BREAKING NEWS: Apple makes money

Re: Record profits yet Wall St says No

Why should variability in the stock price mean they should go private? This sort of thing happens all the time, to a lot of stocks. If you have an MBA you know this, and shouldn't be concerned.

I have an MBA also, and own several thousand shares of AAPL, and this doesn't concern me. I've had the stock for 6-8 years, and will likely hold it for quite a while yet. These daily/quarterly variations based on feelings and momentum would only concern me if I was thinking about selling, or thinking about buying more (if I was thinking about buying more, this would be a good entry point, after a nearly 10% drop that had no basis in the financials)

Re: Record profits yet Wall St says No

Deary deary me

The stock market is basically driven by fear and greed, but to suggest that Apple goes private is just stupid. For a start, who has the funds to buy the shares of the world's most valuable company (by market cap)? And who would take it private, and why, to what end?

Apple is not a person that can be offended by the change in shareprice. How do you think shareprices are set - by analysts grouping together in some darkened room and cackling over a (computer generated) cauldron? Or by pension funds, insurance companies, hedge funds etc buying and selling based on whether they think they can turn a good enough profit in the future for their investment.

I'm not saying that the capital markets are not without huge issues and have stepped far far beyond sense in a lot of cases, but this is one of the few areas that actually follows what probably should happen. Apple gives guidance on future results, analysts and others say what they think as well, the actual results are published and they are lower, the price moves lower to reflect the lower expectations. I struggle to see what the issue is. If you want to rant and rave at the stupidity of the stock market, go take a look at naked short selling, or the floatation of Box.

Re: Record profits yet Wall St says No

I suspect it was due to the iwatch flop. Not revealing numbers only means one thing...

Wallstreet had hedged money on it being the next goldmine, as apple have lost 90% of the smartphone market.

Re: Record profits yet Wall St says No

"Donning my MBA tinfoil hat"

If you are an MBA then you should be aware Apple are sitting on what is probably the largest corporate cash pile in history and have no need to raise money from the stock market and so fluctuations in share price are of far less significance to them than for most other public listed companies. Of course they shouldn't be complacent and I understand the influence of share price can have an insidious effect even on cash rich companies, but there is no question over any of Apple's senior management team or strategy. They are very steady hands, so on that score there is no reason for alarm bells or for going private.

"I have to wonder if some of those forecasts were oiled by outside interests that could gain from short selling on Apple Stock. The SEC should be looking into this."

Quite possible, I would put no depth of failure in integrity beyond Wall Street money men, but more likely I think that two very important factors in a multi-variable equation have gone the wrong way, the first, falling short of analyst predictions, most of us normal people don't set much store by - but Wall Street money men do - the second in conjunction with the fears produced by the first has, I suspect, had a multiplier effect; that China's economy has deteriorated.

What the analysts fear has been demonstrated is that a luxury high priced good is more susceptible to worsening economic conditions in China than they had hoped. That might sound obvious to most people, but actually historically consumer behaviour isn't so intuitive. In established markets luxury good sales tend to hold up better than most would think when the economy slows. So demonstration that that hasn't occurred in this case (or even the suspicion it is the reason) means there is likely to have been an adjustment based on the understanding in the immediate future China's economy will be going the wrong way and Apple goods in China won't be quite the safe harbour they were hoping.

Not many iPads are bought on network contracts. Many iPhones are so more frequent upgrades offered.

But yes, looks like iPads 2 is in line to get iOS 9 so it will keep on going for another year at least.

> You shouldn't pay off someone's debts until they have learned the way

> not to just rack up another one

Greece now has a significant primary budget surplus.