Chitchat How do you like them Apples?

Apple is going to report it's quarterly financial report later tonight & it's reported that it has about US$246 billion in cash
It's probably earning interest invested in some short term investments outside the US.

That is in billions & not millions

Most of it is outside the US but If Trump makes the changes to the US the tax laws, Apple can repatriate the funds back to the US & really put the money to use.
I found the following CNN article about this money an interesting read because if you own any tech index fund you will find that Apple shares are in it .

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/01/investing/apple-cash-overseas/

Apple has $246 BILLION in cash, nearly all overseas
by Paul R. La Monica @lamonicabuzz February 1, 2017: 10:39 AM ET

Apple continues to mint money

The maker of iEverything had $246.1 billion in cash and investments on its balance sheet as of the end of its most recent quarter, up nearly $10 billion from the end of September.

That's a new record for non-financial companies. (Banks tend to have a lot more cash than most other companies for operational purposes.)

To put this into context, if Apple's cash were a separate company, it would be the 13th most valuable in the S&P 500. Apple is the most valuable, of course. The remaining eleven are Google-parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, Facebook, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, GE and AT&T.

Apple's cash pile is bigger than the market values of Procter & Gamble (PG), Bank of America (BAC), Chevron (CVX) and Walmart (WMT).

And if President Trump and congressional leaders get their way, Apple (AAPL, Tech30) and other cash hoarders may soon be able to put this money to work in the United States instead of having it sitting in foreign bank accounts collecting interest -- not to mention dust.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri said during the company's conference call with analysts on Tuesday that $230.2 billion of its cash -- 94% of it -- was being held overseas.

President Trump has called for a one-time tax cut to bring back -- or repatriate -- the cash that big businesses have in foreign accounts. Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30), Alphabet (GOOGL, Tech30), Cisco (CSCO, Tech30) and Oracle (ORCL, Tech30) also have a significant chunk of their cash overseas.

Trump is hoping that Apple and these other tech giants could use this cash to hire more American workers. Skeptics claim that companies will be more likely to boost dividends, buy back more stock and maybe acquire companies.

That could be good for investors, but not for average Americans who have little (if any) exposure to the stock market.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the conference call that he was "optimistic" that there will be "some sort of tax reform this year," adding that there are "people in both parties that would favor repatriation as a part of that."

Cook hinted Apple might use the money on deals.

In response to a question from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty about uses for its cash, he said tax reform would be "very good for the country and good for Apple" and added that "we are always looking at acquisitions."

So what could Apple buy with all of its cash?

If it wanted (and I'm not suggesting at all that it will...this list is meant for the purposes of fun only) Apple could make a bigger move into media.

It could buy Disney or NBCUniversal/DreamWorks Animation parent Comcast -- and have more than $65 billion left for a proverbial rainy day.

Or Apple could scoop up Fox, CBS, Viacom and CNN owner Time Warner too. And it would still have about $70 billion more in its bank account.

Of course, there are obvious antitrust issues with this fanciful scenario, not to mention the fact that Time Warner already has agreed to sell itself to AT&T.

But Apple could go another (admittedly monopolistic) route in the world of media.

Salesforce chief digital evangelist Vala Afshar crunched the numbers and tweeted that Apple could buy EVERY team in all four professional U.S sports leagues.

I wonder if this includes the new expansion NHL team in Sin City though? The Vegas Golden Knights won't hit the ice until the new hockey season starts in the fall of 2017.

Another Twitter user looked at economic statistics and found that Apple would be a pretty large country if it were to become its own iNation.

An iPhone in every house and a future Apple Car (if you believe the rumors) in every garage from President Cook of the United States of Apple? Probably not.

It's also worth noting that Apple has been borrowing a lot in the past few years, despite having all that cash overseas. Apple's long-term debt load did fall slightly in the most recent quarter, but still stands at $73.6 billion.

Still, investors love the fact that Apple's sales and earnings are back on track and that the company is increasing its cash levels too. The stock surged more than 6% Wednesday, helping to boost the overall market.

Now we just need to see what Cook will do with all that Apple dough -- and how President Trump will respond to those plans.

luckily I didn't contribute a single cents to the 245bil but earned slightly 1.2k from working as a temp slave

Johnny you think Apple is still a good buy then? Looks like TRUMP will Make America great! My stocks like up +20% just because of TRUMP!

thanks alot ,iDIOTS.

Ash007 said:

Johnny you think Apple is still a good buy then? Looks like TRUMP will Make America great! My stocks like up +20% just because of TRUMP!

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Plenty of people think that Apple is undervalued because of it's low PE(12 to 13) compared to other companies like Google(30+), Amazon(178+), ....
It has a strong eco system & working on projects like cars, chip development, augmented reality, ...... & the important thing is that they have the $ & commitment to do long term R&D.

The days of large share prices increase may be over but who knows maybe there will be another "one thing more" I 'm keeping my AAPL shares because it gives me a decent quarterly dividend & Tim Cook has promise to continue increasing the dividend ratio. They are making tons of $ to be able to do so.

Many large investment companies now own Apple share e.g. Berkshire Hathaway. I would probably buy more Apple shares if I was younger & more of an active trader. However being older I now have different priorities. That is why I'm limiting my investments to ETF's which I think safer.

I notice that many of the index funds I'm looking at includes Apple in it's portfolio. So people can invest in Apple via the US index funds.

"IF" Trump can push through the tax changes it will increase the prices of many companies & not only Apple but he will have to fix Obamacare 1st because without knowing the true cost of medical cost, Congress cannot do any long term financial planning for the country.

http://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/199821/



Apple approaches all-time market cap record as investors await Q2 FY17 earnings

Apple's stock price on Monday hit a new record at the close of business of $146.57, with the stock sitting less than a dollar away from beating the old market capitalization record set in 2015.

With Apple's quarterly earnings set to be revealed on Tuesday at close of business, investors snapped up shares, driving the stock up just shy of $3.00 at the end of a busy trading day. Apple stock rose about 2 percent, and outperformed the market which was up less than 1 percent on the day.

Apple's market capitalization broke $700 billion on Feb. 14, and currently sits at $769 billion, needing to only hit $147.42 per share to eclipse the previous $774.7 billion record. Since the start of 2017, Apple's stock has climbed from $115.82 to Monday's high.

An earlier notable peak for the year was hit on on March 20 was said to be on the strength of the next day's product releases, which turned out to be an inexpensive 9.7-inch iPad, a (Product)Red iPhone 7, and an iPhone SE with double the storage. On March 28, Apple broke through a a $1,000 per share valuation corrected for the split.

Analysts suggest that Apple's share price can climb far higher in fiscal year 2017. While some suggest Apple could climb to between $140 and $150 per share. UBS analyst Steven Milunovich said in a research note that Apple's Services arm is undervalued by investors, compared to other parts of the company, and between it and a "super cycle" in the fall involving the "iPhone 8," Apple could see prices greater than $155 per share.

At the end of April, Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um has gleaned some data from Qualcomm's reduction in earnings warning. Given that Qualcomm has reduced guidance by $500 million, Um wrote in a research note provided to AppleInsider that this roughly translates into 51 million iPhone unit sales for the last quarter -- similar to the 51.2 sold in the year-ago quarter, and in line with Wall Street's predictions.

IDC believes that Apple sold 51.6 million iPhones in the quarter. "The strong holiday fourth quarter carried into the month of January as the larger iPhone 7 Plus returned to stock across most channels in numerous regions," research firm IDC said in its latest report.

Apple sold a record 78.3 million iPhones in the December quarter, but saw extensive delays on 7 Plus shipments, sometimes as much as 6 to 8 weeks in the case of "jet black" models, leading to IDC's prediction.

johnny333 said:

Plenty of people think that Apple is undervalued because of it's low PE(12 to 13) compared to other companies like Google(30+), Amazon(178+), ....
It has a strong eco system & working on projects like cars, chip development, augmented reality, ...... & the important thing is that they have the $ & commitment to do long term R&D.

The days of large share prices increase may be over but who knows maybe there will be another "one thing more" I 'm keeping my AAPL shares because it gives me a decent quarterly dividend & Tim Cook has promise to continue increasing the dividend ratio. They are making tons of $ to be able to do so.

Many large investment companies now own Apple share e.g. Berkshire Hathaway. I would probably buy more Apple shares if I was younger & more of an active trader. However being older I now have different priorities. That is why I'm limiting my investments to ETF's which I think safer.

I notice that many of the index funds I'm looking at includes Apple in it's portfolio. So people can invest in Apple via the US index funds.

"IF" Trump can push through the tax changes it will increase the prices of many companies & not only Apple but he will have to fix Obamacare 1st because without knowing the true cost of medical cost, Congress cannot do any long term financial planning for the country.

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think ima buy some amazon shares instead,it might be the next alibaba.amazon only seems overvalued cause it doesnt make any profits,but u know if jeff bezos someday decide to throw in the towel and cash the cheque,and trim the fat,

frenchbriefs said:

think ima buy some amazon shares instead,it might be the next alibaba.amazon only seems overvalued cause it doesnt make any profits,but u know if jeff bezos someday decide to throw in the towel and cash the cheque,and trim the fat,

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Apple makes more profits than it can use so it does buy backs & gives dividends to it's investors. I've received dividends that have covered the originals cost of my buying my Apple shares

Companies like Amazon, Google,.... do not offer any dividends. I doubt that Bezos will ever give a dividend because he is using the $ to fund his pet projects like space flight project. I'm sure he is having fun with these projects but as an investor I'd rather have dividends that I'm getting from Apple.

Like wise with Google they are making $ but what is the point of owning their shares if they don't share it with with the investors? If you are young you can wait & maybe these companies will start to pay a dividend. Or simply buy & sell the stock to get the $.

As a passive investor I prefer the dividends I'm getting from Apple.

johnny333 said:

Apple makes more profits than it can use so it does buy backs & gives dividends to it's investors. I've received dividends that have covered the originals cost of my buying my Apple shares

Companies like Amazon, Google,.... do not offer any dividends. I doubt that Bezos will ever give a dividend because he is using the $ to fund his pet projects like space flight project. I'm sure he is having fun with these projects but as an investor I'd rather have dividends that I'm getting from Apple.

Like wise with Google they are making $ but what is the point of owning their shares if they don't share it with with the investors? If you are young you can wait & maybe these companies will start to pay a dividend. Or simply buy & sell the stock to get the $.

As a passive investor I prefer the dividends I'm getting from Apple.

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the past doesnt matter,what happened in the past has already come and gone,i cant get the dividends that u received,if i buy the stock now,what matters is whats going to happen in the future.theres nothing left for apple to do except dribble away into nothingness,their iphone cash cow cant last forever,im pretty sure all the cash hoard that apple has is already factored into its share price,im not going to fork out a whole bunch of money just for Cooks to release apple's cash hoard slowly to me while apple dies.

amazon on the other hand doesnt rely on iphones,it relies on ecommerce like alibaba,the dividends doesnt matter.if jeff bezos suddenly decides to stream line the company,trim off all the excess fat,get rid of the deadweight and departments and projects that are not making any money,just imagine how much profits amazon could make,its annual revenues is nearly 137 billion.amazon will instantly leap from breakeven to bajillion profits,the stock will look undervalued then and people will rush in.

anyway i better hurry,the stock price looks insane,jeff bezos is already worth 79 billion,hes going to be the richest man in the world by the end of the year.

holy fucking shit,hope my ecommerce business becomes a huge success too and i become billionaire like jeff bezos.

frenchbriefs said:

the past doesnt matter,what happened in the past has already come and gone,i cant get the dividends that u received,if i buy the stock now,what matters is whats going to happen in the future........

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As expected Apple increased the dividends. Now it is 63 cts per share

Have to agree that it's not as easy nowadays to make $ in stocks compared to the past. I was at the right place, right time & of course had the $$ to invest in Apple stocks when it was only $15 each. Been slowly accumulating Apple shares for years. I remember back then people were predicting that Apple would go belly up. That changed after Steve Jobs returned.

Unfortunately many Sporeans don't look at the investment oppurtunities outside Spore in the places like US, Malaysia, ...

Don't overlook dividend stocks because they are still good investments & will provide $ which can be used for re-investment

johnny333 said:

As expected Apple increased the dividends. Now it is 63 cts per share

Have to agree that it's not as easy nowadays to make $ in stocks compared to the past. I was at the right place, right time & of course had the $$ to invest in Apple stocks when it was only $15 each. Been slowly accumulating Apple shares for years. I remember back then people were predicting that Apple would go belly up. That changed after Steve Jobs returned.

Unfortunately many Sporeans don't look at the investment oppurtunities outside Spore in the places like US, Malaysia, ...

Don't overlook dividend stocks because they are still good investments & will provide $ which can be used for re-investment

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There are 2 ways to play stocks. Value or Growth, I think French just prefers GROWTH rather then VALUE. This is personified by the 2 extremes in Buffet and Soros. Personally, I've gone a bit in both, hold ETFs for long term, keep a watchful eye on potential high growth in small caps. Amazon to me has grown too big with no real value to offer. I'll rather take a punt on a small cap high potential growth that I can afford. It beats playing lotto/4D every week, and at least your chances of getting 1mil is higher as well, if not similar.

Ash007 said:

There are 2 ways to play stocks. Value or Growth, I think French just prefers GROWTH rather then VALUE. This is personified by the 2 extremes in Buffet and Soros. Personally, I've gone a bit in both, hold ETFs for long term, keep a watchful eye on potential high growth in small caps. Amazon to me has grown too big with no real value to offer. I'll rather take a punt on a small cap high potential growth that I can afford. It beats playing lotto/4D every week, and at least your chances of getting 1mil is higher as well, if not similar.

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I agree that stocks like Amazon are over valued & I'm suspicious about why the popular media are pushing them
I've seen many instances of pump & dump with large stocks. Happens often with Apple.

When I was younger & more active I would buy a diverse number of US, Spore, Malaysian stocks. Over time I would keep the better performers. Back then ETFs was very new & I didn't know much of them. Now that the ETF has matured I'm going to focus on them.

I've made my share of profits & losses & just enjoying the time I have left The main reason I'm still in the market is to preserve what capital I have. With inflation so high I'm re-investing the dividends I get. Bank interest rates are just too low.

http://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/199858/

Apple's growing cash hoard surges to $256.8 billion

As of the end of the March quarter, Apple held $256.8 billion cash on hand, with the vast majority of it held overseas awaiting possible repatriation tax reform -- if the U.S. government is inclined to cooperate.


Of the $256.8 billion, Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri noted that $239 billion, or roughly 93 percent, is held in assorted countries overseas. Maestri also noted in the conference call that Apple would re-evaluate the repatriation situation, should the situation change.

Spanning two presidential administrations, Apple has been public about its desire for a repatriation holiday, to lessen the tax burden on cash returned from overseas coffers. President Trump has addressed the need for this in the past, but it is unclear if any reform will pass soon.

At the end of Apple's first fiscal quarter of 2017, Apple held $231 billion in overseas cash, out of its $246 billion total hoard. When asked about the possibility of more lenient tax policies for bringing funds back to America, CEO Tim Cook noted that it would be "very good for the country, and good for Apple" should it come to pass.

Previously, Cook said that Apple was always considering acquisition possibilities, and was "putting their toe in the water" on unique programming for Apple Music and iTunes.

"We've said at 40 percent, we're not going to bring it back until there's a fair rate," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in August 2016. "There's no debate about it. It is the current tax law. It's not a matter of being patriotic or not patriotic."

Apple is the largest taxpayer in the U.S.

Apple on Tuesday revealed it garnered $52.9 billion in revenue and posted year-over-year growth. However, the company once again saw iPhone sales shrink from the same period a year ago.

johnny333 said:

I agree that stocks like Amazon are over valued & I'm suspicious about why the popular media are pushing them
I've seen many instances of pump & dump with large stocks. Happens often with Apple.

When I was younger & more active I would buy a diverse number of US, Spore, Malaysian stocks. Over time I would keep the better performers. Back then ETFs was very new & I didn't know much of them. Now that the ETF has matured I'm going to focus on them.

I've made my share of profits & losses & just enjoying the time I have left The main reason I'm still in the market is to preserve what capital I have. With inflation so high I'm re-investing the dividends I get. Bank interest rates are just too low.

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Mob mentality, people get excited about "new","exciting" stocks. I prefer to get bored while my stocks actually grows in value over time. If you track, Redhat, EMC, DELL,CISCO, the same thing happened to them. Went no where.

Ash007 said:

Mob mentality, people get excited about "new","exciting" stocks. I prefer to get bored while my stocks actually grows in value over time. If you track, Redhat, EMC, DELL,CISCO, the same thing happened to them. Went no where.

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I've owned Dell & Cisco:o

As a sinkie we only read about the larger companies & very little about the smaller US companies. I did pay for subscriptions to a few newsletters to learn about potential investment opportunities. However with index funds it's easier because someone else has done the selection for you.

When I sold, the price of Dell didn't go anywhere & I broke even with cisco .

johnny333 said:

I've owned Dell & Cisco:o

As a sinkie we only read about the larger companies & very little about the smaller US companies. I did pay for subscriptions to a few newsletters to learn about potential investment opportunities. However with index funds it's easier because someone else has done the selection for you.

When I sold, the price of Dell didn't go anywhere & I broke even with cisco .

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The way I see it, by the time small caps like this that has gone up tremendously, its too late to join in. You better off wait for them to grow big enough to start giving out dividend for value.

johnny333 said:

I agree that stocks like Amazon are over valued & I'm suspicious about why the popular media are pushing them
I've seen many instances of pump & dump with large stocks. Happens often with Apple.

When I was younger & more active I would buy a diverse number of US, Spore, Malaysian stocks. Over time I would keep the better performers. Back then ETFs was very new & I didn't know much of them. Now that the ETF has matured I'm going to focus on them.

I've made my share of profits & losses & just enjoying the time I have left The main reason I'm still in the market is to preserve what capital I have. With inflation so high I'm re-investing the dividends I get. Bank interest rates are just too low.

Click to expand...

amazon probably got pushed up by the alibaba ipo hype,now all the attention is focused on amazon and the stock price has been skyrocketing since 2015.

Ash007 said:

The way I see it, by the time small caps like this that has gone up tremendously, its too late to join in. You better off wait for them to grow big enough to start giving out dividend for value.

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everything is overpriced now after 7 years of bull market reits,etfs,equities,bond etfs,im just waiting for a good ol financial crisis so i can pick up all the good stuff cheap.

frenchbriefs said:

everything is overpriced now after 7 years of bull market reits,etfs,equities,bond etfs,im just waiting for a good ol financial crisis so i can pick up all the good stuff cheap.

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Indeed, I'm waiting for the CRASH!