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A bit simplified:
The problem is that the world is dependent on oil. And if price increases made oil have such a margin for the oil companies the economy and world would most likely grind to a halt and cause a recession/depression. And in this insane world that would be a horribly bad thing, leading people to loose jobs, struggle and possibly starve. Or maybe it would cause a revolution and end the system that makes rich richer and poor poorer.
Apples products on the other hand are not a essential for the world to go around, and although a lot of people would be a little bit sad if Apple shut down it would not cause any major problems. (Assuming Apple disappeared in a scenario where it didn't bring the economy down with it, now unlikely). Apple could have a 200% margin and if the sales figures stayed strong it would only affect the people having to spend the extra money. Cars would still drive, ships would keep running, you could still fly wherever you wanted and all the other petroleum dependent industries would still keep ticking..

But isn't the worlds fault for depending so heavily on oil and not innovating new sources of energy? Just like the other companies for not inventing the iPad and iPhone first? Isn't what's good for the goose also good for the gander?

I'd love to see anyone here look up what oil companies spend on research and finding new fields.

Billions and billions each year, a lot of which goes right down the drain in hopes of finding the next big field to make up for the money already spent.

Maybe if Steve ran Exxon they could do it for less money and bring the price of oil down?
 
I think the stability of Jobs health is worse than is being conveyed. Once he passes, there will be a big impact, but for a very short time, a blip on the radar.

Then Apple will settle in, stock will rebound, and there is a good possibility they will do better than ever. Apple is too well positioned for one mans passing to have a great impact.

+ 1 to your post. I don't see how truthful posts get thumbed down. MR should do away with it, its silly and as meaningful as the youtube comments section.

People that think once Jobs is out the its game over, might as well go and spit directly in the face of hundreds and hundreds of workers at Apple that make the ship run like it does. Its not one guy.

Per usual I will negative my post since I spoke against god or whatever. :rolleyes:
 
Because they have massive monopolies, minimal risks, and massive demand? This is a basic supply and demand story.

Again, spouting righteous crap without knowing financial basics, but from the other side this time...

And I bet a significantly larger number of people are calling Apple greedy (and pointing out to the $76Bn net assets) than calling oil people greedy. What they do call oil people are folks spending millions to buy political leaders so they don't have to bear the costs of the negative externalities their industry imposes on others, and spending millions to fudge basic science.

I might be late to the discussion, but not reading the rest of the thread before commenting.

First and foremost, I truly believe that parents have the responsibility of feeding their children. I have 2 kids and if I couldn't be able to provide for them, that would be a failure as a parent. Not that I'm perfect either.

That being said, I might incorrectly assume that the original comment was more about Apple restarting its Philanthropy program, and not necessarily for feeding poor children specifically.

I would get behind such a move. Doesn't need to be 76 billions either, far from it. And they can choose however they would want to do it.

That being said, as a center guy, I'll probably get attacked by lefties and righties... This usually happens to me... :-D

On another subject, some people say they don't have Apple stock, but if they have mutual funds, a employer pension plan, etc. But if they do invest somehow, then they likely have some ownership of Apple stock.

Cheers!
 
>>> Apple passed ExxonMobil as the most-valuable publicly traded company .



And the iPhone only has a 3.5" screen.

When the iPhone 5 comes out with the bigger screen, apple will be bigger than the usa.
 
Yet oil doesn't even break 10% on average and they're blasted by some people as greedy companies.

People need oil, or believe they need oil. Apple does not make anything anyone needs. You could argue everyone needs a mobile phone in 2011. Nobody needs a smartphone, not yet anyway.

The price of oil is also controlled by an international cartel. If there was an international phone manufacturers cartel manipulating the prices and production of all phones, people might feel differently.
 
The price of oil is also controlled by an international cartel. If there was an international phone manufacturers cartel manipulating the prices and production of all phones, people might feel differently.

Isn't apple doing this :)

They own the market, set the price accordingly, and force android to produce 100 phones every year.
 
I might be late to the discussion, but not reading the rest of the thread before commenting.

First and foremost, I truly believe that parents have the responsibility of feeding their children. I have 2 kids and if I couldn't be able to provide for them, that would be a failure as a parent. Not that I'm perfect either.

That being said, I might incorrectly assume that the original comment was more about Apple restarting its Philanthropy program, and not necessarily for feeding poor children specifically.

I would get behind such a move. Doesn't need to be 76 billions either, far from it. And they can choose however they would want to do it.

That being said, as a center guy, I'll probably get attacked by lefties and righties... This usually happens to me... :-D

On another subject, some people say they don't have Apple stock, but if they have mutual funds, a employer pension plan, etc. But if they do invest somehow, then they likely have some ownership of Apple stock.

Cheers!


Apple does not have a chance of restarting its Philanthropy program until SJ is 6 ft under. He is way to greedy of a man. First thing he did when he came back to apple was kill the program with the promise to restore it when things got better. Well things are great and we are still waiting.

SJ is way to greedy and it shows. Good business man and marketer but horrible as a person.
 
That's Nice But....

Unless Apple keeps perfecting its products and working to keep the "it just works" reputation....it could all be gone in a few years.

Just look at Microsoft (i.e. Rome 400 AD)

The problem with growth is that as you grow you are forced to hire more and more people and your "crack design teams" can become diluted. Worse, you get attitude and ethics of those who have worked in companies that don't have high standards and "corners get cut". This can literally create "collapse from inside".

I hope Apple can retain "that" which made them great.
 
Made In America

I love Apple products. I am not loving the fact that so much of the product is made outside of America. Companies like Apple went overseas to avoid higher costs. Of course, they could raise the cost of the product to compensate for higher costs. Or, they could keep the cost the same and lower their profit margin.

Americans constantly bemoan the loss of jobs overseas. The simple fact is that greedy business people never consider anything other than their bottom line. Squeeze out every last morsel of profit, regardless of the effect at home.
 
Yet oil doesn't even break 10% on average and they're blasted by some people as greedy companies.

But they are simply selling stuff they get out of our earth without paying for it, they don't innovate or create anything. Thet do however help destroy the atomosphere. Not much to compare with Apple really.
 
Unless Apple keeps perfecting its products and working to keep the "it just works" reputation....it could all be gone in a few years.

Just look at Microsoft (i.e. Rome 400 AD)

The problem with growth is that as you grow you are forced to hire more and more people and your "crack design teams" can become diluted. Worse, you get attitude and ethics of those who have worked in companies that don't have high standards and "corners get cut". This can literally create "collapse from inside".

I hope Apple can retain "that" which made them great.

They have managed to create entirely new markets, real smart phones and now real tablets so I have no doubt they will continue. Trillion dollar company
within five years I bet.
 
Ummm... you fail. share price only reflect the price at the last successful deal. Lets say i sell 1 stock of AApL for 1$, at that moment anyone could buy Apple for 1*shares, i.e. pocket-change (relatively).


Think first.

Why do you feel the need to make a personal comment whenever you reply to my posts? Please stick to the topic and stop with the personal crap. You know nothing about me.

And, no, the listed stock price is not simply the price of the last successful trade.

Sorry, that's not the way it works. Market cap is simply a calculated number. Assuming someone had $340B burning a hole in their pocket right now, they wouldn't come close to being able to purchase Apple for that much. Any buyer would have to pay a substantial premium over the current price. If you want a simple way to describe it, you can think of it as setting the baseline price one could acquire all the shares in the company for. Remember the purchase of a public company means that you are acquiring some substantive majority of shares. In order to do that, you have to convince people/institutions to sell you those shares. Offering them the current share price isn't going to motivate very many people to sell you squat if they were not intending to sell to begin with.

I understand that and commented on exactly that in my post. Market cap is not the price a company would sell for, but it is the value of the company at the moment. Of course, some shareholders are unwilling to sell and all shares can't be purchased instantaneously. It is a theoretical value, but it is the real value of the company at any moment.
 
Guys, can't you at least put a qualification in your declaration, that Apple is the most valuable Public company in the world?
 
Apple does not have a chance of restarting its Philanthropy program until SJ is 6 ft under. He is way to greedy of a man. First thing he did when he came back to apple was kill the program with the promise to restore it when things got better. Well things are great and we are still waiting.

SJ is way to greedy and it shows. Good business man and marketer but horrible as a person.

What makes you think he is greedy other than your irrational bias? Most indications that I've ever read are that he cares more about the company and the products than his personal wealth.

What makes you think he is a horrible person? Because his a demanding, insensitive boss? No one in the forums knows anything about his personal life. The people he trusts don't comment. So that means most of what you think you know about him come from people on the outside or people with an axe to grind.

Guys, can't you at least put a qualification in your declaration, that Apple is the most valuable Public company in the world?

Did you read the first sentence of the post or just the headline? Headlines often don't contain the complete story.
 
Now if only Amazon had of bent to Apple's will and gave them 30% of every sale, Apple would have had a full 30% profit instead of this horrible ~27%

Damn you Amazon!!!!!! :)
 
Apple does not have a chance of restarting its Philanthropy program until SJ is 6 ft under. He is way to greedy of a man. First thing he did when he came back to apple was kill the program with the promise to restore it when things got better. Well things are great and we are still waiting.

SJ is way to greedy and it shows. Good business man and marketer but horrible as a person.
Sorry but you are basing this on what exactly? Maybe Steve Jobs's parent taught him give humbly and in secret. It is written in the bible that those who do good deeds in secret will be rewarded in heaven but those who seek the approval of men on earth for their deeds have already received their earthly prize of human praise and will receive nothing in heaven.

It is entirely possible the Steve Jobs gives a lot of money to charity but never reports or claims it on tax returns. We really don't know what he does with his private life and money.

Do you think that some good deeds by Bill Gates in his old age make up for his misdeeds and trickery of his youth? The only thing that can make up for it is a changed heart. If he is trying to buy himself into heaven then it will not work. But if his good works are result of a changed heart then good for him.
 
It is written in the bible that those who do good deeds in secret will be rewarded in heaven but those who seek the approval of men on earth for their deeds have already received their earthly prize of human praise and will receive nothing in heaven.

What's a "bible", and what's "heaven"? (In other words, please don't bring religious debates into the forum.)

Apple is all about immediate gratification, and pleasures here and now. Can't use last year's Itoy, must buy this year's....
 
Sorry but you are basing this on what exactly? Maybe Steve Jobs's parent taught him give humbly and in secret. It is written in the bible that those who do good deeds in secret will be rewarded in heaven but those who seek the approval of men on earth for their deeds have already received their earthly prize of human praise and will receive nothing in heaven.

It is entirely possible the Steve Jobs gives a lot of money to charity but never reports or claims it on tax returns. We really don't know what he does with his private life and money.

Do you think that some good deeds by Bill Gates in his old age make up for his misdeeds and trickery of his youth? The only thing that can make up for it is a changed heart. If he is trying to buy himself into heaven then it will not work. But if his good works are result of a changed heart then good for him.


And we both know that is a load of crap. Steve Job reputations says other wise.
Apple has been killing off what was left of its EDU programs to from what used to be fairly good ones to well crap now days. Like or hate Bill Gates you can not get around the fact that he does do a lot of good with his money. MS does a huge amount of Philanthropy and a lot of it is not exactly well known but they do it and they are among the highest rated in that department. Apple does let me see... NONE the program was killed off with the promise of bring it back when the company was doing better. Looks like a huge broken promise to me.
 
Apple is one of the greatest companies outhere with a business model that is pure envy to most. Comparison with XOM is just just luck as it so happens to be the largest US company (market cap). Otherwise these two companies are very different: comparing those crude figures, you can see the diferencies, since with almost the same market cap, XOM has double the employees, quadruple the revenue!!! but only marginally better quarter profits. Apple presents 30% less profits, but the difference is huge and that simply shows the great potential Apple has.
It also shows how efficient it is run, so how cant it be an envy of a company?

We cannot compare Jobs with Gate. Jobs is still an active CEO of Apple, while Gates has long left MS to pursue other goals. Apple is Apple Inc. and not Apple inc & Charities international.

I don't believe it can ever reach Trillion in the near future, especially if Jobs is not coaching it...
 
Apple is one of the greatest companies outhere with a business model that is pure envy to most. Comparison with XOM is just just luck as it so happens to be the largest US company (market cap). Otherwise these two companies are very different: comparing those crude figures, you can see the diferencies, since with almost the same market cap, XOM has double the employees, quadruple the revenue!!! but only marginally better quarter profits. Apple presents 30% less profits, but the difference is huge and that simply shows the great potential Apple has.
It also shows how efficient it is run, so how cant it be an envy of a company?

We cannot compare Jobs with Gate. Jobs is still an active CEO of Apple, while Gates has long left MS to pursue other goals. Apple is Apple Inc. and not Apple inc & Charities international.

I don't believe it can ever reach Trillion in the near future, especially if Jobs is not coaching it...

Or, in other words, it just shows how bad "market cap" is as a measure of a company.

Nice for the Apple fans who have orgasms based on end-of-day closing prices - but not that important in the grand scheme.
 
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