Windows 8 and its dual interfaces represent a huge gamble, and some think it will backfire. Bronte Capital, worried the Metro UI won't function well with a keyboard and mouse: "This will wind up with a lower corporate take up rate than Vista." Valve CEO Gabe Newell, worried about Microsoft's (MSFT) proprietary approach: "Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space." Matt Rosoff: "Windows 8 is for touch screens. Period." Developer Jeff Atwood is "cautiously optimistic." (also: I, II, III) [View news story]
Microsoft succeeding operating systems have done little for users in terms of ease of use and seamless integration with hardware and legacy applications. Over the years they have launched disparate upgrades prematurely replete with bugs while maintaining the consistently outrageous attitude that users overpay for the privilege. There is no reason to believe that this condescending and poor product management DNA or user-unfriendly track record will change.
If the CEO did indeed short his stock ahead of the dividend cut his gains should not only be clawed back he should be criminally prosecuted. How does this differ from insider trading?
It is long overdue that regulatory agencies enforce and Congress pass new laws if necessary to protect the public trust. This nation cannot condone executives of public corporations placing themselves ahead of shareholders who own the company. Huge salaries and outlandish bonuses and perks particularly when awarded for poor sales, earnings and market share make these executives no more than educated thieves who should be fired and incarcerated and all the monies returned to the corporation.
The U.S. Supreme Cort agrees to hear an appeal by Comcast (CMCSA -1.5%) over a lower court ruling that allowed cable subscribers in Philadelphia to sue on a basis that the company monopolized the market and overcharged them. The case will be on the court's docket sometime this fall. [View news story]
Competition is the lifeblood of fair pricing. The Supreme Court must rule against Comcast if they have acted in a predatory manner. In the same vein the DOJ must police the telcommunications and other highly concentrated industries such as banking, credit card, oil, and airlines to name but a few of a growing number to assure competition for the protection of the public. Those companies at the the top of the food chain cry foul and speak of the benefits of economies of scale and the resultant benefit to the public when in practice and experience precisely the opposite occurs.
Not breeding competition results in too-big-to-fail companies, greedy executives and boards of directors who gorge themselves at the public's expense, reduction and outsourcing of jobs and job opportunities, a net reduction in tax revenues to the country, skimping in quality and service and over-pricing and the deterioration of net worth and standard of living to the average American.
Do Comcast (CMCSA +0.6%), Time Warner (TWC +0.5%), and other cable providers run their own private Internet when they offer lush on-demand video services at they same time they impose data usage caps on customers? That's the crux of the matter the DoJ is investigating at the behest of streaming firms such as Hulu and Netflix (NFLX +1.4%) - with their contention that the companies are unjustly rebranding the public Web as a private product. [View news story]
The Internet should be unfettered with no artificial usage caps imposed by any of the providers. Despite their bellyaching the huge gross margins they enjoy for their publicly-granted oligopoly and monoply rights to deliver service are incentive enough for them to invest in the necessary equipment and manage their costs.
It is time enough for the regulators to quit cowtowing to these profiteers and protect the public as they were so intended.
Top 10 Reasons Microsoft Surface Is DOA [View article]
Interesting comments. MSFT will always have diehard supporters as AAPL. After many years using and owning both platforms the most salient differences for both business and personal use between the two are creativity, hardware and software execution, smooth and efficient upgrades, legacy compatibility and so importantly, user friendliness and customer support. These are the reasons that have driven Apple's success to-date and what Microsoft in its ad hoc marketing behavior has failed to copy.
ConocoPhillips (COP) -1.2% premarket after shares are downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. COP "continue[s] to trade more like a defensive super major rather than a somewhat higher-beta domestic oil/E&P post the spin-off of its downstream assets," the firm says, as it sees greater upside elsewhere in the integrated/domestic oil and refiner sector. [View news story]
You are absolutely correct, jw! Would not be surprised if one of their "firewalled" divisions in the next cubicle went long at the close.
Has Microsoft Just Leapfrogged Apple? [View article]
Another gusher? How about using the Surface first and getting some feedback from others before gratuitous gushing. Microsoft is a serial copycat with a horrible and frustrating customer service track record unlike Apple of making its users beta testers and paying for the privilege only to be frustrated by bugs, patches and inelegant updates not to mention failed OS releases. Now expanded hardware off of the Zune? Have they changed their DNA?
Will The Microsoft Surface Tablet Redefine Mobile Computing? [View article]
How about using the Surface first and getting some feedback from others before gratuitous gushing. Microsoft has a horrible track record of making its users beta testers and paying for the privilege only to be frustrated by bugs, patches and inelegant updates not to mention failed OS releases. The Zune did not fare well. Have they changed their DNA?
Buy on sale. Best to ease in T & VZ on pullbacks. If in and income is necessary stay in to avoid unneccesary taxes. As for VOD account for the additional foreign risk and withholding taxes as applicable when calculating rates of return. As always be ever vigilant of management making self-serving decisions not for the benefit of stockholders.
Sodastream (SODA -0.2%) CEO Daniel Birnbaum says he won't shut up about the company's global campaign to visually demonstrate the bottles and cans that pile up from Coca-Cola (KO -0.2%) consumers despite a cease-and-desist letter fired off from Coca-Cola's attorneys. At issue are the touring exhibits across the world of Coke-related trash that Sodastream uses to demonstrate the environmental benefits of home brewing soda. By filing off the letter, Coca-Cola may have drawn more publicity to the events than they were ever going to generate on their own. [View news story]
Another example of a too big company allowing a questionable decision to unnecessarily draw attention to themselves. An "involved hands-on" management would simply ignore the gnat.
Dividend Cutters: When To Buy Them Back ? [View article]
GE is a great example of what happens when companies grow too large; they become unmanageable and top management makes decisions ironically not truly understanding the "big picture". GE has outstanding divisions positioned in growth niches; however investors would be better served if the company spun them off to unlock value rather than buying stock back. Investors and employees alike would fare better than enriching a small, self-aggrandizing management of a behemoth corporation whose stock has been a drag for a number of years now.
Procter & Gamble (PG -0.4%) announces a new product aimed at providing an OTC solution to sleeplessness with ZzzQuil. The company says that the medication's single active ingredient - diphenhydramine HCI - has proven effective in promoting restful sleep. [View news story]
Is this the best PG can do, a "me- too" double dose (50 mg) of JNJ's Benadryl? Seems iffy in light of the contraindications. Wonder how safe and how much clinical testing they did?
Why We Didn't Invest In Facebook's IPO [View article]
The Facebook IPO is emblematic of what is wrong with Wall Street and why the average investor correctly distrusts the decision makers: greed trumps integrity.
Expect To See Facebook At $15 In Coming Quarters [View article]
Corey,
You have real horse sense! The Facebook IPO was a spectacular vehicle for a legal "pump and dump" at the expense of the public. The insiders, hedge funds and investment bankers made hundreds of millions and some billions of dollars.
What is particularly noteworthy is that there was no apparent value intended to the initial stockholder and that is precisely what makes it a "dump" on the public offering. Shame on the underwriters for the ridiculously increased stock allotment & price, alleged insider tipoffs and for placing a pall on future IPOs, particularly in tech.
Shame on the regulators as well for not doing their jobs in protecting the ordinary public investor but instead continuously hiding behind the shoddy excuse of not interfering with free enterprise.
10-K Drill-Down: Researching Potential Risks To Apple [View article]
People who comment on companies in this space should have some standing, I.e., ownership or use of the products and services or ownership of the securities for at least two or three years before commenting.
Ever wonder why analysts on Wall Street are so far off with their opinions? Because they suffer the same shortcomings...they are not "invested" in the subject matter. Although they are intelligent and may be well-schooled they have no substantive understanding of what they write and generally no skin in the game. Hence their opinions should be summarily dismissed.
Windows 8 and its dual interfaces represent a huge gamble, and some think it will backfire. Bronte Capital, worried the Metro UI won't function well with a keyboard and mouse: "This will wind up with a lower corporate take up rate than Vista." Valve CEO Gabe Newell, worried about Microsoft's (MSFT) proprietary approach: "Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space." Matt Rosoff: "Windows 8 is for touch screens. Period." Developer Jeff Atwood is "cautiously optimistic." (also: I, II, III) [View news story]
Supervalu: Short-Term Challenges, Optimistic Long-Term [View article]
It is long overdue that regulatory agencies enforce and Congress pass new laws if necessary to protect the public trust. This nation cannot condone executives of public corporations placing themselves ahead of shareholders who own the company. Huge salaries and outlandish bonuses and perks particularly when awarded for poor sales, earnings and market share make these executives no more than educated thieves who should be fired and incarcerated and all the monies returned to the corporation.
The U.S. Supreme Cort agrees to hear an appeal by Comcast (CMCSA -1.5%) over a lower court ruling that allowed cable subscribers in Philadelphia to sue on a basis that the company monopolized the market and overcharged them. The case will be on the court's docket sometime this fall. [View news story]
Not breeding competition results in too-big-to-fail companies, greedy executives and boards of directors who gorge themselves at the public's expense, reduction and outsourcing of jobs and job opportunities, a net reduction in tax revenues to the country, skimping in quality and service and over-pricing and the deterioration of net worth and standard of living to the average American.
Do Comcast (CMCSA +0.6%), Time Warner (TWC +0.5%), and other cable providers run their own private Internet when they offer lush on-demand video services at they same time they impose data usage caps on customers? That's the crux of the matter the DoJ is investigating at the behest of streaming firms such as Hulu and Netflix (NFLX +1.4%) - with their contention that the companies are unjustly rebranding the public Web as a private product. [View news story]
It is time enough for the regulators to quit cowtowing to these profiteers and protect the public as they were so intended.
Top 10 Reasons Microsoft Surface Is DOA [View article]
ConocoPhillips (COP) -1.2% premarket after shares are downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. COP "continue[s] to trade more like a defensive super major rather than a somewhat higher-beta domestic oil/E&P post the spin-off of its downstream assets," the firm says, as it sees greater upside elsewhere in the integrated/domestic oil and refiner sector. [View news story]
Has Microsoft Just Leapfrogged Apple? [View article]
Will The Microsoft Surface Tablet Redefine Mobile Computing? [View article]
AT&T Looks Expensive [View article]
Sodastream (SODA -0.2%) CEO Daniel Birnbaum says he won't shut up about the company's global campaign to visually demonstrate the bottles and cans that pile up from Coca-Cola (KO -0.2%) consumers despite a cease-and-desist letter fired off from Coca-Cola's attorneys. At issue are the touring exhibits across the world of Coke-related trash that Sodastream uses to demonstrate the environmental benefits of home brewing soda. By filing off the letter, Coca-Cola may have drawn more publicity to the events than they were ever going to generate on their own. [View news story]
Dividend Cutters: When To Buy Them Back ? [View article]
Procter & Gamble (PG -0.4%) announces a new product aimed at providing an OTC solution to sleeplessness with ZzzQuil. The company says that the medication's single active ingredient - diphenhydramine HCI - has proven effective in promoting restful sleep. [View news story]
http://bit.ly/KHbvbk
http://1.usa.gov/KHbt3g
Why We Didn't Invest In Facebook's IPO [View article]
Expect To See Facebook At $15 In Coming Quarters [View article]
You have real horse sense! The Facebook IPO was a spectacular vehicle for a legal "pump and dump" at the expense of the public. The insiders, hedge funds and investment bankers made hundreds of millions and some billions of dollars.
What is particularly noteworthy is that there was no apparent value intended to the initial stockholder and that is precisely what makes it a "dump" on the public offering. Shame on the underwriters for the ridiculously increased stock allotment & price, alleged insider tipoffs and for placing a pall on future IPOs, particularly in tech.
Shame on the regulators as well for not doing their jobs in protecting the ordinary public investor but instead continuously hiding behind the shoddy excuse of not interfering with free enterprise.
10-K Drill-Down: Researching Potential Risks To Apple [View article]
Ever wonder why analysts on Wall Street are so far off with their opinions? Because they suffer the same shortcomings...they are not "invested" in the subject matter. Although they are intelligent and may be well-schooled they have no substantive understanding of what they write and generally no skin in the game. Hence their opinions should be summarily dismissed.