February 9th, 2010
December saw an unexpected decrease in wholesale inventories bringing with it the possibility that the improving U.S. economy has long-lasting legs. According to a Bloomberg article, “at the current sales pace, it would take 1.12 months for wholesalers to deplete the amount of goods on hand.” Stockpiles hit a record-low of 1.11 reading in June, as companies reduced stock to compensate for the lack of consumer demand.
What does the 0.8 percent decrease in stockpiles for December represent? It shows that manufacturers couldn’t keep pace with the level of demand which includes inventory rebuilding along with increased sales.
The rebuilding of depleted inventories contributed 3.4 percent points to gross domestic product in the fourth quarter, the most in 20 years.
With a large chunk of inventory depletion coming from inventories of durable goods (items meant to last three or more years), this gives lasting support for the continued expansion of the U.S. economy. According to a report from the Labor Department, job openings in December increased to 2.5 million from 2.43 million a month earlier with most opportunities in manufacturing and retail, further highlights the continued growth in the U.S. economy. [Bloomberg]
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March 18th, 2009
Sun Microsystems’ stock jumped 61 percent to $6 in Frankfurt after morning trading. According to the Wall Street Journal, International Business Machine is offering to pay $6.5 billion in cash, a 100 percent premium over the Tuesday closing price.
Since the dot-com bust, Sun has struggled to find its footing in the new paradigm of open-source software and low-cost servers. Over the last few months, Sun has approached several large technology companies in hopes of being acquired, quoting “people familiar with the matter” by the WSJ.
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Tags: , ibm, sun microsystems
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October 24th, 2008
Today is going to be a bad day for the stock market. All the indexes will be down horrible. As I am writing this warning, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. My initial reaction to knowing a 500 point drop is coming today is to get rid of most of my portfolio and possibly buy later on in the day if things turn around. If things don’t turn around, I’ll keep the cash in safer investments.
What is causing this huge drop? Mostly momentum to the down side because people are running scared due to the slowing world economy and the continued destruction of assets prices.
*Note: (Update: After looking at more data and numbers, the DOW will be under 8, 000 and could get as low as 7,500.) This recession is going to be longer than anything in recent history. So grab a rope and hold on – it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Tags: economy, world economy
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October 13th, 2008
*Note: this post isn’t finished.
Is it time to invest? It depends. Let me explain what I mean by that statement. Historically, stocks will go up after the recent carnage that has wiped out over $8 trillion in stock market value. We might even see an up tick in the range of 18% – 22% but don’t be fooled. Read the rest of this entry »
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July 3rd, 2008
I had written a couple of months ago (Still Time to Buy Apple) that only another large well-know brand could really ride Apple’s significant wave. But I failed to take into account the inherent nature of the Web’s current nature, to splinter off and attack randomly — lets call it “Guerrilla Corp Fair.”
Nokia is the latest to announce a potential iTunes killer concept. What Nokia is proposing is unlimited music downloads for a year with a purchase of one of their phones bungled with their “Comes With Music” service — an extra $20. If the service takes off, this could potentially match or exceed the music industry’s business according to Tero Ojanpera, head of entertainment and communities business at Nokia. This is an interesting and potentially huge win for the music industry and Nokia.
This is one of the best swings at Apples venerable iTunes service and the consumer only wins. So sit back and enjoy the music.
Tags: APPL, APPLE, NOK, Nokia
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March 24th, 2008
With the election of Ma Ying-jeou as Taiwan’s new president, Taiwan’s stock and currency surged. Ma Ying-jeou has promised to have closer political and economic ties with China and to boost domestic spending.
By promising direct flights to China within two months, Ma Ying-jeou has provided an immediate boost to the domestic airline industry. With this continued integration with China, Taiwan’s dollar will begin to appreciate against other world currencies and specifically against the U.S. dollar.
Opening up to China may not insulate Taiwan from the current global slow down in the short run, but this is a long term boom for Taiwan.
Tags: Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan
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February 1st, 2008
I’m sure many of you have heard Microsoft is trying to buy Yahoo. Deals of this size are hard to pull off and rarely work. I have a better idea: If Microsoft really wanted to win at this game, they should take that $44.6 billion and give seed money to the smartest group of people they could find and have them perform one task — to develop the best search engine in the world. At the end of this task they all share $1 billion. With more than $43 billion left, Microsoft could put what is left to better use, such as free health care for everyone for five years, rebuilding New Orleans, or heck, give some to me, or give it to their shareholders.
When you have too much money you make bad decisions. This is a bad idea. I’ll provide more details as to why in a later post.
MSFT
Tags: Microsoft, Microsoft Corp., MSFT, Yahoo!, YHOO
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January 14th, 2008
Don’t you hate when you don’t take your own advice. As I have been prepairing to write this article, The Qualcomm Bounce has raised its head to me once again. The great thing about anything that bounces is that it’s going to do it again and again. So even though I’m kicking myself, it won’t be long before I can regain my composure.
Qualcomm is one of those stocks that is ready to break out of its trading range — you can see and smell it. Though the markets haven’t quite caught on to the upside potential, there are several ways to play Qualcomm’s continued bounce: short, long, or trade often (buy when it’s low, sell when it’s high). Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: QCOM, Qualcomm
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December 12th, 2007
Apple has had an amazing ride this last year and a half – from a 52-week low of $76.00 to a 52-week high of $194. 30. Since July 2006, the stock has consistently been on an upward trend. The question you should be wondering is how long the upward trend can continue? Within the next year, Apple (AAPL) should see $215 or more.
Why, because the fundamentals are strong. Even as the competition is chasing after their jewels – namely the iPhone and the iPod, they still haven’t been able to capture the current magic of the Apple brand. The combination of great design, more than competent products, and the crown jewel (the Brand itself) leaves the company with a significant lead. Will the competitors one day catch up? Possibly, but it will take time and a combination of the cachet that Apple has been able to garner.
One brand that comes to mind is Sony’s Walkman. If Sony could start firing on all cylanders they could make a run at Apple, but that would take a gargantuan revamp of the company – possible an American style breakup.
*Note: The author does own stock in Apple.
Tags: APPL, APPLE, STOCKS
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