Parsad

Tom Brown was probably one of the people who got the credit crisis more wrong than anyone else. I would take what he says with a grain of salt. I liked how concise his analysis was in that article, as it summed up most of our sentiments about BAC, but I wouldn't view his analysis one way or the other. Cheers!

I don't see what you saw on Morningstar, but I suspect that they have an error. There is no way, NO WAY, that Prem would sell his stake in Fairfax. He will die before he does that, just like Buffett...or it will go into a trust for his family or into an endowment. The bulk of his shares are also held in "The Sixty Two Company", not his own name. Cheers!

I told you a couple of weeks ago that if the stock continued to fall, at some point it may start to pique my interest. If it falls further, you will start to get even more interest, as I'm usually early to the party. Cheers!

Hi Tx, have to disagree with you here. You should compare them as apples to apples, regardless of the other lines of business. Otherwise it would be like comparing EBITDA to net profit. At the end of the day, whether you are in hardware or software, the intrinsic value of the business is decided by the cash you take out. Cheers!

The used to hang alot of people...still do in some parts of the world. And once in a while, some of those people were probably innocent. I would not want to just see any hanging or execution, nor a generalized administration of capital punishment. But for someone like Bin Laden, Hitler, admitted serial killers...sure I would have no qualms about seeing them receive some form of the death penalty. And I'm a staunch liberal! Cheers!

Is it sick to admit that the best part was watching Bin Laden shot? I saw it last night. Yeah, that's sick. The original plan was to capture him and bring him to New York City for trial like Bush's Guantanamo Bay prisoners, read him his rights, provide him with the best attorneys and waive the death penalty out of compassion for his extended family with many wives and children. Then, if convicted, probation and rehabilitation like the prisoners who were rehabilitated to Saudi Arabia. That unexciting plan was ditched after Hollywood took over. LOL! Cheers!

MSFT's gross margins going back to 1993 (20 years) have been between 76-86% . GOOG's gross margins have been between 55-65% over the past 5 years. FB's gross margins have been between 69-75% since going public. APPL's gross margins going back to 2005 are attached. I don't want to be accused of using data from when they weren't as "popular". Margins ranged from 30%-47% since 2005. During the most recent quarter margins fell by 6% to 36%. They expect gross margins to be 37.5%-38.5% in the next quarter. Apple's moat is not as strong as one might think. On another note, who all has listened to the conference call? Quite arrogant, something you would expect from Jamie Dimon. The question on guidance was very telling. The question right at the end on lower price point phones seemed to catch them off guard. Long period of silence. I would suggest listening to the actual call. Reading the transcript doesn't do it justice. I know some investors are using voice anxiety technology to see if management may is being dishonest or anxious during conference calls. I would love to know what the analysis of this conference call would predict. Why are you using gross margins? Use net operating margins and net profit margins...that's a heck of a lot more accurate: Operating Margins: MSFT - 24% to 41% over the last ten years - presently around 28-29% GOOG - 20%-42% over the last ten years - presently around 27-28% AMZN - 1% to 6% over the last ten years - presently around 1-1.5% FB - 12% to 52% over the last three years - presently around 12-13% AAPL - 0% to 35% over the last ten years - presently around 28-30% Net Profit Margins: MSFT - 21% to 33% over the last ten years - presently around 21-22% GOOG - 7%-29% over the last ten years - presently around 22-23% AMZN - 0% to 4% over the last ten years - presently around 0.5-1% FB - 4% to 19% over the last three years - presently around 4-5% AAPL - 1% to 27% over the last ten years - presently around 24-25% Now how does Apple's moat compare? How does its valuation compare to Google, Microsoft and Apple? Cheers!

Is it sick to admit that the best part was watching Bin Laden shot? I saw it last night. No, because that's the part I'm waiting to see! ;D Cheers!

Would love to see a fund which guarantees returns, "or your money back". Anyone know of one? Collecting fees is so damn easy. Segregated insurance funds. Other than that, I believe it may be a contravention of securities laws...or at least completely frowned upon to guarantee such a thing. The other funds that make such guarantees are often found to be frauds or ponzi schemes as well. Cheers!

At the right price, they will. They've already done more conventional things that Jobs would not have done...dividend, smaller iPads, reducing margins to increase reach...and I think they will use the cash hoard at some point to buy back stock. Apple is now a more conventional company with regular management, and the market has finally priced it like that. Cheers! IPad mini was agreed up on with Jobs. They have been planning it for two years. Jobs was against the idea for a long time, and then he wasn't completely dismissive of the idea shortly before his death...the only proof of that is an email from Eddie Cue to Tim Cook recollecting that he wasn't completely dismissive. Whether it would or would not have been developed under his watch is another story. Cheers!

Not entirely. I'd say Amazon is becoming the most efficient method for connecting people with the products they want, and Facebook is the most efficient method of connecting people with other people businesses. I don't agree with the last one. I think Facebook's moat is actually more susceptible to competitors or to a new form of social interaction than Google, Apple or Amazon's moats. Facebook has a lot of people using the service, but there is no real significant way to leverage that user base into actual revenue and profits. They've struggled with this and the stickiness as soon as fees are implemented disappears. I don't think Amazon is significantly hurting Google or Apple right now, but that could change as Amazon leverages the number of homes and customers they service over time. I think Amazon could actually end up creating the biggest moat over time, but the stock reflects that right now. Cheers! Parsad, what was the growth in FBs mobile advertising revenue last quarter? What was the number the previous quarter? 49% and 36% respectively...but total revenues have only increased a little over 7% last year and about 7% next year. You don't think Apple or Google can do the same with their products or customer base? Cheers!

At the right price, they will. They've already done more conventional things that Jobs would not have done...dividend, smaller iPads, reducing margins to increase reach...and I think they will use the cash hoard at some point to buy back stock. Apple is now a more conventional company with regular management, and the market has finally priced it like that. Cheers! Their stores are still busy as hell. They need better capital management for sure, maybe use the cash to buy BAC. LOL Or Amazon! ;D Cheers!

I loved his analogy..."Our competitors had a camel pack strapped to their back, while we've been struggling with a 250 pound pack." And then the comment, "We've taken enough out of our pack now, where we think we can propel past our competitors." That's a pretty big, bold statement! Cheers!

I know it's Davos, Switzerland, but you think they would do the interview inside somewhere warmer...check out the frost forming when they are speaking. Cheers!

At the right price, they will. They've already done more conventional things that Jobs would not have done...dividend, smaller iPads, reducing margins to increase reach...and I think they will use the cash hoard at some point to buy back stock. Apple is now a more conventional company with regular management, and the market has finally priced it like that. Cheers!

They can spend $10B more on capex than their nearest competitor...take your choice (GOOG, FB, AMZN, MSFT, et al)....and they will still make more than $40B in net profit in 2013. Even if you don't include the cash they have when valuing the company, it is still trading at 10 times earnings. Compare that to Google at 20 times earnings, or Amazon with normalized capex and G&A at 30-35 times earnings. The only companies of size trading at the same valuation in the technology space are INTC, MSFT and DELL. Can anyone tell me that Apple's business is as bad as those? In my opinion, and this is just my opinion because I've done the work on MSFT & DELL, as we owned both in the last two years and made very nice returns on them, is that MSFT would have to trade at $23 or less, and DELL at below $9.50 to be in the same territory as Apple's current price. And Apple is a much better company than both, with management being no worse than Ballmer or Dell. Cheers!

Einhorn? How about Herb Greenberg or Jim Chanos? Cheers!

I agree. Both came off as idiots, crybabies and I wouldn't do business with either. I was somewhat offended by Icahn's Neanderthal-like comment about Ackman being "like one of those little Jewish kids we picked on in school." Shows exactly what type of asshole Icahn is...no wonder SB idolizes him! Cheers!

I was just watching Bill Gates on CNBC, and I always love his face after someone asks him "So, I understand your children aren't allowed to use Apple products." And his response with a somewhat scrunched up face, "Well, they've never shown any interest in Apple products." He just can't let it go after all these years, after all the time on top...that competitive nature is still stirring underneath. It's what Jobs had...Buffett has it...and you can really see it in Bezos and Zuckerberg. Although Buffett and Bezos are much more charming than Gates or Zuckerberg. Cheers!

I'm the first guy to say that Apple won't be the same without Jobs, and I've been saying it for the last year, but the market and media reaction to Apple is quite amusing. Six months ago, the company could do no wrong without Jobs...today, financially it's a stronger company financially in every metric other than gross margins, which were purposefully reduced to increase their reach, and they are asking on CNBC..."Is Apple stock broken? Will it ever be the same?" Even if Apple is just a mediocre company going forward, it will be worth considerably more over the next 5-7 years. I will go ahead and say it won't be as good under Cook, but neither will Berkshire be without Buffett. That still doesn't mean at some point you don't buy the stock if it provides good value. Cheers!

Not entirely. I'd say Amazon is becoming the most efficient method for connecting people with the products they want, and Facebook is the most efficient method of connecting people with other people businesses. I don't agree with the last one. I think Facebook's moat is actually more susceptible to competitors or to a new form of social interaction than Google, Apple or Amazon's moats. Facebook has a lot of people using the service, but there is no real significant way to leverage that user base into actual revenue and profits. They've struggled with this and the stickiness as soon as fees are implemented disappears. I don't think Amazon is significantly hurting Google or Apple right now, but that could change as Amazon leverages the number of homes and customers they service over time. I think Amazon could actually end up creating the biggest moat over time, but the stock reflects that right now. Cheers!

That's pretty damn funny...you really have to wait for the punch line, because he sounds exactly like he did on CNBC for the first few minutes. Cheers!

Seriously? No! I was just joking. Cheers!

It finally ended now. Made my whole day! You all should watch on the replay later on CNBC's site. I wish I could record and save that clip. Cheers!

Icahn just called Ackman a liar...and in the background you can hear the market specialists going "Ohhhhh....whoooo!" Bare-knuckle brawl going on here. Cheers!