InvestorGeeks

Apple, Oh The Hypocrisy!

by Christian

Ah yes, when Apple does something sinister its ok because Apple wants to "control" the experience, and well Apple is the "good guy".

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has confirmed that the iPhone 3G has a kill switch that can remotely remove software from the devices.

Jobs told The Wall Street Journal that Apple needs the capability in case it inadvertently allows a malicious program — such as an application that steals user’s personal data — to be distributed to iPhones through its App Store.

"Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull," Jobs said.

Ok, let’s rephrase this shall we…

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has confirmed that the Mobile Phone has a kill switch that can remotely remove software from the devices.

Ballmer told The Wall Street Journal that Microsoft needs the capability in case it inadvertently allows a malicious program — such as an application that steals user’s personal data — to be distributed to Mobile Phones through its App Store.

"Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull," Ballmer said.

So how do you feel about this? Steve is a control freak, and he has already used a form of this control.

But even if Apple had a good reason for removing the application, developers are concerned by the lack of communication from Apple about how and why certain applications are allowed or denied access to the App Store and why some are removed.

When the App Store was first announced earlier this year, company CEO Steve Jobs said there would be limitations on what applications could be sold. Specifically, he stated that porn would not be allowed.

First, why the control Steve? Secondly, why the dislike of porn? Not that I am excited and eager to download porn. Are you going to do the same with applications that promote violence? How about programs that relate to peoples habits or lifestyles that are not popular among certain crowds? Are you going to control that? I am tempted to believe that you will. This is yet another reason why I am bearish on Apple. So how could Apple have handled this better? Create an opt-in or opt-out program of these draconian measures.

Refreshing My S&P Prediction

by Christian

Folks, my prediction on the S&P went beyond my wildest dreams, and basically was spot on. Though the question is was I lucky or not?

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Where is the Panic Selling? Answer: It Ain’t Gonna Happen!

by Christian

Everybody wants a panic sale, they want a capitulation. Well folks I am willing to wager that it will not happen. And I think darkpools have something to do with this. Consider the following and the original.

Dark pools are on a hot streak. They’re tearing through volume records and turning into big-league market centers in their own right.

Goldman Sach’s Sigma X dark pool yesterday executed 406 million shares, making it the seventh-largest market center for U.S. equities. That put Sigma X in line behind Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, the New York Stock Exchange, BATS Trading, Direct Edge ECN and the National Stock Exchange. And ahead of all other venues.

Sigma X’s volume is up 100 percent over the last seven weeks, according to Rishi Nangalia, head of product development at Goldman Sachs Electronic Trading. "It’s a virtuous circle," he said. "We have more volume passing through from more clients and their algos, and as a result of higher fill rates, we get more flow, which in turn further increases the match rates." This surge is taking place against a backdrop of higher equity market volume overall and greater volatility.

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Analysts and The Power of Nightmares (or Rose Colour Glasses)

by Christian

I have become completely skeptical of analysts. I am even at the point thinking, what their motives are. Here is an interesting example:

An immature chipset solution from Infineon Technologies AG may be at the root of reported connection problems with Apple, Inc.’s 3G iPhone, Nomura analyst Richard Windsor said in a note to clients Tuesday. He said some iPhone users are having trouble getting a 3G connection and hanging on to it.

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Reading Between The Lines At UBS

by Christian

So I was reading the losses, writedowns and what have you at UBS. Yes yes it is all doom, gloom and boom…  However, something did catch my eye.

Last week, it agreed to buy back almost $19 billion of bonds after New York State and others sued it for steering clients towards auction-rate securities — debt which became impossible to sell after the market froze. UBS said this would cost it $900 million.

This is very interesting. UBS is buying 19 billion dollars of debt, and the cost of doing this is 900 million? That’s 5% of the grand total, and my thought is if this is the loss on the bonds. If I am not mistaken these bonds are the problem bonds, and if UBS takes them on they take on the problems. If UBS believes that the net change in value is 5% then it tells me if the entire credit crisis is not a bit overblown? And I wonder if the real problem is not shaky credit, but the fact that the financial community took on too much leverage.

Nonetheless it seems to me that we really have turned the corner. Those that have problems are exposed and those that are ok are, well, ok.

Pop Quiz: Who’s Older…

by Christian

Candidate #1: Ralph Nader…

Or candidate #2: John McCain

Who do you think is older? McCain? Nader?

Answer…

Nader!

Ralph Nader is 2 years older than McCain. Frankly I was surprised by this one as I thought McCain was the oldest of the group. I thought Nader was maybe 60, but he is 74 years old.

I Think We Have Turned the Corner Due To the SEC Decision

by Christian

I think yesterday the deal with Citigroup, and now the acceptance of such a deal by Merrill Lynch will be the corner that turns the market. The deal means that small investors will get their principle back at face value. Larger investors do not get to benefit from the deal. I feel the reason why this deal is important is that the small investor can feel good about themselves again.

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Citigroup has Reached a Deal with the SEC and Others

by Christian

Congratulations SEC…  The SEC reached a tentative deal where Citigroup is held completely liable for the mismarketing of Auction Rate Securities. This means Citigroup is giving up any ability to debate their penalty or costs. In specific Citigroup will neither admit nor deny breaking any security laws. Citigroup is going to have to pay monies to holders of these auction rate securities that were hurt. In questioning this will amount to around 7.5 billion auction rate securities. From a shareholder perspective you could argue Citigroup gave up too easy and will now have its bottom line hurt.

I want to congratulate Citi and the SEC for coming together quickly with a tentative agreement. I think both parties did this to get the ball rolling, and during questioning that impression was confirmed. From a market stability perspective this is very important. The SEC would not comment on whom else they are investigating, but did say *several*, maybe more cases are open. They did say Citigroup represents 20% of the auction rate security market, meaning 80% of the auction rate security market is still open. Does this mean all 80% of the market is liable? No idea, but if I were UBS I would be very nervous right now. First UBS has tax problems, and now they are going to have auction rate security problems.

One Year Later and My Recommendations…

by Christian

One year into the credit crisis, and one year after Cramer’s rant. I decided to take a look at what I was thinking in August of 2007?

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Whitney (The Woman Who Called The Crash) is a Off Base!

by Christian

Wow, to watch Fast Money one last time I decided to flip to CNBC, and what happened? Whitney talked with Maria… Wow, my two favourite ladies (NOT!) I am SO GLAD I watched Bloomberg… Objective information and not drivel…

So Maria asked her, “what do you think of these shorting rules?”

Her reply, “You need the ability to short and to keep the market efficient. Naked shorting is another thing.”

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