Get it through your head Microsoft

After dominating the PC world for so long, mr softy (ie microsoft) is now getting hammered by a competitor they nearly put out of business (in fact some will remember that mr softy invested in apple to keep the company afloat in order to appease the justice department). The issue I have with microsoft is these stupid updates. After being annoyed by 'restart now' reminders for the better part of 2 days (popping up in the middle of what I'm working on in the most inopportune times) I finally bit the bullet and clicked restart). Thus begins a 10-15 minute process of closing all programs and re-opening them to become productive again. The problem is this is like a tax on those who make more money. Case in point, for a professional making $100k, 15 minutes of time is worth about $13. Assuming 6 restarts per year, thus equates to $79. At $300k, this jumps to $238. At $500k , it is $397. And at $1mm per year, $794. Who cares you say? (or more specifically, who cares about the "rich" as they can easily afford the money). The problem is this generates feelings of resentment towards one party: Microsoft, from a heavily influential group with strong purchasing power (those with money). Enter Apple with instant on and minimal updates and you start to see why they are crushing the competition, despite in many cases anti-competitive behavior and bizarre software quirks of their own. For PCs that are seldom used (like a laptop) the situation from Microsoft is more intolerable. In fairness I think mr softy is starting to understand as I hear windows 7 is supposed to be easier to use (although I've never tried it). I viewed the announcement this week of a new operating system from microsoft as a real yawn. who cares? this gravy train is over, with the never-ending cycle of license fees and upgrades. (actually calling the death of microsoft is premature as i love what they are doing in the business accounting/erp software market). but the dominance of apple (with billions generated in media sales from a hardware/software base that's already out there) is the new reality.



Markets. Business. Life. by LoneRngr (screen name) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License. Based on a work at marketsbusinesslife.blogspot.com.Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://marketsbusinesslife.blogspot.com/.

Stop Counting Turkeys

great quote from Market Wizards (William O'Neill) on holding losing stocks. Quit counting your turkeys! (I will have to reproduce it in full when I have more time)


Markets. Business. Life. by LoneRngr (screen name) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License. Based on a work at marketsbusinesslife.blogspot.com.Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://marketsbusinesslife.blogspot.com/.

The Kind of Market We're In

I have a hard time reconciling this market and yet I need to remind myself that this is the market we're in. Valuations in the metals space are seemingly outrageous, and yet every time I sell a stock after a 3x, 4x or 5x gain I immediately regret it as the stock moves even higher. Companies with no revenue, in questionable jurisdictions, that are years away from generating first revenue in a volatile commodity cycle are trading at $1 billion or more. Sooner or later you know the music will stop and yet it keeps going. Stupid people can make a lot of money, in fact they make more money because they are too stupid to sell. It is a crazy market--best to keep playing it until the music stops!


Markets. Business. Life. by LoneRngr (screen name) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License. Based on a work at marketsbusinesslife.blogspot.com.Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://marketsbusinesslife.blogspot.com/.

Disconnect?

Not sure what's going on in the markets these days. Shanghai and the TIPS have rolled over, which suggests to me that inflation expectations are benign while the Chinese market is slowing. Then again, inflation in China (esp. food inflation) is pushing higher and the Chinese central bank is raising rates to cool the economy. In Canada on the other hand, markets are moving higher and oil is also pushing higher, in direct contrast to what's happening in China. The VIX is poking a little higher but generally signals things are quiet on the volatility front. I think QE 2.0, end of year and the holiday season are throwing things off. It appears the US shopping season (marked by Black Friday) is doing well, suggesting that consumers are opening their wallets a little bit at least. Europe is still a mess (and London is stalled), so no help from this group in the near term. The new year is a different ball game altogether, and I think we will start the year down as people sell in January to avoid paying capital gains in 2010. Longer term the commodity run appears to be intact, copper could touch $5.00/lb in 2011, silver looks really good, gold good and zinc good (2 yrs out). Giddyup!



Markets. Business. Life. by LoneRngr (screen name) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License. Based on a work at marketsbusinesslife.blogspot.com.Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://marketsbusinesslife.blogspot.com/.