I think it may be time to divest my $AAPL holdings.
Apple, I am disappoint.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/apple-vaporizer-patent/
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LEGO Americana Roadshow: Building Across America I just checked out this traveling exhibition from LEGO and was quite impressed. The scale ... -
Merry Christmas, everyone!
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When we let politics trump science, people are needlessly put in harm's way. http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/self-censoring-fears...
Another high-poser market to be exploited.
ReplyDeleteNothing like addicted customers. They keep coming back for more. Surprised at Apple.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't surprise me one bit. It's a trendy market for hipsters that don't know any better, and they'll be able to get their mindless followers to buy it by putting their label on the side, wether or not they actually make a better product. I wouldn't be surprised if they also make it iPhone compatible by putting Bluetooth in the thing to give you stats about whatever it is you're smoking.
ReplyDeleteRoberto Bayardo Tell that to Samsung.
ReplyDeleteI gave up on AAPL after I upgraded my MacBook Pro a few months ago. After the upgrade, the laptop refused to recognize my external monitor.
ReplyDeleteI swapped it in for an HP Chromebook, which, with the help of a couple of adapters, norw runs two external monitors.
Uff Da, Apple!
Wondering what piece of technology they're actually chasing?
ReplyDeleteApple has done the, 'if you can't invent it, buy it out from someone else' routine in the past, such as buying up Power Computing (a 1990's competitor) because they wanted their product fulfillment apparatus.
ObDisclaimer: I have been long on AAPL since about 1996. Although I have been slowly diversifying over the past 3 years, my entire retirement portfolio is due to that one long-term investment. AAPL still represents about 14% of my portfolio.
ReplyDeleteFrom an investor perspective, I am very glad to know that Apple is exploring diverse types of consumer electronics products. My biggest concern has always been that they might stagnate and fail to continuously expand their offerings. I am more worried about that than the possibility that they might become too unfocused.
As for this particular story, I can certainly see the logic in this as a potential product. Recreational use of cannabis is now regulated much the same as alcohol under Massachusetts law, where I live, despite the continued federal prohibition. I think it is clear that within a decade, this is likely to be achieved at the federal level as well.
So, why does it make sense for Apple to explore the burgeoning market? The big difference between alcohol and cannabis is the delivery mechanism. For alcohol, all you need is a glass. Sure, there are fancy cocktail glasses and mixologists who will brew up amazing combinations, but that seldom involves technology more advanced than an ice cube or a match. For cannabis, it is possible to create ingestible extracts as well, but it is far more often extracted by burning or vaporizing.
Burning and inhaling the smoke from cannabis leaves and flowers is ancient technology that probably dates back to the earliest hominins. It has serious side effects, including long-term damage to the respiratory system. Vaporizing is a much more recent innovation, and involves heating of powdered cannabis flowers to the lowest temperature necessary to vaporize the active ingredients. The result is inhalation of just vapor, and not the troublesome combustion products such as fine particles. As mentioned in the article, one of the most popular recent devices (the Firefly) includes Bluetooth connectivity to allow device control from a smartphone, and costing several hundred dollars US. So far, this is a specialized product for a very small market in just a few states. Within a decade, the market will explode.
So, should Apple engage in a market for potentially tens of millions of hi-tech mobile peripherals at a price point similar to the original iPod? As an investor, I would say yes.
Now, you might object to this on the basis that "marijuana is the devil's weed" or "all drugs are bad." I will just point out that unless you are a teetotaler who avoids coffee, tea, and all other substances that modify human chemistry, you are simply choosing your favorite drugs over someone else's.
Brian Holt Hawthorne If Apple is getting into the cannabis accessory market, I'm definitely divesting. I don't invest in the tobacco or alcohol industries, so why would I invest in a different harmful vice product? While I don't think it should be illegal, I also wouldn't recommend anyone I care about consuming it. In that way, it's much like conservative talk radio.
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle I can absolutely respect that investment decision. I don't invest in fossil fuel companies for the same reasons, which has cost me dearly over the years.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely doubt that Apple is really getting into the cannabis accessory business, even though I personally think it would be a smart move. Most likely this is just part of their patent defense armada, needing to have a wide ranging patent portfolio to be able to fight back against patent suits brought by competitors. I'm not wild about that part of the industry either, but unfortunately it is a game you have to play if you want to do business nowadays.
I'm a cheapskate, a lazy sod, and a hypocrite who violates his principals by investing in index funds. My investment adviser, who is also my son, wants me to divest into socially responsible funds. One of these days I will.
ReplyDeleteThe only other shares I own are a few IBM that I hang on because I am too lazy to sell it and some grants from former and current employees.
My son says that I'm an ideal client in all other ways because I have a good, long term outlook.
You pays your money and takes your choice, I guess.
I am also a tea and coffee hound who sometimes takes his hound (well, Tibetan Terrier, actually) to the local, dog friendly coffee shop and has a double cappuccino, like I did today. I have some code to write.
Eric Mintz I will admit that some of the index ETFs I hold have some petroleum holdings, so I'm a hypocrite as well.
ReplyDeleteBrian Holt Hawthorne thank you, Sir. You have a good heart.
ReplyDeleteEh, index ETFs are hard to keep track of exactly what's in the mix. I'm mostly talking about buying individual shares of a company. Sure, there are "social conscience" funds, but they often make decisions that don't align with my own, too, so I'm not sure they're categorically "better" in that sense.
ReplyDeleteI've worked on Wall Street in a number of IT capacities, all of which made me wary of financial models and of prognostication in general. The S&P 500 does better than 60% of investors (The Donald's returns over the years have fallen spectacularly short of the S&P 500, if my understanding is accurate), so I said, "The heck with it. I'm not smart enough to beat the market, and I have better ways to spend my time," and shoveled all I could into some low cost Vanguard funds.
ReplyDeleteEventually, I went to a financial planner who, after spending a long time evaluating my various investments, told me that I was "all over the place, and somehow ended up pretty close to optimal."
I'll take it.
Eric Mintz Yep. The vast majority of my investments are in index ETFs. I do have a small amount of "play money" that I use to invest in particular companies in which I want to "overweight" my holdings, but that's like <10% of my total portfolio. That said, I'm doing better with my individual picks over 12 years than any of the ETFs I've found, but it's a higher risk/higher return profile (tech heavy) than I'd tend to select for an ETF, so it should do better.
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle After 20+ years on the 100% AAPL roller coaster, turning a very modest initial investment into something significant, I started a controlled exit. Initially it was just an S&P500 fund, but I then started using Personal Capitol to help diversify my portfolio. The result has done well in both up markets and down. I too have a small investment on GOOG/GOOGL, TSLA, AMZN, TSLA, and a few other individual shares. In a few months, my AAPL holding will be down to a few percent, and will have a total value close to what I originally invested (before the two 2:1 and one 7:1 splits). I'm still bullish on AAPL, but after increasing by well over 1000% it became real money.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I highly recommend Personal Capital. They will act as financial advisors for a small (apparently negotiable) asset fee, or you can just use the app for free and do the management yourself (which is what I do.) The app is great for portfolio management, and lets you combine analysis of multiple accounts across multiple brokerage houses.