-June 2024 Special Lease Deals-
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
Options
Comments
At this rate, you'll be researching smart phones from the grave...
:P
How's the cell service from there? Many dropped calls, I wonder? Or dead zones? (Sorry, I just had to make a bad pun.)
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
You can submit a question using the "help" link at the top. That'll get it to people who know things about stuff.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Need help navigating? kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
Share your vehicle reviews
The last analyst to downgrade Apple was BGC Partner’s Colin Gillis in October of last year. The stock is up more than 60 percent since that downgrade as iPhone sales came in better than expected, a new iPad was introduced and the company declared a dividend. Forty-five analysts have “buy” ratings on Apple’s stock, just five have a “neutral” rating and only one has a “sell.” It is the most widely-held stock among U.S.-based hedge funds.
AT&T, Verizon [VZ 37.506 -0.154 (-0.41%) ], Sprint [S 2.70 -0.06 (-2.17%) ], Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone [VOD 27.2599 -0.1001 (-0.37%) ], America Movil [AMOV 23.80 -0.20 (-0.83%) ] and Telefonica will be among the carriers to dangle fewer iPhone upgrade offerings to customers at a subsidized cheaper price, said Piecyk. And as Apple expands further into emerging markets, where prepaid plans are the norm, carriers will be less likely to offer these subsidies to the company.
“We expect post-paid wireless operators to remain firm in their plan to stunt the pace of phone upgrades in 2012 and we expect to see some initial evidence of their success in the current quarter,” wrote BTIG’s Walter Piecyk, a veteran technology analyst, in a note to clients Monday. “This will increase the need for Apple to grow its business in the pre-paid dominated emerging market space, in which handset subsidies are a rarity and the $600 ASP (average selling price) of the iPhone represents a big chunk of a household’s monthly income.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46993240
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Next gen iPhone is supposed to incredibly fast:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/rumor-apple-already-testing-next-162542746.html
Regarding buying a Euro market device, it is common. I am not even sure if they lock devices to carriers, but there is a huge grey market for smartphones. Go to the website of a leading Euro carrier and check out their available devices, then check any US market carrier - it is mindblowing. You can buy pretty much any device you want that works on our frequencies, but it won't be cheap.
I'm driving west on I 80 today but I did get a glimpse of your post earlier. In my opinion, you're right on target as usual. I think that analyst is out of his mind. I agree that since Apple is up and making new highs on a substantial down day for the market in general speaks volumes.
I just stoppped to get some gas in western Illinois. I've been fighting an incredible headwind all day since I started this morning from the west gusting to 40 miles an hour or greater at times. The fact that I have averaged 25.8 mpg is rather amazing with this kind of headwind. I only put in about 5 gallons since the gas in IA is much cheaper.
I could tell you many horror stories dealing with AT&T. However while in AZ at Thanksgiving my wife's Cell phone was not working. It is several years past the contract now. We stopped into the AT&T Wireless Store. A young lady turned it on and promptly told us the Sim Card was not up to date. She popped in a new one and all was good. She also said many times when you go from one region to another it is a good idea to do a reset by pulling out the battery.
I think Samsung divides the goodies between the two majors. Verizon got the Samsung Nexus with Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Then AT&T got the Note. Since then Verizon got the Galaxy 7.7. They are not interchangeable between the carriers. Verizon is a CDMA carrier and AT&T uses GSM. An AT&T phone will work in the EU and as far as I can tell most Verizon phones will not.
I think Verizon has dual CDMA/GSM devices available, but I don't know if they actually sell. If one is to spend any time in Europe it's best to get a local SIM and maybe a cheapo phone anyway.
Speaking of Apple, we have an 84 year old lady in our church that carries an iPad with her bible loaded on it. Much lighter than a heavy bible. She is a huge fan of Apple, has a Mac at home. In talking to her it seems her late husband bought several thousand shares of AAPL in the 1990s. So far she has resisted selling any. Does not want to pay the CG tax. She has a comfortable retirement from her 40 years at Bell Telephone.
The hedge fund guy that was on CNBC last week (who they promoted to no end beforehand) with Gary was a joke. Yesterdays analyst who came out with a downgrade did use solid logic on his write-up. I don't agree with his analysis but I certainly wouldn't criticize its logic or financial analysis based on its logic. if he is somehow right. The only thing I disliked is he said that the sales of the iPhone would fall in the quarter after the next which is far out. While he used the subsidy argument as his cause he also said that it would be caused by the iPhone 5 intro delaying purchases. So that was a CYA move on his part IMO. If sales fall off is because of pent up demand for the iPhone 5 rather than a subsidy issue he'll be right briefly and wrong overall.
I was watching that segment this morning as well and found it rather interesting. In addition to what you stated above about the funds being under-invested on AAPL, I thought that what Cramer said (or started to say) was even more revealing. He started to say that "we have had people on our own network who have been"......and then he went off on a tangent as they were talking about analysts having buy or sell recommendations on AAPL. Instead of naming names on CNBC that have been negative on AAPL, he started talking about Gary Kominskey's "brilliant presentation" on whether Apple could be another JDSU? So, he did not come right out and state that Kominskey and a few others appearing on CNBC have been full of baloney, he tried to praise him about what he called a "brilliant presentation" that made no sense. In other words, Cramer did not want to call anybody out in a direct way on this subject.
Btw, that Melissa Lee, who was trying to put down AAPL when the stock was at $350-$400, now acts like she has been positive about AAPL all along. She is a dodo.
How they went from Dylan Ratigan from a few years ago to her as host of Fast Money and other segments is way, way beyond my understanding.
Much better than expected earnings report by Alcoa after the close. Let's see where it leads us tomorrow.
She might plan to never sell them and leave them to her heirs. In that case they would benefit with the stepped up basis, etc., unless somewhere in that 2700 pages of obamacare that has been changed. :confuse:
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I have been told that the taxes are going to remain as they are, but can`t help but wonder about the estate tax...You can give away a large amount of money this year tax free....
I wonder also what the lady would do with the proceeds of any aapl she were to sell?? after all it is the finest investment going imo Tony
TV is driven by ratings and by looks/age.
You Compare - You Decide:
vs
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/science/a-new-look-at-natures-role-in-the-tita- - - nics-sinking.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
I believe he wanted his own show apart from Fast Money and CNBC took a hardline on it. But the dropoff in talent from him to Melissa was like that from an NFL team to a college one.
I suspect that to be the case. I would imagine the bulk going to her Son that is the director of a large Mission Work in Mexico. She seems to live quite comfortably. She is very generous helping people financially. I will mention the CG going to 20% in 2013.
On that note we have purchased several bars of soap that was the type used in the `first` class section.....It is a pleasant enough type, but whenever we break out a bar, I think of those souls who used the `same` that awful evening....they not knowing what was about to happen..
I`m sure you would be the `gentleman` and assist your family to the life boat, and then take your chances with whatever were to come....Tony
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
And yes, a great movie.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Wow! This is tragic and fascinating at the same time. I had no idea about this new research. Maltin's book about the mirages makes a lot of sense. It really now seems as if there were no villains in this tragedy.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
DOJ sues Apple over price-fixing scheme
Regards,
OW
What a silly lawsuit. People don't have to buy eBooks. We still have libraries and most now offer eBook checkouts. More frivolous waste of tax dollars. The market will correct any price manipulation. I would never buy an eBook for the exorbitant prices currently asked. I do load all the free classics into my wife's Kindle account. If you wait a year after the book is published you can usually buy it online or at a thrift shop for a buck or less.
The only troubling part I see here, is the DOJ has some other things it has chosen not to prosecute in a Philadelphia voting location problem and with bounties placed on a US citizen by a group--I'd also like to see them find those items and prosecute.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I'm sure you're right.
Yes, the great majority of my stocks including most of AAPL are long term.
India challenges U.S. immigration rules at WTO
(Reuters) - India has launched a complaint at the World Trade Organisation over the cost of U.S. work visas, which it says are too high and discriminate against a group of Indian IT firms, in the latest sign of prickly trade ties between the two allies.
The complaint is at the level of WTO "consultations" between the two parties - the last step to resolve a disagreement before entering a full-fledged legal dispute.
"India is taking up consultations on this issue and hopes to solve it amicably," an official at the trade ministry said on Wednesday, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The tax ramifications from the MFGlobal scandal are fuzzy. One day, I spent 3 hours on the phone (mostly on hold) with the IRS trying to get a concrete answer. It was such a waste of my time. The consensus is that since there is yet no proof of fraud and that we will probably get the rest of the money at some point, then we need to act as if everything is normal. In my and my family members case, we show profits on trading for 2011 and we need to declare it as such even though we have not received 28% of money yet. It's a travesty.
I`v been audited many time in the past, and the IRS is just a regular organization...to be treated with respect...but the use of hind sight is what tilts the table their way......If by chance you don`t get the money back then you are able to use that to you advantage....It usually takes a couple of years before they strike, and you can amend when you get your money..
I`m sure my thoughts are dated, but i`m sticking with them
Obama hates everything that Apple stands for and is great friends with Bill
Gates. Once the DOJ goes after you, there are no winners. Just a threat like this is enough to affect stock prices.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Obama has the oil companies, the banks that almost put us into a depression as great as the 30's and who knows how many others to go after and investigate and he goes after a company that has the most popular products in America. Apple has 70% of the music industry because they had the only business model that worked at the time.
Samsung Electronics America is prepping a new line of aggressively priced Galaxy Tab media tablets and even smaller Galaxy Players for a U.S. release beginning this month and into May.
Samsung's new 7.7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 launches on April 22 at $249.99, while the 10.1-inch model will begin shipping on May 13 at $349.99. By contrast, Toshiba's recently announced 7.7-inch and 10.1 Excite tablets are being priced in the $449.99 to $499.99 range.
The low prices are an effort to better compete with U.S. market leaders Apple and Amazon. Samsung will launch the latest products through Best Buy's retail outlets as well as Amazon's online Web site.
Samsung's aggressive pricing strategy for its next generation Galaxy Tab 2 models is a clear challenge to market leader Apple. Piper Jaffray believes that a new 7.7-inch iPad is in the works but does not expect to see the new model launch this year.
"We continue to believe that Apple will release a sub-$300 iPad with a smaller display in calendar year 2013," wrote Piper Jaffray analysts Gene Munster and Douglas Clinton in a March investor note.
When we asked whether Piper Jaffray foresees an earlier launch date for a 7.7-inch iPad, Clinton responded in an e-mail Thursday, saying, "Our thoughts on the timing of the smaller iPad remain unchanged despite Samsung's [latest] Galaxy releases."
I played with the new Samsung 7.7 along with the new iPad. I like them both. At $249 for the Samsung it is a slam dunk. I makes the Kindle Fire seem ancient.
C'mon - do you really believe this?
The DOJ went after Apple and some publishers because they came up with a scheme to fix the retail pricing of e-books that caused the other major distributor of e-books - Amazon - to raise their prices or lose the rights to sell the product. Amazon felt the price floor they set was too high. Now Amazon should have been gone after some time ago as they were selling e-books at below cost to keep it's Kindle selling better than the Nook.
As for iTunes - unless the DOJ can prove that it has the ability to control the market and raise prices, nothng is going to happen.
Remember - monopolies are not illegal. Using monopolistic or ogolopolistic power to restrict trade and control prices to the detriment of the market is.
There is NO DOUBT the lawsuit is vindictive.
Jobs' Meeting With Obama
Jobs, who was known for his prickly, stubborn personality, almost missed meeting President Obama in the fall of 2010 because he insisted that the president personally ask him for a meeting. Though his wife told him that Obama "was really psyched to meet with you," Jobs insisted on the personal invitation, and the standoff lasted for five days. When he finally relented and they met at the Westin San Francisco Airport, Jobs was characteristically blunt. He seemed to have transformed from a liberal into a conservative.
"You're headed for a one-term presidency," he told Obama at the start of their meeting, insisting that the administration needed to be more business-friendly. As an example, Jobs described the ease with which companies can build factories in China compared to the United States, where "regulations and unnecessary costs" make it difficult for them.