Those who think Steve Jobs’ health is on the line should take 75% of their Apple stock off the table, says TheStreet.com’s Jim Cramer:
Direct link to video here.
An attempt to drive down the price of AAPL? An earnest opinion? A mixture of both or something else? What do you think?
One thing’s for sure: there’s only one Steve Jobs. The good news is that he’s still here, Apple says publicly that he’s okay (the SEC does not take kindly to lying about things that are material to a company’s fortunes,) and Apple is a very likely place to attract the next Steve Jobs. In fact, he or she may already work there.
As for Jim Cramer, please look at the related articles list carefully. It’s like a conflicted, torturous roller-coaster for day-traders.
That settles it. Cramer is a pompous ass. Does he think that Jobs personnally wrote every line of code in OSX? That there is no one else at Apple who understands the architecture of OSX? Does he think the development teams at Apple won’t be driven by competition to at least maintain parity with other designs out there? Even if Apple were to looses its “edge,” the robust underpinnings of OS X would make it a superior choice to any other option: look at all the people who want to run OS X on beige boxes. And what about Apple’s other areas of expertise such as supply chain management and retail, did Jobs personally create these in his spare time?
Sure, Apple needs someone to identify the opportunities, create the product strategies, and motivate the development teams, but Steve isn’t the only one who can fill that role. There are certainly enough visionary people with the drive needed.
What would be a mistake would be to put the company in the hands of marketeers or CFO-types. That would indeed bring back the bad old days of Sculley etc.
Gary – your as brainlessly opinionated and cool as Chrissy1 or the Zune guy… you guys are cool.
Everybody is such an authority these days….
Steve is the competent tyrant that lays out the vision and drives the company to execute on that vision by creating great products.
http://www.fundadvice.com/articles/psychological-hurdles/paul-merriman-ten-reasons-to-ignore-jim-cramer-s-advice.html
Let me start by saying that Steve Jobs is special, and when he steps down Apple will be different. People know two versions of Apple from history, Successful Apple, with Steve at the Helm, and Disaster Apple without him. The assumption of the Financial types is that it is either one or the other. The problem is that they only see Steve. When he was forced out by the soda salesman, he took the best engineers and Apple was run by businessmen with no sense of art and style. They failed to innovate. Is Steve an innovator? Perhaps, but he is more a motivator of innovators. It was Woz that created the computer, it was Steve that built the company. Did Jobs invent object oriented design? No. but He motivated the people that did and channeled their energy. When steve steps down, wether 20 years from now or five, he is going to leave that staff behind. Apple could continue and even perhaps grow as a company if they do the following:
1. Hire a personable motivational type with a passion for computers as an art more than a science.
2. Hire someone that is a perfectionist and let him have complete control of product releases. (so he will release things that work well, not to cater to a sales cycle)
3. The key design people stay with Apple and act as Mentors for the next generation.
What Apple can’t do is:
1. Accept the notion that Apple is Steve Jobs – He is not
2. Hire a traditional CEO. He has to understand business but live art
3. Loose key people. This will be difficult, because most of them could do well on their own)
Seems this concept cuts both ways:
IF we need to be concerned about Apple because of Steve
Then folks should REALLY be concerned about Microsoft because of ____________
BC
@ Gary for the Plain Truth
The Star Wars franchise would have been a lot better off if Lucas had kicked the bucket after Return of the Jedi.
@cb
I can’t stand ChrissyOne or Zune Tang either. The first is a coy know it all that should be fired from Apple for the clues she gave as to the name of Snow Leopard before the name was even released, and the second just isn’t funny and never was.
The cult of Jobs will kill Apple. As long as the myth of Jobs’ deity is promulgated no one at Apple will fill Jobs shoes. End result, when Jobs dies, there will be no mere mortal capable of assuming leadership at Apple.
Unless Jobs privately and publicly ensures that his successor and associated staff are in place when he dies, the quest for control at Apple will turn Cupertino into the Silicon Valley version of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Jobs’ greatest innovation for Apple will NOT be the iMac or the iPhone – it will be to guarantee a smooth transition of control at Apple.
Given Apple’s furtiveness and silence regarding every minute detail of its company secrets, it is doubtful that Apple will suddenly become as transparent as the Giant Glass Cube. However, Apple has surprised people before. Becoming more open and honest with its share holders and consumers would be a good thing.
Forget trying to find consistency or logic in Jim’s trades. He wakes up brand new every day and plays the trade accordingly. If you can understand what he’s *not* saying, and see the patterns in the chaos, you can make some money.
Otherwise, just listen to Uncle Warren, and buy on weakness and hold.
Apple has done quite well under the tyranny of that manipulative dreamer. He has been the soul of the company.
Apple has done poorly under the ‘leadership’ of bean-counters. Damn near died.
While I’m not going to suggest that Apple will sink like a stone (again) should Jobs depart, I will point out that most of the reasons Apple is doing “well” are because of things that bean-counters would never have tried. Ive might be visionary enough to keep it working, but not if he’s surrounded by bean-counters.
Isn’t that what just happened these last many days? They’ve taken aapl out of their portfolios
Ha ha might actually be the right one here…
This is not the 1980s. Steve has disciples who see that his recipe works very well. If Steve disappeared, there are others who could move forward. Now with hindsight, the company would not be handed over to sugar-water salesmen.
No Steve and the stock would drop. But, with time and consistent execution, the new mature Apple, Inc. could still be a powerhouse. Enjoy Steve while we have him, but the end does not have to be here once he’s gone. All it’ll take is for consistent product releases post-Steve and people will continue to buy. If anything, he installed the structure to maintain it.
That’s perhaps one of his best achievements.
People take this guy seriously? The street is like The Enquirer…
it’s not like SJ is sitting at a desk somewhere writing code for the Mac…
His vision has spread to all who work there. no doubt it is infused in the place. If he goes, he will be missed. Period.
But I don’t see it as the end of the line, or even the end of this super nova phase of Apple.
Is about what people think. So everyone should sell their stock when they think steve jobs is about to leave. Then buy it back after the initial freak out.
I am sure there are lots of smart people in that company trying to mimic steve.
What happens to MS when Ballmer leaves? The opposisite of what happens to Apple when Jobs leaves. Here’s hoping both have many years ahead of them.
Maybe there are few of us who don’t put so much weight on replacing people and substituting moments the moment we encounter them instead of just appreciating them for a silly while. Nature doesn’t appear to be all that static, and life is so often but fluid. Expecting anything else is just oh so conservative hanging-on. Here maybe is the season for the Apple pickings and it appears to be a good harvest. But there were a few cold seasons before, as surely a few ahead.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man, Steven Paul Jobs, take a bow. Here’s wishing you get well, be well, do well for years to come.
Cheers.
It’s time to play “Pick the CEO”!!! (applause)
Our first contestant is jitnol. How ya doing, jitnol?
OK, I guess.
Well, today you may win the sooper dooper grand prize. Are you ready?
(gulp) I think so.
If Apple’s vision is only what Jobs sees, Apple is blind without him. Who else at Apple has vision? Who else has universal respect and admiration at Apple? Who else has the technological insight and expertise to keep Apple moving forward?
Name them. (Insert Jeopardy them music for dramatic effect.)
Ummm, ahhhh, ummm. Could you repeat the question?
BZZZZZZZZT
Oh, too bad, jitnol. You lose!
The company is in great shape, has a series of strong products that can only really be improved upon and no doubt a plan for their next few steps. —M.X.N.T.4.1
But without Steve Jobs, what happens after that? What’s left is a company that can really only improve upon what they’ve already got. Steve’s guiding vision, which is always looking beyond Apple’s current capabilities, would be sorely missed. Steve Jobs may not be the end-all and be-all of Apple, but his vision and his drive are certainly the heart and soul of Apple. Apple is undoubtedly full of really smart people. Unfortunately, training and intelligence have absolutely nothing to do with the quality called “vision.” Any smart person can extrapolate today’s reality into a hypothetical future; but only a visionary can see possibilities that are entirely beyond what can be guessed at based on the realities of today. If you look back on what Steve was working on at NeXT, you’ll see more than beginnings of much that later became OS X and the current Macintosh line. In my book, Steve’s “the man.” No others need apply.
Jim Cramer is a tool. Give me a break…if Steve jobs died tomorrow, Apple would STILL be the best positioned tech company for the NEXT 10 YEARS. Anyone who thinks the culture that Steve has infused in this company would just up and VANISH is a freaking moron.
Jim Cramer tries this sort of nonsense all the time. Here’s another example …
http://blogs.business2.com/apple/2007/08/how-to-trash-a-.html
Here’s one piece of advice on Apple stock. It’s also true for Microsoft and any other stock. If a dip in Apple’s price is going to cause you to ‘lose your shirt’, then you are not sufficiently diversified. Never have more than 4 percent of your money in any one stock. There are only a few exceptions to this rule and I doubt if any of them apply to more than .01% of us.
Enjoy Apple products, but don’t marry the stock.
When AAPL hit $117 this spring I watched Cramer say, “stay away from tech. Even Apple.” I’m convinced that he just wanted to make sure he and his collegues got back in at that low point. Everything that comes out of his mouth is for his personal gain.
Steve Jobs IS a visionary, is a showman and is the spirit of Apple Inc. However, the place is full of bright, forward looking and very competent people. Cramer is an idiot who sells short all of us at Apple who do a great job!