I think its fair expect if someone reads an article posted on Minyanville.com or a site named DailyFinance, they can expect the article to contain financial information and/or analysis. Wrong. Witness Anders Bylund:
My name is Anders and I’m an Apple skeptic. I made that clear two years ago, and the stock has more than doubled since then. So far, I’ve been very, very wrong.
Ok – so what’s your take on why you were wrong? Mis-overestimating the competition?
Being an Apple skeptic is not a terribly popular position today. Cupertino just posted a monster quarter, breaking records left and right. iPhones are beating the entire Android ecosystem, iPads outsell market-leading Hewlett-Packard’s PC systems, the company is richer than King Midas and Croesus put together, and CEO Tim Cook can probably blow gold bars out his nose at will.
It has been a good run and its not without reason. The products are exemplary, the distribution is outstanding & sales/post-sales service is bar none. Still, there are arguments that can be made against Apple. Even just saying law of large numbers is adequate. But no, Anders goes another way:
But empires fall all the time. What makes this one any different?
The transcontinental dominions of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great fell apart.
Um, what? That’s it? Genghis Khan and Alexander the freaking Great? This is your rationale for why you are an Apple bear. Hey, don’t forget Hannibal & Caligula. Yes, empires do fall – so are you saying Apple has a 10 year run left in it or 30 years? Genghis Khan lived for 60 years and left behind the Mongol empire. But, you are right, he & his empire did die .. eventually. Good point.
Just before the scandal blew up, Enron had been named “Most Admired” by Fortune six years running. If everybody says they love your company, don’t believe the hype.
You mean the company that hired temp workers & put up a bunch of computers to pretend they were trading energy? That’s the best comparison you conjure up?
Apple admittedly had a huge quarter, but there are plenty of other companies out there that investors need to watch during this earnings season.
And if you lost money listening to Anders over the past two years, well, booyah, good for you. Because, at least, you avoided the indignity of having your horse slayed in India .. or something like that. After all, companies don’t last long .. at all … just ask the NYSE, founded 1792.
