R.I.P. Steve Jobs and thanks for all of it!

I remember my first encounter with an Apple Mac. I had just left IBM in May of 1986 after 18 years of service and deciding it was time to leave Vermont and come to the Bay area and be part of the excitement and improved weather from the harshness of Vermont winters. The last thing I bought as an employee was the IBM Personal Computer XT, as I got it with the employee discount. To my surprise, in only a few months in San Francisco, the damn thing started falling apart. Eventually everything but the metal frame didn't work. I had to replace the computer and decided to go with my first Apple Mac. Since that moment I have never been dissatisfied with my Apple products, as you see I was converted into an Apple zealot. I have never looked back at any other equipment other than a Mac since.

As one of my early consultant gigs, I was fortunate to get Apple as a client in 1987 and I remember the excitement I felt walking into Apple and seeing groups of people working with chart paper and easels and colored markers contributing to a brainstorming exercise of new product ideas. The place vibrated and I felt privileged just to see it first hand and be a small part of it. I did a number of sessions for Apple management into 1989 and I met there what was to be one of my best clients ever. He was an IT mid level Director who was smart, cared about his people a lot, had the highest integrity and was the kind of person I was proud to know. I knew he had something special going for him and I just enjoyed his way of working with people. No, it wasn't Steve, but he was the kind of person at Apple that made it be one of the best companies in America.

It was a privilege to go into a company where you felt that excitement and knew something special was happening there. I had had that feeling only once before and that was when I worked on the development of the Heat Shield for the Apollo program, but I have never had that feeling again since Apple. Steve Jobs helped change the world and the way we look at and use technology in it. He changed my world too.

Market comments for Aug. 25th 2011

There are two major news pieces affecting the market this morning. First was the unexpected announcement that Steve Jobs had resigned as Apple's CEO. The second piece of news was that Initial Jobless Claims were up 5,000 to 417K for the past week. While Continuing Claims are down again this week, the fact may be that many people have been out of work for so long that they are no longer eligible for any unemployment benefits. Therefore they are not counted as Unemployed. Bizzaro!

On Friday, Fed Chairman Bernanke will be speaking at a Jackson Hole, Wyoming Conference. Many are looking for his announcement of QE3 in the speech.

Also Friday will be the release of Michigan Sentiment for August. Expectations are for a 55.8 reading. July's reading was miserable at 54.9, so many are expecting a move back up.

Gold continues down after yesterday's drop of about $100/ounce. In early trading it is down again $19/ounce to $1738/ounce now and down from its intraday high of just over $1900.

Apple UPDATE #2 re Earnings

First the headlines: "Apple Inc's quarterly profit beat expectations on strong iPod and Mac computer sales, and the company gave an outlook that cheered investors, sending its shares up 9.5 percent on Wednesday. Apple said its net profit in the fiscal first quarter ended December 27 rose to $1.61 billion, or $1.78 a share, from $1.58 billion, or $1.76 a share, a year ago. Analysts were expecting a per-share profit of $1.40, according to Reuters estimates. Revenue rose 5.8 percent to $10.2 billion, beating the $9.74 billion average Wall Street estimate. Shares in After hours are at $90.70/share. Here's the complete news release.

So I still have my shares and did not sell them even though many were scared about the news of Steve Jobs taking a leave of absence for 5 months. The stock got hammered and I even posted an apology, as I had recommended the stock at $85/share. When I issued the apology, it was in reaction to the stock dropping to the $78.20, a 52 week low on Steve Jobs news. However, my recommendation still stands and the stock is still a buy here at $90.70 in my view.

Pre-market outlook Jan. 15th 2009: Market Indexes will drop again today

Lots of news this morning and I will try to state major items of interest affecting your portfolio. The net effect of the news is that today will be another down day for U.S. markets. Here's the summary:

- Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan says worst is yet to come in the financial crisis
- Microsoft is seriously considering layoffs
- Motorola is looking at more cost cuts in 2009 including cutting 4,000 jobs
- The Eu Central Bank has lowered interest rates 50 basis points to a rate of 2%
- Russia has devalued its currency for the 4th time in 5 days.
- Nissan to reduce US Mfg. Plants to a 4 day work week

You can do a search on any of these items today and get the detailed news story.

I looked for some good news today but couldn't find any. The effect on the stock market futures is predictable with Dow Futures dropping over the past hour and the Nasdaq Futures were hit by the Apple news as well as the fact that Microsoft considering layoffs.

I would still hold on to the ETF Ultra Shorts SDS and TZA but by tomorrow the market may be down enough that selling some of your shares from your positions could be warranted. Currently SDS is at $81.30 in pre-market and TZA is currently at $61.49. I am still thinking these shares will rise substantially. If they don't rise enough by tomorrow I will still hold all shares. The reasoning there is that on the day of Barack Obama's Inauguration the markets may rise from the optimism of a new President and it may linger some days next week. However when reality sets in we are headed down to retest the lows and that is where you will want to sell these two ETF's.

Depending on the severity of the drop in Apple stock, symbol AAPL, I may add to my position again in the coming days.

Apple UPDATE re Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, Apple CEO announced after the close that he is taking a medical leave till June, while dealing with the hormone imbalance issue he cited in earlier press releases, during the Mac World Conference. He said it turns out that it was more complicated a problem than earlier reported and he will use the time to deal with it, but will stay involved in Apple on strategic issues for the next 5 months.

Sorry I didn't see this coming and had recommended the stock at $85-$86/share. In after hours the stock has slumped on the news to $79. I still believe the company is a good investment but we need to digest the news and the timing of the current market drop. Sorry on this one and hope you didn't jump in with both feet as I had advised only a 1/3 investment of the shares you were thinking of purchasing. I will watch the action over the next few days to see the fallout and let you know what I am doing with the stock. I may add more or I may sell. Can't say at this moment.

I know we all wish Steve Jobs the best and for a speedy recovery.