MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Jan 22, 08 - 06:09 pm Comment from: Ampar

"Apple shipped 2,319,000 Macs representing 44% unit growth and 47% revenue growth over the year-ago quarter"

Who was the helmet-wearing troll on one of these threads that wrote no one buys Apple's overpriced computers? Never mind. It doesn't matter.

Jan 22, 08 - 06:19 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ Ampar

These aren't the droids you're looking for.

Move along.

Q: Why the apple stock was not split inspite it hit $200

Jan 22, 08 - 06:30 pm Comment from: Tommy Boy

Why share buybacks are bad for shareholders.

Jan 22, 08 - 06:32 pm Comment from: MCCFR

Can we also note a higher average per sale on both Macs and iPods as a snapshot. Mac APS has also increased as a four-year rolling average, from $1425 to $1476.

Please find me another computer or CE company that can maintain or increase the APS, has a growing business, is debt-free and increases its cash/short-term investments balance every quarter.

On a slightly down note, I'm a little worried that the performance in the US was a little flat – hope that's not a sign of things to come.

Jan 22, 08 - 06:34 pm Comment from: MCCFR

Jerry…

Cos it would make the volatility worse rather than better!

Jan 22, 08 - 06:38 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ Jerry Giriyappa

A: English 101

Jan 22, 08 - 07:16 pm Comment from: LorD1776

ChrissyOne,

Welcome back. Have a nice weekend?

Jan 22, 08 - 07:22 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

It was pretty good until today.

Now... not so much.

You?

may someone tell me what "YOY" stands for?
Thanks

Jan 22, 08 - 07:23 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

Year over year.

Jan 22, 08 - 07:25 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

Or it could be, like, when a jewish guy tries to be like not-jewish guys. A yiddsh goy.

Thanks ChrissyOne

Jan 22, 08 - 07:31 pm Comment from: Jubei

And in other news, the Zunes are selling by the hundreds of dozens. Now with new firmware update that provides "zero" features all for free, yet every Zune purchase puts money in the Music Cartels pockets. Simply awesome.

Jan 22, 08 - 07:31 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

A sheynem dank.

Jan 22, 08 - 07:42 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ Carlos

nishto farvos

Yippee! I lost a ton of money today! Duh-duh-da-dum. Snap. Snap.

Jan 22, 08 - 08:12 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

I don't know anything about helmet-wearing trolls but I can tell you it was an even better quarter for Dell and Microsoft. Their price-accessible innovations with two-button mice and the ability to play games won non-pretentious computer buyers the world over.

And this is only the beginning. Zune 2 is off to a phenomenal start with its FM radio and the revolutionary touch-interface Windows Mobile 7 is around the corner. It's gonna be great. Nice try, Apple.

Your potential. Our passion.™

Jan 22, 08 - 08:14 pm Comment from: It's About Time

The current market volatility is beyond Apple's control. As any other company, Apple will have to ride it out. A strong Balance Sheet is a very good thing right now.

Would not surprise me to see the stock retreat to the $120 - 130 range over the next two month's or so. If true, that would be a very good time to purchase AAPL stock.

Jan 22, 08 - 09:59 pm Comment from: LorD1776

ChrissyOne,

Hadn't seen you here over the weekend. I just figured you have a real life. Lucky girl.

Ya gotta love the whole stock market thing. Too bad we can't put our Social Security in there also. Why not lose it all?

I'm ready for the drops tomorrow. I got a couple of contracts (200 shrs) of apple that I've been riding this down turn with using collars. I started with an April 08 protective put at 195 paid for it by selling 2 April 08 210 calls. This system works well in preserving you capital without using stop losses. I sold the protective puts when the stock hit 175 for a few thousand in profit and bought back the 210 calls about $3500 cheaper. In essence this had the effect of preserving my account value. I could have made more money by just shorting the stock but This is my IRA portfolio and brokerages don't allow short selling with IRA funds. SO while apple went from 201 to 137 in 6 weeks and the value of my shares went from $40,200 to $27,400 the options plays that I've made with the collar has cost me just a few hundred dollars in those 6 weeks my available capital to purchase shares went from arount $9,800 to $22,400 . once this wave bottoms out I'll buy another 100 shares of AAPL and ride the wave up again. Life is great. In the comming weeks when AAPL starts to rise I'll be buying some LEAPS and sell near term calls and doing a few bull put spreads. I shold be able to double or triple my money in 6 months.

Jan 22, 08 - 10:39 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ LorD1776

I was working on some home improvement, and the weather (while freezing cold) was otherwise lovely for Seattle in January so I stayed away from The Machine.

Should have stayed a little longer, it seems.

Anyway, so begins the Long Dark Tea Time of AAPL.

Sugar?

@bobchr

i have no idea if you're telling the truth about the above. it sounds reasonable, but when did the govt allow you to sell protective puts? i thought you could only sell calls? if you don't mind, tell us the brokerage house that allows you to sell puts in an ira account?

thanks

Jan 22, 08 - 10:44 pm Comment from: LorD1776

ChrissyOne,

Yes please; thank you.

The object is to buy a protective put and pay for it by selling a call. This is called a collar trade. These are not naked instruments. The protective put is bought incase the stock drops in value. Their value increase with a falling stock price. If you dont want to use you own capital to finance the cost of the puts, sell a few calls of equal or slightly lower value to lighten your burden. When the stok drops youu can buy the calls bvack at a discount and you keep the difference. The trick is to use options with a minimum of 90 preferably 120 to 180 days to expiration so that little or no time value is lost. I'm currently using April 08 instruments and I'm about to jump to July. As for who allos these transactions: Optionsxpress, Trade King, Interactive Brokers ETrade all will allow these plays and many more. You are allowed to self manage your own IRA account as you see fit. I could have chosen to leave my 401K with my old company's chosen plan administrator TRowe price but when they let me go I chose to roll it over into an IRA and transfer it into a brokerage account. Mutual funds are instruments that grow primarily and mainly on the contributions of the owner . As the hot funds get larger they tend to cost you more than they make you over the years in fees and depreciation of assets.

@rickw because you own the stock there is no risk with the options instruments you have the combination of a protective put and a covered call. If the market moves against your play you have the option to roll up the 2 instruments and keep your protection and stock or sell you stock at a profit if someone decides to exercise the calls you sold, but you still are not losing any money just liquidating assets. You just cannot short a stock in your IRA becaust shorting stocks require margin accounts and loan instruments cannot be part of your portfolio.

@bobchr

I know about options, i use them all of the time, but i was told by etrade and a few other brokerage houses that i was not allowed to buy or sell puts in an ira account, only covered calls. i will look into the other accounts that you have mentioned to see if they allow anything other than covered calls in an ira.

i have been using the options strategy of covered calls for a long time, limiting my losses until today. i would have loved to have done a collar or calendar spread, but these were not allowed.

i actually tried again tonight to sell a call to buy a put, but it came up with the same refusal. probably because the market is closed.

either way, i am not concerned about the drop in apple right now. my last strategy was to buy the january 150's when the stock tanked to 120 intraday in august. i sold them for 31 (bought at 8.75) on earnings day, before the report. obvious error since it went to 41 the next day, however, i used 1/2 of the profits to buy the april 200's at 17. That is now vapor, probably opening at 2 tomorrow, but I managed to pick up only 2 calls, instead of 4. Thus using the "houses' " money to squander in the woods.

net positive still. the disgusting thing is i bought the apple stock in the teens, so this drop doesn't really do anything to the real bottom line.

rickw.

addendum:

the options purchases listed above were done in a non ira account.
just for clarity. all covered calls are done in the account holding the common stock. so i have to use two accounts.

the good thing is the options account is taxable, so the loss will be good for at least a tax loss later in the year.

rickw

@rickw that sounds unnecessarily complicated. I have 2 accounts with optionsxpress. one is my IRA the other is a personal account. Just about everything I can do in the personal account I can do in the IRA account the only exception is shorting a stock or an exchange traded fund. I made over $30,000 last year trading bull put spreads on apple and google. I also lost a bunch of it failing to protect profits and betting against the trends. But I've learned my lesson. Of the 4 brokerage houses I have mentioned in previous posts Interactive brokers is the cheapest charging just pennies per contract on options.