13485

About

Username
13485
Joined
Visits
101
Last Active
Roles
member
Points
1,021
Badges
1
Posts
405
  • Trade war escalations between Trump and China to significantly impact Apple

    Whilst the short term ups and downs of the stock market can be ignored, the bond markets and dollar depreciation cannot, unless the USA wants higher borrowing and imports costs (above the tariff increases) and a risk of loosing reserve currency status. 

    Lowering interest rates and tax cuts would make this all far worse.

    While I agree that daily stock fluctuations of ±10-15 points doesn't matter, a loss of 5,000 points in a month matters greatly, as it can cause companies to sell assets, cementing the loss, and it affects borrowing, investing, manufacturing, sales and employees. You're correct about the bond market and currency devaluation. Losing the US Dollar's reserve currency status is quite remote at this time, though, as there is no other currency that can take it's place for a variety of reasons.


    ramanpfaffelljayzebranubus9secondkox2glnfradarthekat
  • Trump blinks: Floats suggestion that Apple might get a tariff exemption

    It’s not a “blink.” It has been mentioned a lot here on ai before the tariffs came on. Apple would get an exemption. I’ve personally posted this a few times. 

    Smart people do smart things. It’s why cook preemptively met with the president prior to the election and why the admin is letting some of the fine tuning show now. It’s always shock and awe to rile up the immoveable players. Then settles into the details. It’s why you hear the phrase/torle “art of the deal” being so talked about lately. 

    As I’ve BEEN saying, Apple willl be fine. 
    Meanwhile...Dow down 1135 points Thursday. Do you have your Liberation Day garden yet? Are you tired of winning yet--don't worry it'll only hurt for a few more years.

    The actual writer of that AOD book, ghost writer Tony Schwartz has said "[Trump] is incapable of reading a book, much less writing one". 

    "Countries are lining up to negotiate": Nonsense, why would they? They can just wait him out. Many nations yesterday dumped US Government bonds (the interest bearing IOU the US issues to use your money to run the country). These sell-offs represent a lack of confidence in the US economy, and are bills the US now has to pay back, but this is a problem for T* because the the economy and tax dollars have shrunk, there hasn't been any increase in tariff monies received because it's on again, off again, on-off, on-off. So it's all a big deficit builder. Genius to be sure.

    It's not 4D Chess, it's not even checkers. It's House of Morons the Musical (picture Nero and his harp) playing with trillions of other people's (YOUR) money.

    Further, NO there are NO "billions" coming in from China or anywhere else--that's the biggest, fattest, most repeated lie because tariffs are NOTHING BUT A SELF-IMPOSED TAX ON YOUR OWN PEOPLE, NOT ON SOMEONE ELSE OR SOMEWHERE ELSE. I've had to write many checks to the US Customs and Border Patrol for tariffs on raw materials we imported because nobody else makes them and never have. They don't get a nickel from China.

    Could we avoid this tax by building manufacturing facilities, and in some case complete industries, that make the things we import? Maybe some, sometimes completely impossible, and if possible, it would take at least two decades to get some of that done. Even if we buy into the T* steampunk image of what a modern economy needs--sweaty men hammering away on steel anvils, that's not where we're heading. Here's the kicker: we're almost at the level of what economists consider "full employment"--so who is going to do the work in these factories, much less be adequately educated, skilled and trained? Oh yeah, immigrants... wait a minute. Never mind. Since we have simultaneously lost trillions of dollars in an eye blink, who has the funds to sink into a facility that might not be functioning or profitable for decades. The government--no, that's not going to happen. And we can't profitably import many skilled workers or automated equipment (125% tariff on Chinese goods)

    T*'s tariff math is based on a pseudo-mathermatical formula that has no basis in economic theory or trade law, and is based on retail prices the consumer pays vs. the actual import prices, a roughly 4X error (i.e. the tariffs are 4X higher than they should be).  The real formula Trump used was a miscalculation of the work of UofC economist Bret Neiman. T*s tariff is basically "how much we buy from them minus how much they buy from us, and divide by two (express as a percent)". No Greek letters necessary. 

    Wonder how those penguins got so deeply in debt to us.




    thtilarynxsphericwatto_cobra
  • If you try to kill somebody, don't throw your iPad in the river afterwards

    (Customer enters an Apple store) (Apologies to Monty Python and the complete lack of cockney accent)

    Hello. I wish to make a complaint about this iPad I just bought.
    I see, what's wrong with it?
    I'll show you what's wrong with it, it's dead!
    Nah, it's just resting.
    No it's not it's dead!
    There! It just started.
    No it didn't, that was you moving it and making the startup sound..
    Why is it all wet?
    ....

    Not doing it justice, so funny in the original.
    watto_cobra
  • Apple will try to right the Apple Intelligence Siri ship, but don't expect firings

    blastdoor said:

    This is starting to look like Copland part deux from the late 90s. Steve Jobs and NextStep saved Apple then. Who will ride to the rescue this time?
    I don't think it's that bad and Apple has the ability to self-correct. 

    Copland suffered from endless feature creep, goals that were technologically almost impossible at the time, lots of executive turnover, and a company that was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. 

    Apple today has the money and the talent to fix the AI/Siri situation. I'm confident they will get this fixed eventually. 
    IIRC the CFO at the time said that Apple had over $100 million in the bank and no long term debt.  Even today that's a pretty good financial snapshot.
    dewmewatto_cobra
  • President Trump is irritated about Apple not completely killing DEI initiatives

    Of all the issues that the President of the United States has to address how do Apple's business practices even rank? 
    It was next on his list, right after "You can't be who you want to be" and "You can't love who you want to love", and "You can't read what you want to read".

    The man has priorities, you know.
    iooiwatto_cobraThatguy2