lend themselves to this kind of value determination, especially those such as publicly traded securities that have adequate volume. Others, such as real property, may have to rely on the techniques of appraisers… comparable sales, income capitalization, etc.

Other assets do not lend themselves to current value determination because they are unique, and/or have no market, that is, no willing buyers and sellers.

Accounting actually has as its mission to provide useful information to all the users of that information. Throughout modern history the accounting profession has provided verifiable, objective (i.e. historical cost) information to financial statement users, leaving subjective adjustments such as price level changes and the effect of other “moving targets” to the user.

I think the accounting profession should go back to reporting strictly objective information on the face of financial statements, while providing subjective information in the notes to financial statements and/or other supplemental information that will facilitate subjective analysis and adjustment by users. In this model, there would be no mark-to-market adjustments reflected on the face of the financial statements, but mark-to-mark adjustments, along with their calculations and assumptions would be provided supplementally.

Regarding auditing, the audit marketers would like everyone (especially those in a position to affect fees) to believe auditing provides truthful results. In reality, auditing delivers process. That is, the audit report bases its opinion on the fairness of the financial statements (taken as a whole) on the processrs required by generally accepted auditing standards. In other words if you object to the auditors conclusions, you would have to prove they didn’t follow those auditing standards to sue.

In Search of Competition For Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader

I agree with your point, and I will buy a new Kindle when they are available for under $100. In the meantime, I will continue to use my HP iPAQ 210, with adequate 4” screen to read e-books that I buy directly from Mobipocket.

So currently there is some competition to the Kindle and Sony in the form of PDAs. (And of course you can use your PC.) PDA devices are expensive but they have many other capabilities that help justify the price. Smart phones can be used as well, although their small screens are difficult to read, especially for people my age.

But content for the PDA or PC is more affordable than that available on Amazon. I’m not sure about content for the Sony, but with their history I expect the price is high.

Formats such as Microsoft, Acrobat and Mobipocket are available. I’m not familiar with the open source formats you mentioned, but I will check them out.

Right now, I prefer Mobipocket. They have an extensive, reasonably priced, library. I also read (public domain) classics free from Project Gutenberg, which I convert to the Mobipocket format using Mobipocket’s free utility.