Hap Allen on How Apple's buybacks work - 'I would assume that Apple spaces out its buybacks so as not to move the market, if that’s likely. I’ve often wondered in the case of these purchases who gets the commission? Or is there some other way the shares get traded without serious fees attached?'
on Apple's App Tracking Transparency eludes Italy's competition authority - 'everyone tracks. Apple just has good PR.” The GOOD PR comes from the Android cartel. How else do you explain people still buying it?'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'From last August: “ Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says investing for a living could replace labor in a post-AI world” We’ll all become day traders. What could go wrong?'
on How Apple's buybacks work - 'One point in the video is that the value of an investor’s wealth can increase even when a company ceases to grow. That’s an important insight. On paper that may be true, as revenue/share does increase. The problem is, for a company that is not growing Wall Street does not like buybacks and will usually value the company with a lowered PE ratio, and the stock price will go down, despite a greater revenue/share. Their retort is usually that a company should not be able to buy a higher stock price by buybacks, and that an increase in stock price should only occur with growth. Of course value stocks are different, but moot to Apple’s stock story.'
on How Apple's buybacks work - 'The safety net that allows everyone to have peace of mind and sleep well when the price of Apple goes lower.'
on How Apple's buybacks work - 'It would have been funnier if it were slices of apple pie. That’s said, it’s nice to see an acknowledgement of one way Apple’s buybacks advantage long term stockholders. Left out is the cumulative effect: Apple has been simultaneously growing the company. I.e., fewer split-adjusted slices own a growing company. Also left out, those early years of extremely undervalued AAPL create an average buyback that’s now far below today’s price. Also, buybacks.have a huge tax advantage. Bottom line: There are very sound reasons the Apple valuation is (grudgingly) going up. Ten years ago, 30+ trailing P/E would have been unthinkable. Now, a 40+ trailing P/E is looking increasingly possible….'
on The EU praises Apple - 'Beat me to it, Bill. Almost exactly what I was going to post. Thanks! But in some ways the EU post sounds almost Trumpian.'
on The EU praises Apple - 'I interpret this not as the “EU praising Apple,” but as the EU praising itself and its regulators armed with the DMA. In fact, the clear implication of the “only those in the EU will gain this benefit” statement is that, left to its own devices, Apple does not do the right thing.'
on Apple's App Tracking Transparency eludes Italy's competition authority - 'The EU are a bunch of amateurs. Just look at the introduction of biometric passport controls. Four hours of delays and chaos at Geneva airport because the technology is crap.. and this is the third time of trying. They are useless AND they make monstrous demands on tech companies like Apple. They deserve to be fined 10% of EU GDP.'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'Robert: One of the things I appreciate about your commentary is that it is apolitical, and yet at the same time I agree with David (and many others here) and am one of those people who frankly just doesn’t trust any of the data emanating from the current administration. I’m a scientist by training, and I know first-hand that health and climate data in particular are patently false and deliberately altered to fit this Administration’s radical agenda. Ergo how can I trust the economic data? I do agree with you though that whether accurate or not, intentionally altered or just inaccurate due to sourcing, such data does move markets.'
on How Apple's buybacks work - 'Apple and pizza. The two non-human things that have probably improved the quality of my life more than anything else!'
on The EU praises Apple - 'Maybe the EU should look into preventing member nations from suing Apple individually, since Brussels is already taking action for the collective.'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'The problem with this administration is that any good economic news will be subject to suspicions of manipulation…'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'Robert: Thank you for asking! My mention of the Commerce Department’s report is solely and wholly in the context of its impact on trading and market sentiment. I remain blissfully apolitical and consider the markets (as well as the study of economics in general) to be a social science. Over the past five decades that I’ve been studying the markets (my interest in the markets began in grade school) I remain fascinated by the influence of human sentiment and emotion on the market’s near-term movements. As to the numbers released today – having worked many, many moons ago in a presidential administration and at one point tasked with preparing a daily economic brief for a cabinet secretary and an assistant secretary, I understand the imperfect sources and often times antiquated means deployed to compile reports and economic statistics. From an economic standpoint I’m more interested in revealed trends over time than the relevance of any one period or data point. Due to delays and the spotty reporting involved in compiling 3rd calendar quarter reports due in part to the government shutdown, I do expect material adjustments and revisions to today’s numbers. What won’t change in the future is how traders and investors respond to today’s report and its impact on prices during this session and for the remainder of the holiday-shortened trading week.'
