Wednesday, January 19, 2011

All-in On Apple (AAPL)

From the WSJ:

an astonishing 4,100 mutual funds hold stock in Apple. (That compares to just 3,630 for Exxon and J&J and 3,200 for P&G, although the figure for Microsoft is even higher at almost 4,800.)

And many of the funds holding Apple are making very big bets on the stock on your behalf: More than 750 of them have invested at least 5% of their entire portfolio in this one stock. Seven hundred and fifty. (The figure for Exxon: just 188.
)
Wow. Why does anyone think they have an edge owning AAPL? What do you know that four thousand other mutual funds don't?

15 comments:

eahilf said...

Well, the stock has risen strongly for a good while, beating revenue and profit estimates by a significant margin each time. This could justify the price climb, arguments about P/E, likelihood of such results continuing, etc aside. So from a performance point of view, one can understand owning it. Because after all, the job of a money manager is to generate returns.

But that could be a crowded rush for the exits, should that ever come about; a regular stampede, one could say.

JamesDavid said...

http://cheezburger.com/View/4373151232

Stagflationary Mark said...

I saw that you posted a link to my gold to aluminum price ratio. Thanks!

I thought I'd share my "tongue-in-cheek" thoughts on Apple stock as well.

Here's an Apple (stock) to apple (fruit) price ratio. Oh yeah. Sign me up! Not! ;)

An Apples to Apples Comparison

CP said...

LOL.

You should do a precious metals vs natural gas post next time you make a ratio chart.

Natural gas = fertilizer = people!

Stagflationary Mark said...

As a side note, I'm adding you to my blog's blog list.

Here's a bonus Apple heckle.

Jumping the Curbs!

Stagflationary Mark said...

CP,

You joke but check this out.

Gold vs. The World's Oldest Money

Some would have you believe gold is the world's oldest money and that my chart would therefore be useless.

There's just one problem with that though.

Cattle is actually the world's oldest money! ;)

CP said...

That is awesome.

I'm pretty sure you and I are the only precious metal bears in the WORLD.

I did a post on SA about how silver only costs $5 to mine and it got 45 angry comments.

Stagflationary Mark said...

I don't mean to hog the thread but...

I owned gold and silver from 2004 to 2006. They treated me very well. I have no interest in them at these prices though.

Here's a bonus heckle.

Gold to Salt Price Ratio

It would seem the world does not have enough salt speculators.

I lost a regular based on that post. It got a bit heated in the comments. I was called desperate, senseless, myopic, and that I needed a hearing aid.

My crime? I compared gold to salt.

I've learned my lesson though. Never compare chemical compounds to elements from the periodic table. They are entirely different this time. ;)

CP said...

Comments section has been very busy recently. Two reasons: (1) hecklers (2) posting more - see: http://www.creditbubblestocks.com/2010/11/secret-of-blogging.html

I bought gold under $300. I used to love gold. If gold was still cheap, I wouldn't have to invest - the front page of the blog would just say "I'm in gold - check back next year."

Can you compare elements to hydrocarbons?

Stagflationary Mark said...

CP,

I'm pretty sure you and I are the only precious metal bears in the WORLD.

Hahaha! I know a few others. I'm worse than just a bear though.

It was pointed out to me by a fellow disbeliever that I am actually a precious metal heretic.

I once believed but no longer do. That makes me dangerous in the minds of fanatics, lol.

Want a sign of a silver bubble?

Silver Euphoria

Today's SLV post by "defcon_dong" received five 5-star ratings (so far).

It doesn't end there though. Check this out.

Anecdotal Silver vs. Aluminum Evidence

The following post is defcon_dong's oldest post on Yahoo. It would seem that he's not a fan of aluminum investing (Alcoa). I assume it is because he feels that only silver can protect against the ravages of inflation.

Aluminum is cheap. It is a miracle metal that nobody even knew about 200 years ago. It doesn't have the "rich" history of gold and silver though.

I love following aluminum. I think it is fascinating.

The Quantity Theory of Aluminum

Stagflationary Mark said...

CP,

Can you compare elements to hydrocarbons?

You can, but you can only share the results if they are favorable to gold, lol.

We burn oil. Eventually we may run out. We don't burn gold though. That really makes it special.

Here's a thought. If we burn every last drop of oil on this planet then what will the gold to oil ratio be then? It is supposed to remain a constant! That's what I am told.

Is it any wonder that Mad Max wasn't hoarding gold? The math was too complex!

This is absolutely your last chance to buy 14mg gold coins as seen on TV by the way. Not only are you limited to 5, but there's only so much 1/2200th of an ounce of gold to go around.

(14mg is roughly 1/2200th of a troy ounce.)

Stagflationary Mark said...

One more thought.

If gold was still cheap, I wouldn't have to invest - the front page of the blog would just say "I'm in gold - check back next year.

For what it is worth I moved my entire IRA to one 29-year TIPS bond this week. I'm holding until maturity. It has a real inflation adjusted yield of roughly 1.9%.

I also have a large assortment of I-Bonds and TIPS (in ladders).

I'm done playing in the casinos. What I have done is not safe, but I do think it is safer than most alternatives.

I'm bearish long-term. I retired off of investing. I'm simply looking for capital preservation now.

CP said...

Just got an email from Zacks in my spam folder.

Subject:

"An Apple Earnings a Day Keeps the Bears Away - 1/19/11"

CP said...

Mark,

You should write a nice article - a bit more serious than usual - comparing the price of silver to all the benchmarks we can think of:

other metals
soft commodities
energy products

Stagflationary Mark said...

CP,

You should write a nice article - a bit more serious than usual - comparing the price of silver to all the benchmarks we can think of

How about silver vs. an all commodity basket?

Silver vs. All Commodities (PPI)

I was slightly more serious. No sarcasm this time. I kept the commentary rather short. Enjoy! :)