[Eug Wanker]

Some crazy analyst thinks AAPL should hit $100.

"Broker PiperJaffray overnight upped its price target on Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) stock from $52 to $100 - close to double the stock's price on Friday - citing findings from its own survey of iPod users."

WTF?

[d0ubled0wn]

I think a certain broker fell in love with his iPod.

[mydog8mymac]

Good Gravy!
It'll be interesting to see what 4th quarter earnings are. Everyone I know under 40 who doesn't have an iPod wants one. The iMac G5 has been getting a lot of good press lately too, but $100?

[ManOfSteal]

Piper? Ummm, yeah...enough said.

[d0ubled0wn]

So, who here owns AAPL stock? I'd like to buy in but then I'd have to sell most of my current portfolio.

Actually I'm more tempted to buy stocks in companies that make parts for the iPod, ie, Marvell Technology Group (MRVL) and PortalPlayer (PLAY), who just went public on friday.

[Eug Wanker]

FWIW:

I just checked the Apple Store, and the top 10 selling items are all related to the iPod.

• iPod mini
  iPod
  iPod U2
  iPod photo
  iTunes Gift Certificate
  AppleCare for iPod
  Apple In-Ear Headphones
  Griffin iTrip for iPod
  iPod mini Arm Band
  iPod mini Dock

I still think a $100 stock price target is just too high though, at least with the info available to us right now. OTOH, the iMac G5 is selling extremely well. It's the top selling computer at the Apple Store. (Yes, it is even outselling the iBook.) In recent times, the iMac (G4) was the worst selling computer.

[Arkham_c]

If Apple stock hits $100 I'm selling, and quick. I bought at a little over $20 3 or 4 years ago.

And as to the iPod thing, I am 31, I don't have one, and I really don't want one. I don't know when I would ever use it.

[MilkmanDan]

I knew I should have bought apple in early 1990s when it bottomed out at $12, and then sold it at the end of the 90s when it was over $150. Then the darn tech bubble burst.

[d0ubled0wn]

Originally posted by Arkham_c:
And as to the iPod thing, I am 31, I don't have one, and I really don't want one. I don't know when I would ever use it.

It's great for any situation. I suggest wearing it all the time. When you're driving, it's great for drowning out the noise of honking horns (be sure to get noise canceling headphones.) Wife and kids nagging you at home? Whip out the iPod and crank up some headbanging music. They'll get a clue.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by d0ubled0wn:
It's great for any situation. I suggest wearing it all the time. When you're driving, it's great for drowning out the noise of honking horns (be sure to get noise canceling headphones.) Wife and kids nagging you at home? Whip out the iPod and crank up some headbanging music. They'll get a clue.

I personally think it's a bad idea to completely drown out ambient noise when driving.

I love the iPod, but never use it with headphones when driving. I don't ride my bike with it either.

[OptimusG4]

Well it's over $60 right now...

[RGB]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
I personally think it's a bad idea to completely drown out ambient noise when driving.

I love the iPod, but never use it with headphones when driving. I don't ride my bike with it either.

It's actually illegal, at least in Illinois, to drive with headphones on. You need to be able to hear sirens if they're approaching, and get out of the way. Plus a driver listening to music via headphones could be more easily distracted by said music.

That's why I plug my iPod into my head unit and let my car's speakers do the talking!

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by OptimusG4:
Well it's over $60 right now...

AAPL topped $62!

[Turias]

Originally posted by OptimusG4:
Well it's over $60 right now...

Holy crap. AAPL is up 11% today!

[d0ubled0wn]

sheesh, does everyone take me seriously around here?

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by d0ubled0wn:
sheesh, does everyone take me seriously around here?

You'd be surprised at how many people I see riding their bikes with headphones on, during rush hour traffic in downtown Toronto.

[l008com]

I mountain bike with my iPod all the time, its very great. But i wouldn't drive with it, its illegal in mass plus my ipod plays through my car anyway. But yeah back to the stock, I bought mine at I think $20, maybe a little under. I recently sold 1/3 of it when it was about $40 :-(. But I used that money to buy a new ibook so it works out. Now i've earned that money back :-D I wish it would split though, that would be nice.

[brapper]

"you need money to make money..."
damn, wish I had some back when the stock was at $40...or for that matter, at any point.

[OptimusG4]

Originally posted by l008com:
I mountain bike with my iPod all the time, its very great. But i wouldn't drive with it, its illegal in mass plus my ipod plays through my car anyway. But yeah back to the stock, I bought mine at I think $20, maybe a little under. I recently sold 1/3 of it when it was about $40 :-(. But I used that money to buy a new ibook so it works out. Now i've earned that money back :-D I wish it would split though, that would be nice.

Didn't it split once before, back in 2000 or so?

[l008com]

I think it has split several times in the past.

[Feathers]

The price has shifted from $23 up to over $60 in the past nine months, a further improvement from $60 to $100, proportionately, isn't unlikely. I think that the $100 figure just seems psychologically greater! Of course, if you buy at $60 and it only goes to $85, it's still a sweet profit. The trick is knowing when to sell and not getting greedy!

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by Feathers:
The price has shifted from $23 up to over $60 in the past nine months, a further improvement from $60 to $100, proportionately, isn't unlikely. I think that the $100 figure just seems psychologically greater! Of course, if you buy at $60 and it only goes to $85, it's still a sweet profit. The trick is knowing when to sell and not getting greedy!

If I had had extra cash at the time, I would have bought at the $20+ stage, and sold at $30+ (at a nice 50 profit). I wouldn't have thought it would have hit $50 in 2004, much less $60.

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by Feathers:
The trick is knowing when to sell

Are you a stock broker?!!!

[Feathers]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
Are you a stock broker?!!!

Nope, but I have bought and sold a bit in the past and rather than get greedy, if I can clear 15% after brokerage fees etc. I'd be more than happy, it's a better yield than the money sitting in a bank for a year! Unless I damn certain that a stock has a lot further to go!

I'm flummoxed about Apple though. I can't understand the positive reaction to the stock given the G5 shortages, long delivery times, iBook problems, Powerbook problems etc. I think it's heavily driven by the iPod (and not the iTMS) and until somebody comes out with a device that can reasonably compete, they're on a winner for now.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by Feathers:
I'm flummoxed about Apple though. I can't understand the positive reaction to the stock given the G5 shortages, long delivery times, iBook problems, Powerbook problems etc. I think it's heavily driven by the iPod (and not the iTMS) and until somebody comes out with a device that can reasonably compete, they're on a winner for now.

It just goes to show the stock market makes no sense.

My local paper asked six well-known analysts/brokers to pick a fixed number of stocks a few years back. They were to compete against each other for most growth over a year. Then the paper picked stocks itself... with darts, using the Toronto Stock Exchange listing page as the dartboard. The darts won convincingly.

By the way, Audible is doing extremely well today. I guess the stock market makes a little bit of sense...

Audio commentary (CBS Marketwatch): iPod helps Mac

[Link]

wow, $60 already? I shoulda bought in a few days ago when it was still in the 50s.

Problem with stock trading is, if you don't already have money ready for it, it takes up to 2 days to get it into an account, and then you have to pay fees to the company you use for trading (if you use one that can transfer the money that quick), etc etc etc. This takes a nasty cut.

Then again, I could see this being more than worth the trouble.

[Feathers]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
It just goes to show the stock market makes no sense.

Yup! A friend of mine was a stockbroker in Canada for a number of years and he told me two things:

1) Never invest more than you're prepared (or can afford) to lose. That is, you must reconcile yourself, in the beginning, to the possibility that you might lose everything.

2) Decide in the beginning what minimum return you would be happy with, and get the hell out, without hesitation, when it hits that figure!

Hence my motto: Know when to sell and don't get greedy!

[PacHead]

Originally posted by d0ubled0wn:
It's great for any situation. I suggest wearing it all the time. When you're driving, it's great for drowning out the noise of honking horns (be sure to get noise canceling headphones.)

Woah, I hope you never are on the same road as me. You sound like a dangerous psychopath.

You want to wear noise cancelling headphones, and listen to music while driving ? Um. . . . . ..



(edit) - Ok, you later said you weren't serious I see.

[Link]

Originally posted by PacHead:
Woah, I hope you never are on the same road as me. You sound like a dangerous psychopath.

You want to wear noise cancelling headphones, and listen to music while driving ? Um. . . . . ..

Everyone knows you're supposed to drive with the windows down and the music off.

[andi*pandi]

Mythbusters just proved that for maximum gas mileage, you should drive with the windows down and the A/C off.

topic? What topic? Where?

I wonder if MacStein is kicking himself for selling a few weeks back at 50... nah, I bet he's still rolling in money. Lucky sod.

[l008com]

Obviously you need the AC off because the AC compressor takes power directly from the motor, but why windows down? Wouldn't that just make you less aerodynamic?

[Joshua]

The whole logic behind the iPod and iTunes for Windows was that it would act as a Trojan horse for the Apple brand. According to what the stock analysts on CNN are saying, the strategy has worked: the surveys that MarketWatch article mention showed that a large number of Windows iPod users are planning on buying a Mac as their next computer. If that's true, it would mean huge growth for Apple over the next year or two.

[l008com]

If true, sweet.

[Feathers]

Originally posted by Joshua:
The whole logic behind the iPod and iTunes for Windows was that it would act as a Trojan horse for the Apple brand.

I think plans are things people have in retrospect. I don't believe for one minute that Apple ever anticipated the popularity of the iPod, on any platform. They deserve kudos for responding so well to it's runaway success.

Also, given the enormous potential still untapped within the MP3 music market, why should Apple even care about the "halo effect"? I grant you that the current iMac ads are trading heavily on the "from the makers of iPod" moniker but there's a world of difference between persuading someone to buy a $299 accessory that works with their PC and convincing them to "change everything" and drop $1500 on an iMac

The iPod and iTunes have effectively doubled the value of Apple as a corporation and how? by making iTunes available to Windows users not by expecting them to "switch" to Mac (which was certainly the strategy in the beginning).

[olePigeon]

I used to own just over 500 shares (513). I got invited to the shareholder's meeting when they first introed the snow iBook. Yeah, the one where all the attendees got a free iBook. I couldn't make it because at the time I had moved FROM San Jose, California (about 15 minutes from Cupertino) to Colorado.

Anyway. Back when they had jumped to about $25 I had sold it all and made a decent amount. Wish I hadn't needed to but I was really tight for cash and it was my only option. Sniff.

[l008com]

513 * 61.35 = 31 472.55

Yeah :-( indeed

[passmaster16]

Originally posted by brapper:
"you need money to make money..."
damn, wish I had some back when the stock was at $40...or for that matter, at any point.

yeah i tell people that all the time, i remember a few years ago when everything hit rock bottom, their stock was at $17, then i saw it climb, i've been telling people ever since that i should have bought it, of course i didn't anticipate the ipod becoming as popular as it has, it has truly hit iconic status, i would hope that Mac sales in general are doing better because of the ipod

[l008com]

Originally posted by passmaster16:
yeah i tell people that all the time, i remember a few years ago when everything hit rock bottom, their stock was at $17, then i saw it climb, i've been telling people ever since that i should have bought it, of course i didn't anticipate the ipod becoming as popular as it has, it has truly hit iconic status, i would hope that Mac sales in general are doing better because of the ipod

Wow i used to have the same G5 and ibook as you until i recently upgraded the ibook wierd.

[rozwado1]

Originally posted by d0ubled0wn:
When you're driving, it's great for drowning out the noise of honking horns (be sure to get noise canceling headphones.)

You know that it's illegal to drive with headphones in Michigan, right?

[QuadG5Man]

Apple will hit 135.84 before splitting.......so says my crystal iPod. ;-)

[DeathToWindows]

ya, I got 10 shares when AAPL was at 17.10... might just sell

and re: iPod/driving - EXTREMELY illegal... any cop with a brain will be happy to bust yo ass

[lavar78]

Originally posted by DeathToWindows:
any cop with a brain

That's just begging for a smart-ass comment.

[Turnpike]

christ, are you all that dense, or are you commenting on his sarcastic comment because you think that despite the fact that it was a joke, it had some merit as a topic of discussion?

Here's a trick we've used on other boards: if something is sarcastic, put it in orange text (these boards use a dark skin... perhaps a different color should be used here) so people don't get their panties in a bunch over something that started as sarcastic and then added a little extra to make sure it went overboard sarcastic.


go APPL!

[E's Lil Theorem]

Heh, seems a lot of people are kicking themselves for not buying early on. Congrats to all of those who invested and held onto it

Originally posted by Turnpike:
christ, are you all that dense, or are you commenting on his sarcastic comment because you think that despite the fact that it was a joke, it had some merit as a topic of discussion?

Here's a trick we've used on other boards: if something is sarcastic, put it in orange text (these boards use a dark skin... perhaps a different color should be used here) so people don't get their panties in a bunch over something that started as sarcastic and then added a little extra to make sure it went overboard sarcastic.


go APPL!

A similar idea has been proposed:

Originally posted by CD Hanks:
Idea: make a new kind of vB code tag which changes the color/style of text so sarcasm can be more easily detected. With people's varying senses of humor, this could be beneficial and even humorous.

[passmaster16]

Originally posted by l008com:
Wow i used to have the same G5 and ibook as you until i recently upgraded the ibook wierd.

That is wierd. Well my first Mac was a 600mhz ibook. My friend liked it so much that he bought one as well. A few months later I decided I wanted a powerbook so I got rid of my 600 and bought a 667 tibook. It still is the nicest laptop I've ever used, and I've used them all. But it was so nice that I never wanted to take it anywhere for fear of it getting scratched. So, I sold it figuring that I'd get more use out of a desktop. Purchased a 733 quicksilver, used it for a while then sold it for a MDD 866 when it came out. 866 got zapped by lightning, and the insurance gave me enough to buy the dp 1.8. I got the 600 ibook off the same friend who bought it when I bought mine. He spilled soda in the keyboard and the backlight wouldn't turn on. He wasn't very Mac savvy. He called Apple and they told him $700 to repair so he threw it into the closet for a few months. Then I found out that he was moving to NJ for a job. I asked him how much he wanted for it. He said $300, I told him I'd give him 200 without looking at it, Deal. Got it home, hooked it up to external montior and it worked fine. Sent it out, $80 power inverter and $50 in labor and it was back in business. Its been working ever since. It's kinda slow though. Even with 640 megs of Ram it struggles...I think it's the hard drive causing the bottle neck. Perhaps if I threw a new one in it would fair better?