<p>If amazon sells enough, perhaps they can get their earnings to 0.</p>
<p>Lol…</p>
<p>Yellen is powerful too…</p>
<p>[Yellen?s</a> Focus on Unemployment Adopted by Fed - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>And…</p>
<p>Apple…</p>
<p><a href=“http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748703889404578438842150542854.html?mod=BOL_hpp_dc#articleTabs_article%3D1[/url]”>http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748703889404578438842150542854.html?mod=BOL_hpp_dc#articleTabs_article%3D1</a></p>
<p>I still like Windows but Google is putting out some interesting ideas. I don’t like the idea of Chrome where your apps are network-based, but an Android laptop is interesting as you can store stuff locally.</p>
<p>[‘Wintel</a>’ on the wane: Intel goes Google | Business Tech - CNET News](<a href=“http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57581751-92/wintel-on-the-wane-intel-goes-google/]'Wintel”>'Wintel' on the wane: Intel goes Google - CNET)</p>
<p>That is very interesting BCEagle91. Thanks for the link. </p>
<p>Makes me a little more optimistic about intc.</p>
<p>I’m long Intel (bought it Monday or Tuesday I think). Just a trade that might turn into an investment. Intel is going into the low-end market and taking on ARMH head-on. They are going to cut prices on their PC chips and continue to push into phones and tablets and low-end laptops. They can do this because they double the density of transistors on chips every two years so their variable costs go down with every new process generation. As you probably know, they have a 2+ year lead on the competition on process.</p>
<p>I posted a few weeks ago that Microsoft is talking about delivering 8 inch Windows 8 Tablets this summer and that I was somewhat doubtful because of the poor reception of Windows 8 and Windows far lagging Android and iOS in apps. Intel talked about cheaper Ultrabooks, laptops, phone design wins and tablets. I was doubtful too but wasn’t aware that they are going to be attacking on price too (I thought the lower costs were other components). So let’s see if Intel can get the job done. BTW, Microsoft stock has been doing great lately. I’m not sure why in terms of products but they did have great earnings.</p>
<p>Somebody bought a large stake in msft. </p>
<p>And maybe…what you wrote is affecting the stock too…</p>
<p>Intc again…</p>
<p>I guess I will keep my shares then…</p>
<p>For a second…i thought maybe I dreamt the buyer of a msft stake.</p>
<p>[Microsoft</a> Attracts an Activist - Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-attracts-activist-205000486.html]Microsoft”>Microsoft Attracts an Activist)</p>
<p>It’s the age-old question of companies - do you eat your cash cow by lowering prices to make it up with volume? This is very hard for companies to do psychologically. I’ve seen many companies go under because they couldn’t work though major price and technological changes.</p>
<p>Speaking of companies that couldn’t adapt because their old business models made so much money, I drove along Route 128 in Waltham today. There was a massive construction site along the highway and I immediately realized that the Polaroid building was missing. That complex had been there for decades. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.polaroidland.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Walthamw3.jpg[/url]”>http://www.polaroidland.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Walthamw3.jpg</a></p>
![http://www.polaroidland.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Walthamw3.jpg[/url]](http://www.polaroidland.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Walthamw3.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>It’s going to be replaced by retail and office space and one of the first tenants will be a Market Basket supermarket - a very successful low-cost regional grocery chain.</p>
<p>Polaroid… I knew the owner of Polaroid. He is in jail now. Ponzi scheme.</p>
<p>“It’s the age-old question of companies - do you eat your cash cow by lowering prices to make it up with volume? This is very hard for companies to do psychologically. I’ve seen many companies go under because they couldn’t work though major price and technological changes.”</p>
<p>That is a very good point…</p>
<p>Microsoft certainly makes a lot of money by doing not much - people have to upgrade their operating systems. Windows XP is going off support in about 10 months and companies are upgrading to Windows 7 now or they are planning it for later this year. There are companies out there that are in a tough pickle where they have office management software built on Windows XP but it would cost them $10K to upgrade to Windows 7 versions if upgrades are even available. A lot of small offices really can’t afford these kinds of upgrades and are in a tough place.</p>
<p>But I think that growth and innovate products are a problem for Microsoft. I won’t buy MSFT unless Ballmer goes. I don’t think that he’s good for innovation at Microsoft. Well, good innovation. I think that Windows Phone has been a disaster.</p>
<p>Yeah…I am not excited about msft either. However… I have an open mind… </p>
<p>The new xbox is coming out. May 21st is some pr event. Can the xbox affect msft in a big way?</p>
<p>I know zilch about the gaming world.</p>
<p>Me too… :)</p>
<p>[Amazon</a> is going to do to enterprise cloud companies exactly what it did to book stores ? Quartz](<a href=“http://qz.com/78935/amazon-enterprise-cloud-computing/]Amazon”>Amazon is going to do to enterprise cloud companies exactly what it did to book stores)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I remember you saying that MSFT was not good at innovation in the consumer space but they were good at innovating in areas such as business commerce.</p>
<p>Yes, they have cash cows in server operating systems and applications.</p>
<p>The new Xbox is going to be an interesting system. Word is they’ve partnered up with EA to make it so all games sold by EA require an active internet connection to play. This includes single-player games. The 360 did a pretty good job dominating the PS3, and I imagine if HD-DVD had won instead of Blu-ray it would have trounced it. MS gets an easy $50 a year from anyone that wants to use their 360 for online content, including just using as a media center to access Netflix. They also seem to have gotten gamers to be complacent with replacing their gaming console every 3-4 years, which was unheard of prior to this generation of consoles. Amazingly my Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Playstation, Playstation 2, and all my Gameboys work perfectly fine, yet my 3 year old 360 makes me worry every time I turn it on.</p>
<p>The Kinect was a bit of a flop, but who knows how the 720 and whatever solution they come up with will fare. Nobody guessed the Wii would sell as well as it did (and then proceeded to sit on millions of shelves after people got tired of bowling).</p>
<p>I think the xbox is a big deal for MS in a similar way as the Playstation is for Sony. Although I guess the PS3 was one of the only profitable branches of Sony the last few years.</p>
<p>I have owned MSFT for a long time. Unfortunately, “a long time” means from the late 1990s, not from the early 1990s… LOL. I just sold half my position, called away at 30.</p>
<p>I went through a roundup of listening and reading over the weekend and my takeaway is that the technical picture is muddy as is the fundamental picture. The Leading Economic Indicators point to a slowdown and we’re going to get a bunch more reports this week which will likely lead to the same thing. Oil has rebounded pretty strongly despite demand being weak.</p>
<p>There’s sell in May and go away. There has been some talk by the Fed about taking the foot off the pedal but I think that’s unlikely given the LEIs from this past week. Some think that stocks are undervalued. There’s the question of why defensive stocks are still doing quite well. Will we have follow-through on tech stocks rebounding? Why are Intel and Microsoft stocks doing well even though their industries aren’t? Just sector rotation? So the folks that I listen to have me back to being cautious. The suggestion is to keep time-frames short and take profits when you have them. I tend to prefer to hold for longer time-frames but I am thinking about lightening up a lot before mid-May.</p>
<p>I listened to some gold commentaries and I need to take a look at some companies that may have decent yields there now. I do not know if the bottom is in - could be another trip below $1,400.</p>