“Apple Inc. shares made a swift reversal higher Tuesday amid a wave of Twitter chatter about a possible stock split and special dividend,” Laura Mandaro reports for MarketWatch.
“Shares are up 1.2% at $448.04 after hitting an intraday low of $437.66, or a drop of as much as 1.1%. Volume picked up as the widely held — but recently battered — stock climbed to its highs of the day,” Mandaro reports.
“What gives?” Mandaro reports. “For a start, hedge fund manager Doug Kass tweeted that he was very long Apple — and then said he was hearing about a stock split.”
High above the Alps my Gnome is hearing a rumor that Apple will announce a stock split at tomorrow's shareholder meeting. $AAPL
— Dougie Kass (@DougKass) February 26, 2013
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
The tail that’s covered in shit continues to wag the dog.
My Gnome has an official gnome!
It is the job of the official gnome to read a tome,
so that the Gnome can leave the garden early for home.
The Gnome’s gnome does not like bones,
left in the garden by the dog alone with the gnome.
A fox chews the gnome mistaken for the bone,
leaving the gnome’s hat on the soil that is loam.
A worm pokes its head through the soil and declares, “Tis not Rome!”
It rapidly retreats from a hungry bird on the roam,
seeking a meal of worms or even perhaps a groat of oat.
As for me and that Gnome that left early for home,
I shall in despair and let out a groan!
Because the Gnome’s gnome, it reeks of woad!
Great news for my shares.
Actually, it *should* be completely meaningless to your shares.. (If it’s true), it may be good because of people who don’t understand that splits are meaningless since the price halves and the # of shares double.
Apple is a nice $400 stock pre split. A nice $200 stock post split- if it happens.
All the Fanboism in the world and wishful thinking has not been able to pump up Apple stock since the correction- even Viagra would fail.
One extra point.
If Apple were to distribute most of the cash pile in a one time payout, what would happen to the stock afterward?
Dunno. What would happen if you pulled your head outta your ass? Both intrigue me…
I was calling Apple overpriced and a $400 stock when ALL the Fanbois and Analysts were pimping $1000/share.
I was buying Apple when nobody on Wall Street was buying and the split adjusted price was less than $5/ share and OS X was a public Beta.
I was buying Apple when you were probably using Windows XP on your Dell.
So who needs to pull their head out of their ass, junior?
You junior!
It’s all in the nick folks. Agent ‘Provocateur’. You have been provoked.
The Fanbois have thin skin- probably from the atmosphere in mom’s basement.
Wrong OS. M$ breeds the basement dwellers.
Now now. Not all Apple fanatics are made of the same stuff or live in the same digs. I was once (or twice) the sucker of our beloved ZuneTang® back in the day. Being made to actually think for a change is not normally encouraged in our current propaganda infested global society. It takes some getting used to. 😉
Oh, Great Agent PP,
Enlighten us meek Fanboys with your wisdom….Oh great one, tell us with your great insight what stocks to buy!
You are obviously a genius and should not waste your time dealing with us minions
Now
GTFOH
It is not about anything but Apple’s stock and it’s performance and future. Thanks for the ad hominem nonsense. I was responding to a troll, as I am now.
You spout BS all the time. Did you know Apple was going to release the iPhone in 2007? and the iPad in 2010? that would disrupt the market and increase revenue? DO you know what Apple has in the pipeline?
Apple over priced at $400/share? Do you know anything about stock prices? About P/E ratios? Margins? Markets?
Apple by the end of the year will be sitting close to $200 billion cash and each share will have a “built in value of almost $200/share and $400 is overpriced? What about Amazon trading at over 3000 multiples? You, sir, are a Monday morning QB, typing away on your Dell Computer in the basement of your parents’ house.
Typed on a Mac Pro, Junior.
Save us all the Wall Street number hype. Trading on inside information is against the law and Apple under Jobs was notorious for it’s secrecy. It planted stories when doing so served the hype machine.
The reason I invested in Apple is that they knew what they wanted to accomplish even as competitors wandered around like a blind man in a mosh pit. It was not that Apple was so good, but that the competition was clueless as how to exploit the things coming during the Jobs II era.
Apple’s rise during Jobs second act was a unicorn. I hope you enjoyed it and profited from it- I know I did. The easy money has been made on Apple. The path from here is very different as Wall Street is a rigged casino.
Fine, AP. You made a call and the stock went down. Congratulations. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the stock was overpriced from a technical standpoint or other reasons – perhaps it was a form of mass hysteria, etc. Regardless, AAPL dropped a lot since then.
I guess the real question is “How often are you right?” If you are right most of the time then, perhaps, we would be wise to listen to you. If you are occasionally right like a broken (analog) clock, then it doesn’t mean much.
I don’t really care. I just get tired of the extremism around this forum (i.e., you are either a “Fanbois” or a “Troll”). The vast majority of us are neither and don’t appreciate being tagged with those terms.
The Fanboism is quite apparent among comments on many posts. Anything that does not follow the Apple PR machine gets heartily doused with disdain.
i am a long time Apple customer and shareholder, but am not a worshiper of Steve Jobs. Jobs did not invent the personal computer, stood on the shoulders of others and seems to have been quite an asshole to many who worked for him. That said, he did have a vision for the company and a drive to make things happen.
My concern for Apple is that there is little fire in the belly for the next wave or the vision to pull it off. Many of the people who Jobs used to turn around Apple are long gone to other projects or retirement. The real concern is who will LEAD Apple – not who can make the trains run on time, which is Cook’s strength.
As to Ive, designing pretty hardware and envisioning computer software, networks and services are very different tasks and require very different skill sets.
AP, if you are a share holder, and you think the stock is going to 400, then why do you still own the stock?
Because I Bought it for far less. I stopped buying in the $320-330 range after having bought since 2001.
I sold some in the low $400’s and bought me an new car for cash and pocketed the rest after taxes. I did not sell all of it- just some.
Selling right now is not anything I would do unless I bought very high. Your mileage may vary.
I am not anti-Apple. I just think the company is off track and the analysts projections not well founded.
Hey, I hope you are doing well. I like your idea about the $400 price mark even though I don’t agree with it. The stock has hovered around $450 and I think it will stay at that level.
It doesn’t matter to me, at $400 a share, I’d still make a profit as I bought in two stock splits ago.
Now to your question as to what happens to the stock if there is a large one time pay out. I think that would definitely drop the price of the stock down to your target. I don’t think it will happen.
I am of the opinion that when Steve Jobs died there would be a drop in stock, regardless of who took over. I think the dividend idea also helped drive the stock down. I don’t like the Einhorn idea of preferred stock and frankly I think that Apple should keep it’s money to invest, hopefully into research and development although the legal team and marketing could use some propping up.
Barring that, I think what really matters to Apple’s future is the next big one more thing. If the Apple team can show that the magic is definitely in the company’s DNA then we might see the stock rise again, otherwise it will hover like it is now, and those who have invested will have to make due with the dividends.
Anyway, keep up the posts, I enjoy reading what you have to say.
A real split would be a 10-to-1 split.
Memo to Doug Kass: STFU, go away, and get some attention from Mommy.
Ok, twice as many shares at half the value is no change. I would not mind a special dividend after 5 months of getting my butt kicked.
I would rather have ANYONE at Apple go head to head with the BS from any analyst or talking heads. Use real charts, real data and real 2013 facts! Now, that would help my portfolio’s Apple investments.
I truly hope this is true! Some say a split is worthless, but it made me money over the years I will welcome it!
A split is a fantastic idea.
The “average” investor has a mindset against $400, $500, $600, $700 / share stocks – they can’t afford it. Apple should issue a 4:1 split to bring the stock down into the land of realism for the “average” investor. Let the common people control the stock price, not the hedge fund managers. AAPL @ $100, even with 4 x the volume of outstanding stock presents a much better growth opportunity than it does at the current price and volumes.
This may be Apple’s attack against stock price manipulation. They may be taking the power out of the hedge fund managers hands, and putting it back into the peoples hands … where it belongs!
Agree. But 10-for-1 would make my sister buy some. And she’s probably not the only one.
This may indeed be Apple’s big pry away from the bastards coupled with a big pull of the rug that the shrivelling little Einhorn stands on leaving him to eat sand and swollow debt.
SEC get off your incompetent asses and investigate Einhorn’s every move and while you’re at it take a good look at Kass’s bank and brokerage accounts.
How does initiating a split affect stock price manipulation by hedge fund managers?
Kass needs to go to jail.
2 for 1 – not such a big deal. A 10 for 1 split in this age of low information voters/investors, and the implications for my AAPL holdings are huge!
It’s purely psychological, but when you understand how this usually works, and that most people are far from geniuses, you can profit handsomely.
Do it, Cookie!
You? Using the word ‘geniuses’? Did you look it up in a dictionary? Stunning.
I think they need to split it something like 100:1 so there is room for growth and the analysts can work in numbers they can keep track of, maybe only 50:1 if they took their shoes and socks off.
@DougKass: Apple continues to climb – now up by over $8. I continue to pare back as the rumor seems to be baseless based on current share authorization
@DougKass: Problem is that AAPL only has authorization to 2-1 split in articles of incorporation. Which is no big deal. Must seek auth. for more $AAPL
There is a good book that many of you here would benefit by reading. It’s called “The Unemotional Investor”
A stock price is driven by GROWTH. Although, Apple is one of the healthiest financial companies in the world, they are now one of the BIGGEST companies in the world. Sales will continue to be strong and profitable, but the enormous growth phase that we saw over the last decade is over.
Bottom line is that you can love Apple and their products but there is currently more money to be made elsewhere in the stock market..
It’s called being “Unemotional.”
The ratings to my above comment prove the point of the book I’m talking about. Many here are way too emotional about the stock. Confusing your love of Apple the company with the reality of AAPL the stock is the true sign of an amateur investor.
The Unemotional Investor: http://www.amazon.com/The-Unemotional-Investor-Simple-Beating/dp/0684853752
“A stock price is driven by GROWTH.”
Thanks, that gave me a good laugh…
Yes, growth… Not prior growth, FUTURE growth. Apple’s future growth guidance for the next quarter and YOY is minimal in relation to the huge growth percentages that we saw in the past decade.
It doesn’t mean that the company is not doing well, of course we all know apple is making a ton of money and selling a boatload of products, but it’s a fact that the growth rate has slowed. This is not a slam against Apple, this is a matter of separating your love of the company from the reality of the stock market and becoming an “unemotional investor.”
That is, if you want to make money.
When 90% of economists say stock prices cannot be predicted, pegging price to the *perception* of future rate of growth isn’t valid. If it were that simple, then a little regression analysis coupled with time-series could give the prices within a reasonable error. The market is unpredictable and illogical, but it can be manipulated. Recognizing that does not make one an emotional investor, just a (hopefully informed) gambler.
OK, let’s talk about growth. Apple is making $50B per year. It has a P/E of about 10. Now, IBM, with less than half the growth of Apple has a P/E of 15. Apple with a P/E of 15 would be priced at $750. How much growth in revenue is Amazon experiencing? Google? It’s all BS.
When Apple hit $700 it was only approaching it’s realistic value. The huge drop since September, it turns out, was fueled by Fidelity and another large fund dumping about 10% of the outstanding shares of AAPL over a 3 month period. Why? Who knows? Rebalancing? Market manipulation? It doesn’t matter. AAPL is massively under-valued. I’ve been a stockholder for the last 10 years now and I’m used to the BS, not just from the analysts, but from the self-styled experts who always report that they made a killing predicting tops and bottoms, always reporting in AFTER the fact. Yeah, right! These ass-hats always talk about being unemotional and having been AAPL investors since Moses. They aren’t bragging. They’re seriously concerned about us “little guys”, and just hoping to give us the benefit of their “wisdom”. They tsk-tsk at the foolishness of the buy-and-hold investor, saying that anyone who knows anything should know better. I have news for you. I’m doing fine. Even now I’ve multiplied my original investment by close to 80 times. I’ve already taken off the table more than most people will ever make in their lifetimes. In short, who asked for your opinion?
I am going to go out on a limb and announce AAPL will split 8 to 1. Option contracts will be much more affordable to hedge your stock with a married PUT.
Anything more than 2:1 would require a shareholder vote. But I like the idea of 10:1. It would make option investing fun again.
I like the underlying stock price to be about $50 so that the options are priced well but affordable to be used to protect my stock.
No split. Kass wanted the share price to go up so he could sell off a chunk and make some money. Where is the SEC?
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