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APPLE AXES HEIR APPARENT IN MAP FLAP BUT PROBLEMS RUN DEEPER $AAPL $GOOG $MSFT

October 31, 2012

The ouster of Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iPhone Software at Apple, and the former heir apparent to the top job, indicates that problems at Apple run deeper than generally understood. Forstall was often compared to Steve Jobs, both for his brilliance and his abrasiveness. On the surface Forstall’s ouster is related to his refusal to sign his name on an apology for problems with Apple Maps and his abrasive personality. The reality is that Forstall’s ouster is only a symptom. Forstall was hired by Steve Jobs at NeXT. When NeXT was purchased by Apple in 1997, Forstall came to Apple. He

DISNEY BETS LUKE SKYWALKER MAKES MORE MONEY WITH MOUSE EARS $AAPL $DIS $NWS $VIAB

October 31, 2012

The Walt Disney Co. is buying Lucasfilm for about $4.05 billion in stock and cash. Lucasfilm is best known for its lucrative Star Wars franchise. Disney will makeStar Wars: Episode VII for release in 2015. With this purchase, Disney is expanding in the tent-pole feature film business. In recent years, Disney has expanded here by buying Pixar and Marvel. The Pixar acquisition brought Apple’s then-CEOSteve Jobs to Disney’s board of directors. Interestingly, Pixar was born as the Graphics Group in 1979, a part of Lucasfilm. In 1986, Pixar was spun out with financing by Steve Jobs. In 2006, Disney bought Pixar for $7.4 billion

HOW TO PLAY 20 HURRICANE STOCKS $HD $LOW $GNRC $BECN $M $USG

October 31, 2012

In the coming days, several stocks that are affected by hurricane Sandy will offer trading opportunities both on the long and the short side. Here is how to play them based on the historical data from previous storms. Insurance stocks Insurance stocks such as Travelers TRV, Chubb CB, and Allstate ALL will be in play. It is too early to tell, but insured losses are likely to be in the range of $5-$10 billion. Property and casualty industry in the United States is capitalized at about $500 billion. Insured losses are likely to be under 2% of the capital. Further,

WEEKLY MARKET DIGEST: QE ADDICTS FIGHT ANOTHER POSITIVE DATA POINT

October 26, 2012

(The Weekly Digest reproduces the morning capsules made available every morning before the market open in the Real Time Feeds to the paying subscribers.) QE ADDICTS FIGHT ANOTHER POSITIVE DATA POINT October 26, 2012 Another positive economic data point was reported on the U.S. economy this morning. GDP grew by 2% vs. 1.9% consensus. Better economic data means less chance of QE expansion. QE addicts do not like better economic data. Where will the markets go next? It depends on who wins the battle between QE addicts and those who like a better economy. There is no way to tell who will win in the

APPLE’S QUARTER WAS LOUSY, BUT STOCK STILL HEADED TO $1000 $AAPL

October 26, 2012

Despite disappointing quarterly earnings from Apple, my long-term Apple (AAPL) stock target of $1,000 remains intact. Apple ‘s earnings report was bad on almost all metrics, but future guidance was downright shocking. For Q1 Apple now sees EPS of $11.75 vs. consensus of $15.53. For Q1 Apple now sees revenues of $52 billion vs. consensus of $55 billion. In my analysis, not much has changed from a fundamental perspective since the release of bad earnings. Some may find it disconcerting that gross margins dropped to 40% vs. consensus estimate of 40.6%. In my models, I had anticipated a drop because of

BAD APPLE EARNINGS: WHAT TO DO NOW $AAPL

October 26, 2012

Apple reported bad earnings. The company missed estimates on almost all metrics as shown below. Earnings came in at $8.67 vs. published consensus of $8.75 and whisper numbers around $9.10. iPad sales came at 14 million vs. published consensus of 17 million and whisper numbers around 18 million. Mac sales came at 4.9 million vs. estimates of 5 million. Gross margins came in at 40% vs. estimates of 40.6%. Apple guides for first-quarter EPS of $11.75 vs. consensus of $15.53. Apple guides revenues for Q1 of $52 billion vs. consensus of $55 billion. On the positive side, the company sold

TAKE PARTIAL PROFITS ON AAPL $AAPL

October 25, 2012

This post was just published on ZYX Buy Change Consider taking partial profits on a 15% tranche on AAPL right here around $610. Please take liberty with the price. Also suspending buy zones on AAPL. Earnings are a lot lower than expected.