bryanz

Cramer Positive on Sirus/XM Merger: Indicator of Actual Outcome?

The thing I don't understand is how people are talking about the merger creating a monopoly. Satellite radio is not an industry that needs to be heavily regulated. It's a subsector of a sector of an industry. It's the equivalent of HBO or Showtime in that it's a premium service that you can choose to pay for if you so desire. No one at the Ford dealership is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to shell out $13/month for satellite radio. The merger should go forward, it should have gone forward a long time ago. What are the reasons for the delay? Nothing good that I've heard yet...

Long SIRI

RIM's Single Point of Failure

I love the AAPL comments. I don't think before this article I'd ever seen one written by the author that didn't promoted AAPL. Of course, this article is nothing more than a thinly-veiled promotion of AAPL's recent announcement that the iPhone will work with Exchange. I haven't read much into the implementation of the technology yet, but if it's like GOOD for Windows Mobile smart phones, then businesses typically either use a BES or use a Goodlink server. If a business already has a BES, they probably aren't going to drop all their BBs and run out and buy iPhones and a Goodlink server. The outage stories I feel are overblown. Uptime is still well above 99%. The most recent outage apparently occurred as a result of adding increased capacity rather than some glaring glitch in the system that caused the service to choke. That being said, AAPL will certainly make some inroads into the business market, but RIMM will also make inroads into the consumer market as they've been doing with the Pearl and the Curve, and they're prepping to do with the 9000 series. New software upgrades will render HTML emails as part of the OS and will allow video recording.

For the record, I'm long both AAPL and RIMM.

Report: Apple's CEO Told Employees to 'Hang in There'

With that much cash on hand, where's a buyback? $5B from the coffers to reduce the total float, increase EPS for shareholders. If Apple thinks their shares are beaten down and cheap, snatch 'em up and prove the market wrong...

Sun: We’re A Java Company, Just Look At Our Ticker

Why do this now? It's not like Java is a novel concept anymore. This seems like a move that should have been done, were they going to do it, 3 years ago.

Did EMC Price VMware Too Low?

Xensource was just purchased by Citrix. It will be interesting to see if Citrix tries to somehow incorporate their thin-client technology with a virtualization platform.

That's Bull Stearns, not Bear Stearns - Barron's

Loyal workers may very well prefer a $200/share buyout, but who's going to cough up a 45% premium on stock that's been beaten down, and apparently rightfully so? I'm sure Yahoo shareholders would jump at a $40 buyout offer too, but given the market it just doesn't seem realistic. I'm not going to call BSC a dog, because it's still one hell of a company and if it falls back into double digits it may be tempting. But the whole financial industry is so volatile right now that unless you plan on plopping down your cash on BSC and then not touching it for a couple years, the risk/reward is probably much better in other places.

It May Soon Be Time to Buy VIX Puts

From CBOE's Learning Center:

What are index put options?
The buyer of an index put option has purchased the right, but not the obligation, to sell the value of the underlying index at the stated exercise price before the option expires. Once the option is purchased the buyer owns, and is then "long," the put contract. When the owner exercises an in-the-money put contract he will receive the cash settlement amount (the difference between put's strike price and the exercise settlement value of the underlying index) in cash.

Potential Profit: Substantial and increases as the level of the underlying index decreases to zero
Potential Loss: Limited to premium paid for put

Would Someone Tell Gold Traders It's A Holiday Week?

Resistance at/near the 50 day around 670, which also looks to be where the downtrend line converges?

Aside From Oil, Most Commodities At Bottom of Trading Ranges

It's interesting that most of the trading bands (save coffee and OJ) are narrower than normal yet, like the article points out nearly all commodities are pushing against or have dropped through the bottom of their respective trading bands. I assume this suggests increased volatility after a period of relative stability, or maybe rather predictability?

AT&T: Apple iPhone, Broadband Boost Target Price

I don't think T-Mo will be as hard hit as many people think because a large number of subscribers enjoy T-Mo because it's CHEAP. 1000 minutes for $40 at T-Mo vs 450 minutes for $40 at AT&T? I would think that most people that are drawn to value-per-minute idea will be hesitant to switch simply because there's an iPod that can answer phone calls at another carrier, and one that costs $500 in addition to a 2-year agreement.

I'm not saying the iPhone won't be a big sucess for AAPL. I'm sure it will. But I feel the analyst is getting the net new additions number wrong. How many people in the US that have the disposable income to drop $500 on a cell phone don't already have one?

Sears Holdings: Don't Sell Land's End - Expand It

Just curious as to your thoughts on two things:

1) You say Lampert is ready to go shopping. What about Gap? They've been struggling lately, there's strong "brand appeal" there. He could leave Gap and Banana Republic as stand alone stores then incorporate the Old Navy brand into the fold similar to the way Land's End has been taken in. That would allow for the closing of sagging Old Navy stores which would in turn cut costs, or the Old Navy stores could be converted into Sear Essentials-type stores depending on their size.

2) Buffett has said that he's looking to go shopping. He's also stated that he's looking for a successor to take over BRK. What better way to kill two birds with one stone than to buy SHLD? Buffett is comfortable with retail purchases (Wal-Mart and Target are/have been holdings), and Lampert has already been pegged as "most likely to succeed in the Warren Buffett way." With a current market cap just south of $30B, and assuming a 30% premium, that puts SHLD right in that $40B that's burning a hole in his pocket. Buffett could sit back and let Lampert manage SHLD while prepping him for the eventual succession to BRK. I know there's no indication that Buffett will even buy a US company, but it just seems like it makes sense. Lampert has created long term value in SHLD, something that Buffett values. P/E may be a little lofty but it's right in line with WMT of which he's a percentage stakeholder.