[Premium] Is Apple worth it?

There has been a lot of chatter about Apple recently because of the monster move it has sustained in the first four months of the year. Bloomberg reports that Apple gained more than $250 billion in market share in just four months to April 9. That’s more than IBM’s current value. Other impressive figures are being bandied about like: Apple is worth more than the entire retail sector combined, Apple is worth more than Microsoft, Google, Nokia, and RIMM combined, etc. But soon, growth will be all about the emerging economies

Michael Mauboussin: In investing, less can make you more

Michael Mauboussin talks to Consuelo Mack about why its getting harder to beat the market and why doing less can actually make you more

Talking Large Cap Tech, Bonds, and Commodities on Stock Twits TV

I spoke to Tadas Viskanta of Abnormal Returns on StockTwits TV about a lot of different issues this past week. We discussed commodities, bond market, QE, tech stocks, and a lot more. Here’s the video below

When will large cap tech stocks start paying dividends?

I would argue that this is evidence that these companies are wasting shareholder capital by plunking down for splashy acquisitions and large new capital investments that are not paying off. Cisco and Microsoft have huge cash balances waiting to be deployed. This money can go to buying back shares at inflated prices or making acquisitions of dubious value to shareholders. The right thing for these companies to do is not necessarily just restructure but change their mindset and accept that the glory days of top line growth are over. First and foremost this means increasing the dividend payout to match other sectors of the economy.

Bank of America Dividend Rejection Blows Apart Bailout Disclosure Argument

Today it was revealed that last week the Federal Reserve rejected Bank of America’s plan to increase its dividend from its token penny a share in the second half of 2011. Clearly, the Fed is sending a message that it does not believe the margin of safety is large enough to warrant such a payout

Pimco: Seeking Alpha in Equity Returns in Europe

The bond guys PIMCO have decided to move into equities. They are doing so cautiously.  I mentioned some comments they made by Gross regarding safe, high dividend stocks like utilities. At the time, he was suggesting almost all asset classes appeared to be overvalued on a long-term basis, which may explain his move into higher

Some banks not paying TARP dividends

A friend sent me the following article from USA Today: The U.S. taxpayers’ investments in smaller banks are increasingly at risk. In a sign that more banks are under great pressure from the recession, 34 financial institutions did not pay their quarterly dividends in August to the Treasury on funds obtained under the Troubled Asset

General Electric to cut dividend by over 67%

Now GE has finally cut, but will they be able to maintain their AAA rating

JPMorgan cuts its dividend fom 38 to 5 cents

From MarketWatch: J.P. Morgan Chase said late Monday that its board cut the company’s quarterly dividend to 5 cents from 38 cents, effective for the dividend payable April 30. “The board anticipates maintaining this level for the time being. This action will enable the company to retain an additional $5 billion in common equity per

Meredith Whitney says nationalization is wrong and banks will lose money

Meredith Whitney, the well-known former Oppenheimer analyst had some interesting words to say on CNBC about the banking sector, nationalization, dividends and Citigroup. Take a look

Dividends are under pressure

Update 08 Mar 2009: Remember this:

Wells Fargo gave anxious investors a pleasant surprise Wednesday, reporting a profit drop that was milder than anticipated and lifting its quarterly dividend by 10 percent.

Wells Fargo’s second-quarter profit fell 22 percent as more customers at the nation’s fifth-largest bank failed to pay back their loans. But it raised its dividend to 34 cents from 31 cents – at a time when many other financial institutions are slashing theirs to preserve capital.

Very foolhardy now that Wells has been forced to cut its dividend to 5 cents even after receiving $25 billion from the federal government. So, I am re-posting this story as a reminder of what lies ahead.

Why is General Electric paying a dividend of 10%?

General Electric released its earnings report, posting net income in line with analyst estimates. And the world had a big sigh of relief. In posting its earnings, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt defended his company’s dividend and AAA rating