Gregg Thurman on This week's Apple trading strategies (10/26-10/30/26) - 'The NOV $335/$337.50 Call Spreads (~47% ROI) I bought Monday are currently profitable. I am going to sit on them til expiry as I feel November Earnings Report and December quarter Guidance will surpass last year’s results by at least 9%, giving me an opportunity to invest in January contracts with ~65% ROI. If I’m right December results will generate ~140% ROI, all the while investing in in-the-money contracts. I won’t be laddering up as I did last July.'
on Selected Duo video reviews: Gruber, Brownlee, Tong - '“Apple’s iPhone Duo has ruined normal phones for me. After a week with Apple’s first foldable iPhone, I’m convinced the hype is real.” (GQ Magazine in GB) And this is what you get when normal people start sharing their experiences. I rest my case m’lud.'
on Selected Duo video reviews: Gruber, Brownlee, Tong - 'Added Tang and HTX to my list of watched reviews (I feel almost like I am working for Apple at the moment, but this will pass, and I am sure that my portfolio will be rewarded). Overall, I have to say, a tremendous amount of effort has been put into realizing all these reviews. I’m pretty impressed by that, and I think that Apple will significantly move the foldable phones narrative.'
on Selected Duo video reviews: Gruber, Brownlee, Tong - 'That’s the problem with expert reviews. They know too much. Back in the day the iPod mini reviews were terrible; not enough memory, no lossless mode, other stuff. But they sold like hotcakes. It’s like the car magazines. They all love Ferraris and Lamborghinis but Corollas sell the most. I tried the Duo for a few minutes. It was a little disorienting as things weren’t where I expected. But I think I’d get over that in a day. The screen is big and beautiful. Speakers are great. And it folds! Actual users will love it.'
on Selected Duo video reviews: Gruber, Brownlee, Tong - 'One thing I will be looking for is how Apple’s metaphor for the Duo takes hold. They did not design it as a phone plus iPad. That is Samsung’s approach. They designed it as a notebook, a pocketbook. It’s dimensions are based on paper size. I fully expect that developers will use this metaphor in ways we cannot really see yet. Some of the things Apple has already done with the new metaphor are interesting (ie all the different positions for the device that trigger different UI interactions).'
on Selected Duo video reviews: Gruber, Brownlee, Tong - 'I avoided reviews to eliminate the nitpicks and found myself in the zone as soon as I made a visual on the Duo from outside the store, much like how the Terminator locked in on John Connor without regard for bystanders or even its own well-being. Can’t speak for anyone else, but I was entranced.'
on Selected Duo video reviews: Gruber, Brownlee, Tong - 'I have ordered one. And I can’t wait. I love the idea of a foldable iPad Mini that fits in my pocket. And I can make and receive phone calls too. Seems like genius to me. Like Gregg, I often carry an iPhone + an iPad together, particularly when eating a late lunch or early dinner out by myself. It’s a perfect time to catch up on emails and attachments and the day’s news. And now I can do all the same things on a single pocketable device that weighs roughly what an iPhone Pro Max does. What will I have to give up? Pro cameras and the muscle memory developed over years of using an iPhone pro. I will very happily give this a try. The Duo seems particularly appealing for travel. I will not have to return to the hotel to drop off or pick up my iPad before taking a long walk. And I will always have a generously sized Apple Maps app in my pocket at the ready. I find some of the reviews from “old hands” disappointing. It’s essentially a new device with all of the software and OS challenges this inevitably entails. John Gruber’s written review on Daring Fireball strikes me as particularly negative, almost mean, as though he’s mad at Apple about something. So much “half empty.” Too little “half full.” No forgiveness for the first-generation nature of this and the enormous potential of this form factor, once Apple has had a couple generations to perfect it.'
on Saturday Apple audio: On things as they are (1982) - 'It literally takes decades for technology to catch up to what geniuses envision, and make it possible to prototype and then miniaturize enough to actually produce. Newton to iPhone and iPad Star Trek communicator (see version from original pilot especially) to Flip phone to smartphone Intel 8080, 8086 to Apple M7 Apple Vision Pro to Apple Specs'
on Apple soars to $348.22: A new record close - 'David: That’s my understanding. From Annuities Academy: https://www.annuityacademy.net/annuity-types/qualified-longevity-annuity “Enter the QLAC — the Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract. A QLAC is a specific type of deferred income annuity that the IRS has blessed with a special feature: the money invested in a QLAC is excluded from RMD calculations. It’s one of the very few legal ways to reduce required minimum distributions. Another way to think about it: a QLAC takes a slice of an IRA and converts it into a guaranteed future pension. In the meantime, the IRS can’t force withdrawals from that slice. It’s longevity insurance purchased with retirement-account money, wrapped in a tax-friendly package that Congress specifically designed for this purpose.”'
on Saturday Apple audio: On things as they are (1982) - 'This audio is absolutely remarkable. Does anyone know where this talk took place (or who discovered it)? Virtually everything Steve says here is widely quoted (eg, in the Steve Jobs Archive) as being from speeches he gave in the MID-90s. It’s fascinating that SJA had no idea he said all of it in 1982. I have long believed that people don’t understand how much Steve had figured out by 1985. There is a tendency to dismiss Steve in his first gig at Apple as naive or immature. When Steve used to come to The Boston Computer Society (in 1981, 1982 & 1984) he always seemed to me to be ~20 years ahead of everyone. I think he had figured out by 1982 a lot of what the iPhone would become in 2007 (though I believe—from a talk he gave in 1982 at the Rosen Personal Computer Forum—he imagined it earlier on as more like an iPad mini). Steve held onto a seemingly failed vision for years after he was fired from Apple. But he never stopped believing in it. It raises a question: If one has a deeply developed vision for something important but it’s not working, how do you know when it’s time to let it go vs. time to never stop believing?'
on Apple soars to $348.22: A new record close - 'So a QLAC allows you to kick a can down the road out of the RMD requirement?'
on Apple soars to $348.22: A new record close - 'Robert, are QLAC distributions taxable? and if so, how are they better than simply doing annual Roth conversions of $200–300K up to the top of the 24% tax bracket and having totally tax free growth in the Roth account?'
