Robert Paul Leitao on Premarket: Apple is red - 'Why on earth would anyone not rely on the latest inflation data, right? It’s been a volatile week for stock prices and especially for stocks tied to the AI trade. Let’s see how we end the week. Index future are mostly green (only the DJIA is marginally in the red). Apple is trading off $0.79 at $271.40 following Thursday’s $0.35 gain.'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'I don’t know that AI fear has faded, more like people who don’t see what’s going on got distracted by a squirrel. Chips sellers are making money hand-over-fist, but it doesn’t account for all the vendor financing they and all the “hyper-scalers” are doing. Just this week Google’s announced several multi-billion dollar “sales” that involve it backstopping the purchase. Call me a cynic, but even in good times companies that have someone else securing their debt tend to find ways not to pay it themselves. And I wouldn’t call where the whole AI thing is right now with crazy hyping of LLMs particularly good times.'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'Thanks, Roger! I’ve passed that link on to my stepson, an up-and-coming AI and computer security guru….'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'Interest rates are a Damocles sword. As rates go up, affordability goes down. But demand doesn’t. Just like Apple sales, they aren’t lost, they are delayed. Then when interest rates decline you get an influx of buyers that drive housing costs up. You’re never going to beat the rising cost of home ownership by waiting for lower interest rates. You’re better off buying what you can afford, then moving your increased equity into something more desirable when rates come down. In the meantime improve your home. The most cost effective improvements are paint and landscaping, carpet (when it’s needed). Forget bath and kitchen remodels. You can’t recover your costs. Always buy the worst house in the neighborhood, never the best.'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'Interesting note posted here from Max Weinbach (Propeller head at Ben Bajarin’s Creative Strategies) detailing how one can build/run very large AI models by connecting 4 Apple Mac Studio Ultras via Thunderbolt. (I like the security aspect of keeping proprietary info on a local server.) His last paragraph makes me smile. https://creativestrategies.com/research/running-a-1t-parameter-model-on-a-40k-mac-studio-cluster/'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'Fascinating story of Apple’s involvement in their community building – For Apple’s Jamie Herrera, who oversees the academy, says that there is no plan to get any direct benefit from this work at all. And that’s despite what he calls a significant investment by the firm. “What we’re looking at is that rising sea for all ships,” he says. “The fact that we’re able to help US manufacturers in any way we can to elevate and accelerate their progress, it’s only going to be better for everyone.” https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/12/17/not-just-electronics—food-packaging-medical-firms-are-getting-on-site-help-from-apple'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'more sensitive to interest rage Freudian slip, Robert? It does appear that independent voters and those not firmly committed to the MAGA base doubt Trump’s handling of the economy. (My summary of his address, “The economy is doing great. It’s all Joe Biden’s fault. Trust me, would I lie to you?” 🙁'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'Watching the PedoinChief desperate address last night + his deranged Reiner Rant should strike fear in state of economy and union.'
on Jefferies hikes its Apple target $36.37 to $283.36 - 'Any price target that is calibrated to 1¢ is not a target to be taken seriously. Makes you think that the PT is being put together by unqualified interns. For AAPL the nearest $5 would be sensible.'
on Report: Apple may take a chance with India's chipmakers - 'Rodney, I agree, I think. I’m not sure that if push came to shove that China wouldn’t have more leverage over Apple than Apple would have over China. India would have to be able to manufacture a significant portion of what Chinese companies can and at the same quality level for any threat to leave China to have any weight.'
on Jefferies hikes its Apple target $36.37 to $283.36 - 'I’m not getting the numbers as the headline and “my take” say one thing and the article say another. Please clarify. Thx!'
on Raw Data: The U.S. rattling its sabers at Europe - 'Trump says he will get us out of wars and keep us out of wars. However, he doesn’t mind picking on smaller nations and people he feels / knows can’t fight back. (Bully behavior) Then he can literally just do what he wants, shoot at and destroy anything that he or his cronies want to, and any people killed are just so much collateral damage. Interestingly, those are just the transport and delivery supply chain, not the factories or supply manufacturers. I get that he’s like to stop drugs from coming into the US, but there’s no increase in inspection at ports, no better surveillance of waters or borders declaring huge caches of drugs seized. And have there been any signs of movement on stopping Chinese drugs, threats to bomb Chinese drug factories, working together with countries to rid themselves of cartels, etc.? And just how is this Administration addressing the demand side of US drug users? It’s always the unspoken and shamed side of the US that there is so much drug use and they are not all downtrodden adults and people of color, plenty of the drug population is everyday white folk and much of the problem lies in Midwest flyover states as well. Yeah, coastal states have it too, but at least many are trying to do something about it. Where is the accelerated Manhattan program to figure out how to curtail and treat drug addiction, to drop the demand side while interdicting the supply side? With medical costs due to rise next year, where is the emphasis on healthcare? (Oh, forgot, science based medical research, science based evidence based care and science based outcomes reporting isn’t just curtailed, it’s downright belittled and disparaged, while any manner of “tricks and hacks” are openly advocated. Of course, I suppose people overdosing on drugs is certainly one way to decrease demand…not! Trump (and many Republicans IMO) has never dedicated much of any planning or thought to healthcare because it doesn’t pay him / them anything, doesn’t bring them power, it’s just an expense wasted on everyday people, especially the older people (the rapidly fading Greatest Generation, and the rapidly growing number of Boomers needing healthcare) who have already paid for their care and will get shortchanged with much less healthcare buying power and much higher expenses. How’s about all that tariff income be given back to people in the form of healthcare subsidies, directly supporting people? Sorry for the rants, maybe Apple can figure out how to incorporate drug monitoring and vitals signs patterns that indicate drug use and can alert family members and doctors about the user’s metabolism being affected by recreational drugs?'
on Report: Apple may take a chance with India's chipmakers - 'My take: More pivoting from China to India. I’m not quite ready to make that assumption, that Apple will be taking business away from China. Apple is still growing, and what India will be able to do probably won’t affect what China is presently doing. However if India’s manufacturing is able to meet Apple’s quality standards, then in the future, Apple may be in a better position to do some pivoting. And that will give Apple more leverage when dealing with China.'
on Raw Data: The U.S. rattling its sabers at Europe - 'Upvoted you and David. Adding to the complaint against the EU, is the tax revenues, VAT, lower payrolls, property, income tax, etc. the EU countries take in. The EU wants to have it both ways – benefitting from tax revenue and extract more payments for ‘exploitation’.'
on Evercore: Ten days before Christmas, iPhone lead times are expanding - 'Yes, I was curious to see what effect the year-end profit-taking – since AAPL has done well – would have on how the stock ends the year'
