Yes I am picking

Continue reading Buffetts' Berkshire vs Jobs' Apple for 2010?

Buffetts' Berkshire vs Jobs' Apple for 2010? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The future investment stars are already with us. The NYSE Financial Future Challenge, operated by the NYSE Foundation, By Kids for Kids, K12 Inc. and the United Investors Association, is in full swing, with five finalists just identified. To reach this level, the participants had to develop a new product, idea or process that would "excite, educate and motivate their peers" to become interested in the financial marketplace. The eventual winner lurks within this subset and will receive a $2,500 prize -- a great way to get that portfolio started. And, he or she will be feted at a closing bell ceremony at the NYSE (NYX) on January 11, 2010.

The finalists presented a variety of ideas which are sure to generate some buzz. Kelsey Foss, a 12-year-old from Mountainville, NY, proposed a new television show, "Stock Market Tycoon Idol," which would harness the popularity of reality TV while amping up the content. The program would involve the journeys of 10 kids as they seek to make money or lose it, with the possibility of becoming virtual millionaires along the way. The show would be set at a mock NYSE studio on Wall Street, and exports would be brought out to mentor the contestants. The reality TV reach would help engage a younger audience.

Continue reading Tomorrow's gurus shine in NYSE Financial Future Challenge

Tomorrow's gurus shine in NYSE Financial Future Challenge originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Brokerage firm Barclays this morning raised its price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) from $188 to $208. The new target represents a premium of 25.8% to AAPL's closing price on Wednesday. Additionally, Barclays reiterated its upbeat Overweight rating on the shares.

In a note to clients, analyst Ben Reitzes cited Apple's solid product pipeline and strong free cash flow outlook. "New products should begin to flow again within a few weeks," said Reitzes. "We are more upbeat about the long-term prospects for the iPhone & Mac lines with potential new products."

Continue reading Apple Inc. buoyed by Barclays' price-target boost

Apple Inc. buoyed by Barclays' price-target boost originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last night, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced plans to build its first East Coast data center. The facility will be located in North Carolina, which recently enacted tax breaks to lure the popular tech company, but no specific site has yet been selected. Apple is expected to pour more than $1 billion into the project over the next nine years.

Apple spokeswoman Susan Lundgren declined to say how the data center will be used. In a statement, the tech firm said only, "We're looking forward to building a new data center in North Carolina, and we appreciate the efforts of Gov. Perdue and state lawmakers who helped make it possible." Construction is expected to begin soon.

In other Apple news today, the company is attracting bullish attention from Societe Generale. The brokerage firm started coverage of AAPL with a Buy rating and a $160 price target.

Continue reading Apple sets sights on North Carolina, scores Buy recommendation

Apple sets sights on North Carolina, scores Buy recommendation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Quick take: Williams or Apple or Google or Microsoft?

Quick take: Williams or Apple or Google or Microsoft? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 May 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: No secret for market turn-around -- AAPL, AEO, CISCO, & ISRG

Serious Money: No secret for market turn-around -- AAPL, AEO, CISCO, & ISRG originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Today was a very gloomy day in the stock market with Oil reaching new highs and everything else losing -- almost. Among the few winners, and I mean very few, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), oil, and specialty steel were up. I went through my watch list and found this very short list of winners:

Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) $78.49, up +$0.95 or 1.23%

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) $185.90, up +$2.30 or 1.25%

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) $49.92, +$0.85 up +$1.73%

Precision Drilling TR (NYSE: PDS) $27.90, up $1.13, or 4.22%

Reliance Steel and Aluminum (NYSE: RS) $67.37, +0.$52, or 0.78%

Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) $50.12, up +$0.43 or 0.87%

Continue reading Apple, Oil, & Steel were rays of light on gloomy market day

Apple, Oil, & Steel were rays of light on gloomy market day originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 May 2008 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading My best stock ideas: Looking through Q2 and into the second half of 2008

My best stock ideas: Looking through Q2 and into the second half of 2008 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We have seen this play before, and there are two scenarios as to how it could end. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is being challenged like never before, having saturated the market place in some locations it is now facing the challenges of selling expensive coffee in a slowing economy.

Would you rather pay $4 for a cup of coffee or a gallon of gas? You can find cheaper coffee but you have few options to find cheaper fuel. Amid the already difficult operating environment Starbucks is faced with competition from the largest restaurant chain in the world, McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD). McDonald's is looking to steal its morning thunder with competitive offerings at a far lower pricing structure. The threat is very real no matter what spin Starbucks puts on it.

This brings to mind two similar situations both involving Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and past competitors. Early on there were two word processing programs that together probably had 90% market share. Those were Wordperfect and Wordstar. Both of them were fine programs offering strong features, and now they are nowhere. Microsoft displaced both of them with MS-Word integrated with their Office suite of products, and is now king.

Continue reading Serious Money: Starbucks vs McDonalds: an old story

Serious Money: Starbucks vs McDonalds: an old story originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When the notorious Henry Bloggett proclaimed that GOOG was destined to reach $2,000 I do not think there was a dry eye in the house, either laughing at this ridiculous comment, which by the way offered no time frame or reference point, or crying for the shame of it all -- that was the kiss of death.

When I read about this I could not resist tempering the madness and posted Serious Money: Google (GOOG) $2,000? No way, it's too high now! The madness produced many interesting metrics to prove a point, including that you could have traded Google for both Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG), two of my favorites, as an even swap (in capitalization only). That would be a heck of deal don't you think?!

Continue reading Kiss of death: GOOG $2,000 & AAPL $300

Kiss of death: GOOG $2,000 & AAPL $300 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple(NASDAQ:AAPL) is recently trading down $3.22 to $118.33. AAPL call option volume of 60,675 contracts compares to put volume of 35,477 contracts. AAPL March option implied volatility of 43 is below its 26-week average of 47 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Life Time Fitness(NYSE:LTM) is recently down $8.14 to $32.43. LTM announced inline Q4 EPS of 48c. LTM sees FY08 EPS of $2.05-$2.08 vs. consensus of $2.19. LTM operates 71 fitness centers in 16 states. LTM May option implied volatility of 64 is above its 26-week average of 43 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option update: 2-22-08; Apple volume & volatility decreases as share price near six-month low originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sales of Macs may have been so strong over the holidays that Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) earnings could buck the trend of tough tech company numbers.

According to The Wall Street Journal "a slowdown in spending may have left few nicks in Apple, forecast to report a record quarter after the market's close."

According to a recent study from ChangeWave Alliance, Mac sales probably took share from both Dell (NYSE: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) late last year and in the early part of 2008. Steve Jobs recently said that Apple has already sold four million iPhones. The revenue from these is spread over the life of the phone's service contract, so it is hard to calculate how that will affect the company's numbers for the last calendar quarter of 2007.

Estimates for iPod sales run around 24.5 million, up from 21.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. The growth of the product has slowed as it faces some market saturation, but if Apple sold 25 million iPods, the market would view it as a positive surprise.

The question now is not whether Apple beat the devil in the last quarter of 2007. The question is how does the company think it will do in the face of a possible recession.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Has Apple avoided the economic slump? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street," long-running drama at Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC) may finally conclude if the company is able to figure out how to run its core insurance brokerage business more profitably.

• Transocean (NYSE:RIG) has already secured contracts to 2010. Kurt Hallead of RBC Capital Markets says RIG, now at $146.08, is undervalued based on its historical P/E ratio of 18, BusinessWeek reported.
  
• BusinessWeek also reported that shares of Nintendo (NTDOY) ended 2007 up 125%, due mainly to the interest in and success of its Wii game console, and analysts still see a long way in the continuing success of the console for the company.

• Mobile Today reported, citing sources, that most O2 stores are believed to have missed their iPhone targets by "some distance," with the typical sized store selling just one of the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices per week.

Newspaper wrap-up: iPhone not selling well for O2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been a truly fun company and stock to watch and write about during the course of 2007. Not a bad name to own either. I have probably written a dozen posts for BloggingStocks about Apple, and I have raised my price target five or six times this past year. I think I started out at $85, went to $125, then $150, and so on. I'll make it easy -- for year end 2008, the new price target is $300.

Seems so simple, but let me explain why.

Apple's story is actually stronger today at $200 than when it was at $100. Why? Apple is experiencing massive momentum in all business segments AND it's still early in all its product cycles. This is the amazing part and I must repeat -- IT IS STILL EARLY IN ALL PRODUCT CYCLES.

The December 31 quarter, ending in four short days, will be another blow-out quarter. The estimates call for $9.3 billion in revenue with earnings per share of $1.50 or so. Apple is going to beat these numbers and once again forward estimates are going to go up. Right now I have September 30, 2008 fiscal year estimates at revenues of $31 billion and earnings per share at $5.25; fiscal year 2009, revenues at $38.5 billion and earnings at $6.35 per share.

Continue reading Apple's new price target: $300

Apple's new price target: $300 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wal-Mart sees future of music industry without anti-piracy technology originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The New York Post reports on Corporate Leader magazine's poll of the top CEOs based on a survey of analysts and investors. Here's my assessment of the top five:

• Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). With its stock up 94.4% in the last year -- though 13% below its 52-week high -- Apple's new products this year have been outstanding. But it's a pretty pricey stock; it trades at a Price/Earnings to Growth (PEG) ratio of 1.56 on a P/E ratio of 42.3 and Earnings Per Share (EPS) growth of 27.2% to $6.26 in fiscal 2009.
• Eric Schmidt, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). With its stock up 27.8% in the last year -- though 15% below its 52-week high -- Google continues to take share from traditional advertisers while struggling somewhat to profit from all its innovations. But it's a somewhat pricey stock; it trades at a PEG ratio of 1.39 on a P/E ratio of 49.6 and EPS growth of 35.8% to $18.19 in 2008.

Continue reading Top five CEOs: Jobs (Apple), Schmidt (Google), Blankfein (Goldman), McNerney (Boeing), and Smith (FedEx)

Top five CEOs: Jobs (Apple), Schmidt (Google), Blankfein (Goldman), McNerney (Boeing), and Smith (FedEx) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

During the market disruptions of the past couple of months, we saw Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) fall from a high of $148 to a low of $118 ( man, what an opportunity that was!!). The stock is now back up to $141 and this may be your last chance to buy it here under $150. Why? A lot of catalysts are on the near term horizon.

Apple finishes its fiscal year in 11 days. The September 30 quarter and year-end will wrap up an exceptional year for Apple, yet many would argue that the best is yet to come. I expect the year finishing in 11 days to have final revenue numbers of $24 billion with earnings per share coming in at $3.75. iPhone revenues will be somewhat relevant, but that piece of the Apple story is JUST BEGINNING. As Apple exits fiscal year 2007, the more relevant story is still the overwhelming success of the iPod with the corresponding iTunes store, and of course, the newly revamped Mac computer. Mac is gaining market share in a fairly fluid market.

The iPhone production is ramping up. For the year (calendar year), Apple had planned to produce 3.6 million iPhone units. That number is now at 4.8 million units in planned production. European nations will be rolled out for iPhone availability beginning in the calendar fourth quarter with the UK and Germany getting ready for the onslaught.

Continue reading Apple (AAPL): Last chance to buy under $150?

Apple (AAPL): Last chance to buy under $150? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

ABC News reports that consumers are using web video to voice their complaints with products and services. I am wondering whether this could be the killer application that will open consumers' wallets to buy Web cameras and related software.

Michael Whitford, a systems engineer from Chandler, AZ, posted a smash-and-bash video titled "Macbook Destruction" in which he demolishes his malfunctioning laptop. Whitford was upset when his new Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Macbook conked out only six months after he purchased it. When Apple refused to fix the computer for free under his extended warranty, Whitford took matters into his own hands.

With a camera and a sledgehammer, Whitford explained his gripe to the audience before systematically smashing the Macbook to bits. He posted the video on the Web site consumerist.com and within four days Apple contacted him, apologizing for the problem and offering up a brand new $1,700 computer.

Continue reading Web video empowers miffed consumers

Web video empowers miffed consumers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft Xbox 360 video downloads growing every month originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AT&T iPhone launch today to hurt Sprint's recovery? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Jun 2007 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.