“In the wake of Standard & Poors’ downgrade of U.S. government securities — from AAA to AA+ — Apple’s (AAPL) shares are getting pummeled along with the rest of the market,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune.
“But after the subprime mortgage debacle and the debt ceiling circus, it’s worth remembering that this is a company whose profits last quarter grew 125% year over year and now has more money in the bank than the Federal government,” P.E.D. writes.
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David E.” for the heads up.]
dumbest thing I’ve ever read!
With 80bn in the bank, who needs a credit rating to borrow money?
Standard&Poors’ standards are poor.
S&P made the correct call since sovereign credit risk includes governmental decision making. Also the debt-limit-increase agreement lacked restoring historical tax revenues from the wealthy. Debt reduction will not be possible until then.
As far as Apple, their debt is not graded since they don’t have any. The stock price is suffering because in a panic, stocks with the most recent increases get sold the hardest, as investors rush to keep whatever profits they have.
… but I’ll keep politics out of this. I don’t recall hearing of a “quadruple-A Rating” before Warren Buffet suggested such a thing recently. AFAIK, an AAA Rating was the best possible. The Gold Standard. And Apple may not exactly rate it! Because you only get rated if you actually borrow money! As JC said, why would Apple do such a thing? It would be dumb! Let the Windows crowd live beyond their means, if they want. Just shows the quality of their decisions.
Yep, You have to borrow to get a credit rating. Apple doesn’t borrow, it lends money to banks at 3% interest.
Due to risk, I think they should up it 6%
Apple gets interest from the banks for its money but the PC and Android crowds pay exorbitant fees to these same banks. Even Microsoft and Cisco which have hill of cash, yet they also have debts. Apple has mountain of cash but no debts.
That’s because, once Steve Jobs goes, Apple becomes just another player in the pack. It might take a while, but it’ll happen. Look at corporate history: no dominant player kept their number one, innovative spirit forever, particularly when the innovative founder leaves. Also, Steve Jobs’ very brilliance has sown the seeds of future destruction, implanting into Apple a corporate culture of refusing to listen to customers, and having a disdain for customer feedback unless absolutely pushed to the wall, like the iPhone 4 antenna issue. With Steve, this arrogance works because Steve is Steve, and Steve is brilliant, but once Steve goes, Apple will continue to refuse to listen to customers, and it will sink fast. e.g. General Motors, Ford, Motorola, Nokia, Digital Computers, Dell and countless other titans of industry that were Numero Uno back in the 1st half of the 20th century which we can’t even name anymore.
Looks like someone needs a life
Bravo! Yours is one of the better pieces of FUD astroturfing I’ve read in quite some time. I’m sure you concentrated all of your hatred into that one.
Oh, and thanks for your brilliant and insightful analysis. It’s chock full of facts – not.
Please, spare us your rants and drivel. Oh, you better get going – your mom is calling you down for dinner.
I think you mean up. He’s obviously in the basement
“That’s because, once Steve Jobs goes, Apple becomes just another player in the pack. It might take a while, but it’ll happen.”
“Rules” are made to be broken and Apple will be one of the first here. Apple has the best customer service in the tech biz belying your argument about not listening to customers. I think they do listen but also often decide not to take the “advice” for their own reasons. Like what Henry Ford said about asking people how they’d like to get around faster and they would say “a faster horse” not knowing that Ford had something “different” in mind.
Perhaps you mean the iPhone 4 antenna non-issue.
If Apple sinks like Ford (The only North American auto maker to decline government bailouts on the strength of their business) it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
If that is as deep as your analysis goes, I think I’ll look elsewhere for sage advice.
I’m very surprised that MDN has allowed your post to remain – you have spoken blasphemy. You have also spoken the reality and you are absolutely, directly on target. Customer treatment is horrendous and the arrogance that let’s the company get away with the kind of stuff you have described will end with Steve’s departure and Apple Inc., along with AAPL, will level off and maybe even sink.
phone got wet in the rain. battery was discharging rapidly. went to the apple store. left with a new phone in under five minutes.
not sure what reality you’re living in Tom.
@O – your experience in the Apple Retail Store came after the outrage of Apple Retail Stores NOT doing what they did for you. But, you can experience the real collapse in customer service when you call Apple Care – for which you paid the ransom to extend when you bought your devices and some kinds of Apple apps. You used to be treated courteously and helpfully. Now, you get a voice that seems tired and unfriendly but, most of all, clueless. I’ve not been able to resolved anything at the entry level for more than a year now because the person answering the phone knows far less about how my devices/apps work than I do. I always have to insist that I get kicked up to a level where knowledgable people can be found. And, if it’s about an app from the App Store, there’s not even a number to call. You are referred to a completely ridiculous on line process of asking your question and getting nowhere with a reply largely due to the lack of proficiency in the English language. Apple Care has gone from great to awful. Yes it has.
It sounds like you’ve experienced a lot of Paine, Tom. It’s hard being smarter than everyone else, isn’t it?
What antenna issue is that, exactly? Is that the same ‘issue’ that affects nearly all cellphones with the antenna in the base, where people hold them? The one that really only had any significance for some iPhone owners on one particular network in one country, America, and wasn’t even noticed in any other country with more than one network offering the iPhone, with better coverage in cities.
Really, it’s tragic that imbeciles like you insist on perpetuating this tired old myth. I suggest you find a nice quiet corner along with some porn and quit bothering the rest of us who can actually think for ourselves.
What a bunch of bullshit! Apple’s customer service is the best bar none.
Last Tuesday, I ordered a component vid cable for my iPad for delivery Friday by regular post. Friday comes, no cable. Saturday comes, post is delivered, no cable! So I get on to customer services. They say they can ship out a replacement by UPS for Wednesday or refund me. I ask for a refund as I’m planning a trip into a city on the weekend where I can pick one up. Two minutes after I hang up, the damn thing turns up. So I call customer services again and explain that all is well and would they please rebill my credit card.
Oh no, they say—it’s our fault it wasn’t delivered when we said it would be, it’s a low-value item so we’ll still refund you and please keep the cable with our compliments. WTF??
This is not the first time I’ve had to deal with customer services: my daughter’s iPhone 4 had a dicky sleep/wake switch and my new iPod 4th gen developed a screen fault. Both times the device was swapped out for a new one in less than three minutes at an Apple Store.
FUD-mongers like you should stick to your POS Dell and their shitty customer service. Ten years ago I got a brand new Dell as part of a job I was doing. Logic board blew three weeks in and it took me six weeks and thirty-odd phone calls to get the fecker changed out!
You can take my Apple kit from my cold, dead hands!
=:~)
None of us like to see Apple stock drop with the rest of the market. But it does present a buying opportunity. And I for one will take advantage of it.
“Be fearful when others are greedy. And be greedy when others are fearful.”
– Warren Buffett
Why do we really care what S&P or Moody or any rating agency has to say? Why is it so easily forgotten that these are the same people who rated mortgage back securities as AAA. Their executives should all be in prison serving life sentences for being plain ass dumb. Oh, and did you hear about the simple math error ( a couple trillion dollars) they made in the initial release of their declaration. That is what an MBA gets you these days.
agree with you entirely on that one!
They’re in bed with the banks! The banks are wanting to make a move against the government…
Because it is AAPL rated. That’s why.
MDN is becoming the Dvorak of Mac news reporting. The political click-bait on this site is nauseating.
I’ve got to ask.
Why even come here, let alone post?
Oh the obligatory ‘why are you here’ retort.
Uh because I come here for Mac news, not political rants or articles that are obvious political click bait.
Is there a chance that with the coming recession, Steve and company saw the handwriting on the wall that the economy was going to tank? So they decided to build a warchest to stave off the coming losses from not selling enough Apple products in the future? Can you say recession #2?
Save your crap for your Android and Windows pals at other blogs.
$ is still over-evaluated. A B– rating would be much closer to realty.
And don’t come along with “Obama’s fail”!… The whole mess has been produced long before he was even born!
There is no endless growth. Whatever one has, comes from someone who’d lost it. And earth has been raped off a lot, this last century.
That comment was directeded @ MT.
I have owned apple products for many years and have dealt numerous times with customer service. There is no doubt in my mind that Apple has gone cold. Besides not treating the consumer as fairly as the used to, they have lowered their standard of expertise for the the techs who “try to help you”. I recently had a confirmation # for a repair to be covered by Apple. When I dropped off the device at an authorized dealer, they were denied the coverage. It was explained to me by Apple Customer Service that the person who authorized the repair “over stepped his authority”. Speaking with thick Indian accents must be right around the corner.