Apple

Apple Stock Paying Dividends

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Apple (AAPL) announced that after years of building up a massive pile of cash with its record earnings that it will begin to return some of that money to shareholders. Apple will pay a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share starting in July. It will also repurchase up to $10 billion in stock over the next three years. So, what does this Apple announcement mean for the stock and for the company? Apple Dividend At first blush, Apple’s announced quarterly dividend seems very large. But, how much is Apple’s dividend? It works out to $10.60 per year. That’s higher than most companies pay out in dividends. However, remember that Apple’s stock price is much higher than most companies. The stock currently trades around $600 per share. That makes the dividend approximately 1.8 percent, which, while respectable, is nothing to write home about. Why did Apple announce a dividend now? There are several reasons that Apple has finally decided to start paying a quarterly dividend after refusing to do so for years. First, and foremost, is that Steve Jobs is no longer around. Apple’s iconic CEO had the street cred to tell people, “No dividend,” no matter how high the companies cash balance got without …

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Crazy Week for Economy and Investors

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The beginning of August has brought nothing but turmoil to investors and the economy. Politicians played chicken with the debt ceiling despite the warnings of every single non-politician who knows even a little bit about economics. Although a deal was reached to raise the debt ceiling at the last minute, it was too late. Americans, and the rest of world, are rightly asking can Washington do anything now that it is so polarized into camps of us and them. That uncertainty comes at an inopportune time since there is already so much uncertainty surrounding the current state of the economy. Next came the downgrade of US debt by Standard and Poors. Make no mistake, this was a political, public relations ploy. The original S&P U.S. downgrade played up a very high percentage of debt to GDP, and even gave a number at which things would be "good enough" for the United States debt to not get a downgrade. However, when a math error that was big enough to move the number well into "good enough" territory was discovered, S&P downgraded U.S. bonds anyway, making many wonder what S&P bond ratings are even based on. The company may have damaged its …

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Apple Earnings Way Up for Quarter

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Most analysts had expected a big quarter for Apple, propelled by big holiday sales numbers. They were right; they just didn’t go high enough with their estimates. Apple reported revenue of $26.7 billion for its first-quarter which ended on December 25th. (The company uses a fiscal year for its earnings and reporting.) That’s earnings of $6 billion, or 6.43 cents per share, which is up 78 percent from a year ago. FactSet Research said analysts were predicting earnings of around $5.42 per share and revenue of $24.4 billion. Not coincidentally, all of this good news comes the day after the company announced that CEO Steve Jobs was taking a medical leave of absence. Apple stock traded ended the day down 2.25 percent at $340.65. Trading in the stock was halted after hours. When it resumed, shares were up in after-hours trading.

Apple Stock Good Investment or Passing Fad

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People are always asking me if I think certain stocks are a good investment. There is a flaw in the question, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Right now, let’s get right to the real question people are always asking me these days. Is Apple Stock a good investment? What people mean when they ask me that is not whether or not Apple is a good investment, but whether or not I think Apple stock will go up a lot … soon … really soon. They also want to know whether or not I think Apple stock will go down, but that is not why they ask the question. They want to buy Apple stock because it sounds like a smart investment, or because it feels like a smart investment. Of course, none of this has anything to do with an in-depth analysis of the company’s stock and it’s prospects for future growth and earnings. It’s all about buzz. They heard about the iPhone and it’s a big hit! They heard about the iPad and it’s a big hit! They heard about the NEW iPhone, and it’s a big hit! Now, they hear that Apple’s earnings are higher …

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