{"id":16003,"date":"2012-11-13T09:05:55","date_gmt":"2012-11-13T14:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=16003"},"modified":"2012-11-13T09:06:09","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T14:06:09","slug":"the-new-angst-in-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=16003","title":{"rendered":"The new angst in technology stocks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"yass_top_edge_dummy\" style=\"width: 1px; height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: -11px 0px 0px; border-width: 0px; display: block; text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yass_top_edge\" style=\"background-image: url('chrome:\/\/yass\/content\/edgebgtop.png'); background-attachment: scroll; background-position: center bottom; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px -10px; border-width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; width: 1px; text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 10px; text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>The new skills in management<\/strong><\/span>. It was a breakfast with the charming president of a successful telecom startup looking to raise expansion money. &#8220;We have six top managers. They&#8217;re different to old-style managers. They have broad skills. They have the skills to manage all aspects of the company.&#8221; And then the clincher, &#8220;They&#8217;re all understand HTML (the software language of the Internet).&#8221; Excellent lesson for your kids.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>The angst at Apple (and Microsoft, Dell, Intel, Xerox, and HP).<\/strong> <\/span>Apple is down 22% from its peak. The big Tech stocks are crumbling. Management shakeups galore. Frenzied searching for the next big thing. Smart TV, moble widgets, Telecom calling options (e.g. VoIP). Not easy. PC and laptops sales are falling. Only bright spot: smartphones. Samsung and Apple have found a key. But for the rest &#8212; Research in Motion (BlackBerry), Nokia, Microsoft, it&#8217;s been a bottomless pit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8220;I just don&#8217;t know how to value them.&#8221; Warren Buffett made this claim about Apple (AAPL) when queried on the tech giant at Berkshire Hathaway&#8217;s (BRK-A) annual meeting in May. It wasn&#8217;t his first time. More than a year earlier, Buffett said: &#8220;Even though Apple may have the most wonderful future in the world, I&#8217;m not capable of . evaluating that future. I simply look at businesses where I think I have some understanding of what they might look like in five or 10 years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Buffett&#8217;s problem with tech stock is mine and yours. It&#8217;s hard to predict tech fashion, or more precisely what will be hot next year. Not so with car insurance (think Geico). Everyone has got to have it. But not everyone has to have an iPhone 5 &#8212; especially if they have an iPhone 4S.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A smart young analyst tried to figure Apple on conventional stock valuation terms &#8212; with no success. He recommends selling the stock and includes this ominous chart.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 10px; text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/MSFTvsAAPL.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16019\" title=\"MSFTvsAAPL\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/MSFTvsAAPL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"459\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/MSFTvsAAPL.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/MSFTvsAAPL-300x211.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 10px; text-align: left;\">For his full article, read <a title=\"Apple's valuation\" href=\"http:\/\/seekingalpha.com\/article\/1000621-apple-cannot-be-valued-warren-buffett-knows-this-and-you-should-too\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 10px; text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Yes, RadioShack can get cheaper.<\/strong> <\/span> I bought an overpriced $9 ten-foot extension cord yesterday. The shop I visited was on 57th Street, same street that houses Tiffanys, Niketown, Christian Dior, Burberry, etc. This is what RadioShack on 57th Steet looked like at around 5 PM. This is the back of the store.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 10px; text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/RadioShackPigsty2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16006\" title=\"RadioShackPigsty2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/RadioShackPigsty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/RadioShackPigsty2.jpg 550w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/RadioShackPigsty2-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 10px; text-align: left;\">This is looking to the front of the store. The &#8220;iPhone4S in stock&#8221; sign is stuck to the front door. The first thing that greets you is this wonderful bright blue cleaning thing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/RadioShackPigsty1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16005\" title=\"RadioShackPigsty1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/RadioShackPigsty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/RadioShackPigsty1.jpg 550w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/RadioShackPigsty1-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I don&#8217;t make this stuff up. The half-stocked shelves and general filth throughout the store are unimaginable for a functioning retail business.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Favorite recent New Yorker cartoons:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/PoliticallyRegroup.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16012\" title=\"PoliticallyRegroup\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/PoliticallyRegroup.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"534\" height=\"405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/PoliticallyRegroup.jpg 534w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/PoliticallyRegroup-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/personallife1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16015\" title=\"personallife\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/personallife1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/personallife1.jpg 540w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/personallife1-300x250.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><a href=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/HarryNewtonNewShot2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"HarryNewtonNewShot\" src=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/HarryNewtonNewShot2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"125\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Harry Newton who is in Florida visiting a nice high-tech company for the day. JetBlue was 15 minutes early. And it&#8217;s 75 degrees and sunny.<\/p>\n<div id=\"yass_bottom_edge\" style=\"background-image: url('chrome:\/\/yass\/content\/edgebgbot.png'); background-position: 0px 0px; position: absolute; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; top: 0px; width: 100%; display: block;\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new skills in management. It was a breakfast with the charming president of a successful telecom startup looking to raise expansion money. &#8220;We have six top managers. They&#8217;re different to old-style managers. They have broad skills. They have the skills to manage all aspects of the company.&#8221; And then the clincher, &#8220;They&#8217;re all understand [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}