Ever since Taylor Swift took on Apple (and won), the stock has been in freefall. That irrelevancy lets me run a picture of my favorite pop star:
Apple became a bleeding obvious sell when it failed four times to break through its ceiling of $132.64.
But why it fell so precipitously is unclear. The only negative news is that it’s now number three, not number one in cell phones in China, s it used to be. The others sell low cost phones. I’m guessing in dollar volume, Apple is still number one. It’s not becoming an MVNO (cell service reseller) — that would be dumb. And there is talk of new products, like the Apple TV.
Fact is a bunch of day traders hammered the stock with short sales. There’s 62.1 million shares of Apple sold short. That’s 1.08% of the Apple float. Not a lot of the float. But it’s $7.1 billion in short sales.
I suspect that the selling is almost over. But catching falling knives is not my favorite occupation. The stock is a screaming buy on “value” considerations — its P/E is 13.2. And its dividend yield is 1.81% which is bound to rise shortly. Friends are putting in limit buy orders at $105 — way below where it is this morning! Optimism reigns.
“Value” is not where the world is a present. From Business Insider yesterday:
It is just not David Einhorn’s kind of market.
The billionaire hedge fund manager said on a conference call Tuesday morning that investors are shunning value stocks for momentum stocks, and it’s taking a toll on his portfolio.
“The overall market environment has become acutely unfavorable for our investment strategy,” Einhorn said on the call.
“While we could have done better in a couple of spots, we don’t expect to do well when investors shunned value stocks in favor of momentum stocks. We’ve experienced this type of dynamic a few times before and in each case, the short-term results been painful for us. As before, we expect that the environment will improve and we will recover.”
Einhorn’s Greenlight Re investment portfolio lost 1.5% in the second quarter of 2015, bringing it down 3.2% in the last six months. In July the fund had its worst performance since August 2008. Losses were “broad-based” according to Einhorn, but the worst losses stemmed from solar energy company SunEdison.
The company is still up 14% year to date but has lost 23% over the last month.
Here’s SUNE and its recent crash. (SUNE provides solar panel installations, which no one allegedly wants these days because of oil’s fall and forecast even bigger fall — when Iran comes on).
As to the perils of stockmarket investing: Be grateful you’re not in this:
Shares of AAC Holdings today suffered their worst plunge ever. Last Wednesday, the company disclosed that its former president has been indicted on a second-degree murder charge. The case relates to the death of a patient in 2010 at American Addiction Centers, to which AAC is a parent company. A civil case was confidentially settled, but the indictment, returned by a grand jury, was unsealed last week. Shares plunged 53% to as low as $15.09.
Opinion: 3 hot (momentum) growth stocks that aren’t Google, Amazon or Netflix
MarketWatch did a piece on them and idenfitied Fitbit (FIT), Skechers (SKX) and GoPro (GPRO). I’ve had two of them listed on the right — FIT and GPRO. Great. But I missed SKX. Still Nike and Under Armour are doing well.
The article is here.
The latest scam.
Call it “Direct marketing continuity subscription.” They sell you something cheap. So cheap you can’t resist. Then six months later they bill your credit at the full price forever and ever. By the time you’ve caught it and cancelled, you’re in the hole for oodles of time and aggravation. They’re dong it for wine, for investment advisory services, for magazines and for a million other things. I suspect “free” Windows 10 from Microsoft falls into this category also.
Avoid checking your luggage
You can cram everything you need for the trip into one or two bags you can fit overhead. Trust me. Just board early while there’s still space.
The joys of startups.
My friend who invests in them emailed me that his startup investments have two characteristics:
One foot is in the grave and the other is on a banana peel!
I love that quote.
Rebooting still works:
It works with phones, with computers, with tablets, with DSL routers, with cable modems, with wireless WiFi gadgetry, etc.
Unplug it, count to 20 and plug it in.
For the iPhone, trying resetting network settings. If that doesn’t work, back the phone up and then erase all content and settings. An hour later it will work fine. Don’t take it into Apple. You’ll waste even more time.
Good news from the Economist
The number of abortions performed each year in America has fallen by a third since 1990. Without Planned Parenthood it would be far higher.
To read the Economist’s piece, click here.
Harry Newton who’s been enjoying some days in the glorious summer weather in Columbia County, upstate New York. This afternoon, back to the City, and reality. Yuch.
This photo taken this morning with my iPhone 6. I got Rosie to pose on our patio. Today’s big accomplishment. Note the towels (from swimming in the local hole) drying in the sun. Neat!
