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I consider often the work of Peter Drucker, but this recent TechCrunch article re Apple's (AAPL) growth-related woes really has me thinking... and although its author, Michael Arrington, does not come right out and stipulate Apple's recent miscues to be the result of its torrid growth, that is how I perceive the problems he bemoans:

"But recently I’ve had a string of bad apples come my way, so to speak. It’s time for Apple to stop screwing around and start paying attention to product quality. I’ll excuse the one hour of battery life I seem to be able to get out of my iPhone. An arrangement o

Summary: Apple (AAPL) is a superb company trading at a reasonable price. Its stock is historically volatile. Two ways to play it are:

• as a buy-and-hold growth company—if you are convinced that it will be continue its recent successes well into the future and can stomach the price volatility
• using a momentum or trend-following strategy that attempts to catch its upward swings and minimize damage from periodic downturns

Company/Stock Type: Apple is what I call a "Type A" company. That means it has a corporate personality and behavior pattern characterized by:

Filed under: Products and services, Apple Inc (AAPL), AT and T (T), Research in Motion (RIMM), iPhone, Stocks to Buy, Technology

In an exciting bit of news for early adopters north of the border, the new BlackBerry Bold smartphone from Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) is slated to hit Canadian shelves this Thursday, August 21. Because RIMM has signed service pacts with various wireless carriers in different regions, the Bold is being rolled out gradually around the globe. The snappy new device has already launched in Germany, but U.S. carrier AT&T (NYSE: T) is so far keeping mum abo

Apple (AAPL) seems to do no wrong. The shares have vaulted nearly 50% since their March lows and the 3G iPhone is the current rage. The hype is at unprecedented levels, resulting in an analyst love-fest that is in full swing. Is another classic case of 'pump and dump' developing?

The case for the iPhone: There is ample opportunity for AAPL to penetrate and make further inroads within the corporate market segment, and in the process, take substantial market share from Research In Motion (RIMM). In fact, HSBC Bank is contemplating switching from RIMM's blackberry to AAPL's iPhone. This change

Filed under: Apple Inc (AAPL), Newsletters, Research in Motion (RIMM), Stocks to Buy

"Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) are taking the smartphone market by storm," says Toby Smith in his ChangeWave Investing.

"AAPL and RIMM are both pushing all of the other manufactures to the sidelines. It's clear that RIMM's BlackBerry is the dominating force in the corporate smartphone market, but the Apple iPhone has shaken things up quite a bit on the consumer side.

"The combination of the new Apple model flying off the shelves, and rumors of a postponement for one of RIMM's new

Apple Inc (AAPL) currently at $156.63: I believe investors have become overly fixated on Apple’s expected accounting income, while ignoring Apple’s impressive free cash flow generating ability. Free cash flow, not earnings reported in the accounting statements, determines the true value of a firm. AAPL’s high margins, coupled with minimal capital investment needs, enables it to produce robust free cash flow. Another issue is the iPhone accounting treatment, which conceals the true magnitude of its cash generation. According to my estimations, the 3G model’s cash flow per unit is higher than

Why has the impact of 3G iPhone sales been nonexistent on Apple (AAPL) stock? Because investors are flunking their Apple math exam. The iPhone story grows larger by the day, we are now on day 18 of iPhone mania. Tuesday morning the Santa Monica Apple store had a 2 hour wait by 8:30 a.m. If one million phones sold in the first three days was impressive, then what we've witnessed since then is even more impressive.

It's time for a quick discourse on Apple math. Those, like CNBC's Jim Cramer, who believe this has turned into an event driven stock are completely wrong. It's all about the fundam

After last night’s earnings catastrophes among Apple (AAPL), Sandisk (SNDK), Texas Instruments (TXN), American Express (AXP) and others, all seemed lost in the market. It started an after hours chain reaction, stock after stock breaking down. What would become of all the good work leading up to this point? I mean we had good market internals, Oil was tanking for the fourth straight session, and the S&P 500 was on the precipice of overtaking critical resistance? We would need some might powerful mojo to right things the following morning.

Here’s a recap from the Apple camp: Right after the m

The response to the Apple Computer (AAPL) earnings was just like the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day. It seems that every time AAPL reports the company beats analysts’ consensus estimates; guides to lower expectations for the next quarter; and, then trades lower. Then once again the next quarter we hit the replay button and the same happens all over again.

If you want to find fault with the lowered margin numbers then OK sell the stock. Just realize that even with Mac sales on the rise, an increasing product mix including iPhones and iPod will lower margins. Does anyone care that Mac is st

Amidst the iPhone 3G euphoria surrounding Apple (AAPL) these days are the bread-and-butter Computer and iPod business lines. Today, those less-hyped money machines were in the spotlight as the Cupertino Computer underdog posted an impressive and record breaking quarter.

Results coming across the wires placed Apple with $1.19/share in profits from $7.46Billion in revenue. Considering the street was averaged in at $1.07/share and $7.36Billion across the top line, those numbers represent a dramatic earnings beat. On the sales side, the company sold a whisker-shy of 2.5Million Mac computers, ove

Individual investors have been conditioned by Wall Street big money to be extremely guarded going into Apple (AAPL) earnings calls. They have no idea what to expect. If the pattern of the last earnings calls is any indicator of what this one may portend, then they are rightfully nervous and perhaps dismayed. They are fearful that the stock will plummet 10 points, or swing violently, shaking many off the stock with big losses.

It doesn’t seem to matter to Wall Street that Apple, quarter after quarter, blows away its own conservative guidance and pumped up analysts estimates. Big money seemin