Speaking of Cisco, was having a networking problem at work recently. They sent me a newer bigger 800 series router to see if that solved the problem. When it didn't I hooked the old one back up as it was so quiet compared to the new one. The new one sounded like it had a bearing going out or something. Terribly noisy at a few feet away. Piece of junk if you ask me.

I'd vote for Dadi also as he might be the smartest guy up for consideration. Just don't think it'll be him though. They'll probably pick a home grown person.

What's anyones take on AAPL, silver and gold tanking last week and the chances for a rebound this any time soon? Got a limit order in for some APPL calls this morning if it drops anymore and bought way too much of the other two's Jan calls on Thursday and Friday

Well said....Asus or whoever he is just gets a little overzealous at times.

Re, Apple. That's exactly the way I used to feel until I bought my little MacBook Air over a year ago now. Still have my Dell and at work a HP

It's not all about the hardware costs, it's the user friendly software that never figures into the equation when comparing the two camps. I now understand how sucky Windows really is and there is nothing smug about it.

You should try it and maybe you'll be in the camp of Once you go Mac you never go back.

Re: "The move to 450mm wafer size by Intel will ensure that the "limit to shrinking feature size" will not happen."

What are you talking about?

Sarmad, re: trading Samsung on the US market

Just talked to the Fidelity International Trading Desk guys and they said they can buy stocks on the Korean exchange but there are 3 different fees and commissions that total $133 minimum per trade. The guy also said there are only a few US brokers like Fidelity that are trading on the Korean exchange. He said Samsung was trading at 1,560,000 wan or whatever or $1,437.00 US up.65%. Was up 32.95% in a year. Said something about no US market makers for Brazil, Korea Taiwan, no ADR's

So 130 buck commissions remind me of the old days with Fidelity

Or worse than the stock is owning the wrong derivative...then it's hell squared.

And here come Chinese smartphones costing over $500

Marketwatch just posted an interesting article on the up and coming highend smartphones marketed for china. One of them is the Intel powered Lenovo K900 at around $520. That price surprised me, now hope they sell a billion of them:)

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/02/21/and-here-come-chinese-smartphones-costing-over-500/

Chinese vendors will help grow the mainland China market for premium-end smartphones to 20 million units this year from just about 1 million units in 2012, Nomura Equity Research estimates.

The analysts expect total shipments of high-end phones by Chinese vendors to reach about 20 million units in 2013, up from almost zero in 2012. Total smartphone shipments, including high-, mid- and low-end handsets, are estimated to reach 300 million units in 2013, 50% higher than the estimated sales in 2012, they said.

Regarding that Lenovo K900, after it launches in China hope there are hundreds of millions of chinese saying I Juan it I Juan it.

SV, I agree with you about Lenovo. In fact I recently bought a little Lenovo(LNVGY) and China Mobile(CHL) in my IRA. If or when the cellphone market explodes in China tjhese two might do jsut fine.

Sarmad, re: Even though the Clover Trail reference design was publicized on Jan 12 2012, consumer products totally missed the year end selling season for 2012. Even now, they are still barely available, which is a further 4 months later. I wonder how long the life cycle of Clover Trail will be, and whether it will turn out to be profitable at all for Intel.

Back at CES in January Lenovo showed off a Clover Trail powered smartphone that's supposedly going on sale in China in April. Just hope it's the world-beater Lenovo is predicting it will be and they sell millions of them.
Here's a link to the article.
http://www.gizmag.com/lenovo-new-smartphones/25734/

I hope you're right about that wishful 35-40. Of course the way my luck has been running we won't see 40 again for ANOTHER 13 YEARS.

Guess we could call the RT version the RUNT.

Saturn, Re: "Overall Windows 8 has been much harder to learn and adapt to than new Windows OS, and I have used all the Windows versions beginning with Windows 2 in the late 80's. I also bought a new iMac desktop a few days ago, and it is easier to adapt to an iMac than to Windows 8. A lot of new Windows 8 screens are "text based", which feels very archaic and crude on a high end computer, but may be acceptable on a cheap phone."

My Dell desktop is pretty much just gathering dust after buying a MacBook Air a year or so ago. Too bad didn't switch over years ago, would have saved on the frustration level. Speaking of which, I can still remember the Microsoft DOS days before GUI's. Now that was frustration to the max. Good thing computers and monitors were so expensive or a lot more of them would hve been picked up slammed to the floor:)

Sarmad, re: "Yes todays market reaction was very discouraging."

It still seems like an overreaction to the earnings report to have dropped over 6%. Went back and looked at the report again and still don't see it. Expenditures this year of $32B for R&D MG&A and CapEx seems excessive or scary to some, but am guessing a lot of that is for 14 nm upgrades and the new 450mm plant in Oregon. The price of poker is going up.

I'm discouraged alright for betting like a fool Friday. Now wish I had Jul 22's instead of the wheelbarrow full of contracts of Feb22's and 24's. Still might roll them out to July within a couple weeks, 22's that is. 24's already worthless at the moment.

With a gross profit margin forecast of 60% for the year, the second half should be over that by a couple points. So maybe the Jul calls with 2 earnings reports to go before expiration will be golden. Then again maybe not. Like they say, you win some and you lose some, and the rest the dog eats. And I feel like the dog's been chewing on my foot;)

Saturn V Re: "Inflation is generally associated with printing money as was done by Germany in the the 1920's. However there can be other sources of inflation as well. After the Spanish found the massive amounts of gold and silver in the New World, they began to spend their new found wealth like crazy, and drove up the price of most goods in Europe. The Italian states which had hoarded gold for hundreds of years, suddenly found that their gold stockpile had dramatically lost its purchasing power, and went into a long decline. That was inflation too, excessive money chasing the same basket of consumables."

Very interesting, thanks for that.

What a bad day today for Intel bulls. Just hope it turns around before the next expiration date.

It just gives you a better idea how foolish theses trades are looking right now. I made an error in saying I bought today's 22.5's. They are 21 1/2's now down to a penny from the price of $0.07 with 2 1/2 hours to go, or in other words pretty much worthless

Elmer, it's not looking so good so far this morning, thought there'd be a bounce by now. I bought 350 Feb22's@.$0.19, 200 todays Jan21's@.30 and 200 of today's 22.5@$0.07. Was just hoping for a nickel on those 22 1/2's with only 4 hours to go.

Yesterday bought 200 Feb24's@.16 which today are worth only 200 bucks.

Also had bought 30 Intel Feb Puts @.69 on the 16th which got out of today @1.09 which is why I took a gamble on todays 22.5's

Anyway 4 hours to go and not even a dead cat bounce. Woe is me.

Today boys opportunity knocks and I just loaded up on Intel Calls. Wish me luck, feels like I'm going to need it.

Alan, I was just trying to figure out what all the arguing was about on a subject so simple as inflation. Over time inflation/deflation is just basically a function of supply and demand. Sure there's lots of complexities to it but inflation is just a function of say a dollar/goods ratio that keeps increasing over time. If you are going to print more money you better produce more goods and services or eventually inflation will balance the ratio back towards an equilibrium.

Sarmad, you got it right. At it's essence inflation is just more demand than supply caused by more money. That causes an increase in value of goods or services. Too many dollars chasing too few goods. It just causes the dollar to shrink in value as the goods get more expensive. And for us baby boomers who are going into fixed income retirements soon, that doesn't bode well.

Re: cranking up the money presses (QE), it has to cause inflation. On a lighter side, paying for foreign oil with paper money; I guarantee they will run out of oil before we run out of trees:)

north40k, don't know that answer but am glad you posted it as it brought back vivid memories of the time Cymer went public back in the 90's. I was just a small time Intel investor at the time. One day after researching what photolithography was, came across Cymer about the time they were getting ready for their IPO. Anyway bought into them, think it was the fall of 95 or 96 and by the end of the year Cymer was the number 1 IPO percentage wise for the year. Think I got out with a 4 bagger, my first one, early the next year. Some reporter named Bigelow from the San Diego Union Tribune even called and did a phone interview about why I had been so bullish on Cymer before the IPO. He had read my posts on some AOL investment forum and later sent me a copy of his story on Cymer that the paper published with my interview in it. Still have that copy to this day although wish I'd kept the stock instead.

It was the same pay, he just had more deductions. I was single living in an apartment, he was married with a house full of kids.

Good point elmer, don't let us us forget you're the censor. But you go ahead keep wasting bandwidth on your bs.

Our tax code is so bloated and unfair to the majority of the population that it's time to overhaul it. There has to be a simpler fairer way

My first wonderment of the unfairness of our tax system came as a young single man working heavy construction. An older married carpenter with a passel of kids and probably a home mortgage was netting more than me. Even though we were both union journeymen and taking big risks hanging from high walls he was making more. That just didn't seem right why he was ending up with more than me.

Now we have Romney not even wanting to show his tax returns. He's in a tough situation of damned if he does show, damned if he doesn't. Maybe with all his tax sheltering overseas accounts he figures he can't win if he shows. I don't see how he can win if he doesn't prove he's not a crooked tax evader.

Why?

Don't know why, just seems like a better bet.

I know one thing, when corporations fail and everyone is standing in line to get their share of the crumbs, the poor shareholders are always standing at the back of the line.

Good point wanna. I wish I was an Intel owner rather than just a shareholder.

Rev 13.5B eps .54

Regarding how successful Google's Nexus 7 tablet will be.

With jellybean in it, at least it sounds sweet:)

Good point about Casinos taking their little cut of each gamble. Same thing with the stock market, the Market Makers put the bears and the bulls together and for that service with the bid/ask differential they get their little cut. Then you've got the government getting their tiny cut of each sale, the broker getting their commission of every buy and sell. Then after all that if you are fortunate to have a gain, the government gets back in the front of the line wanting another chunk of change. It's a wonder anyone makes money at this. At least those brokerage commissions have come down from the highway robbery rates they used to be.

Elmer, re: "I'm not that smart. If you are then hats off to you."

I'm certainly not that smart but then again who is. You win some, you lose some, and the rest the dog eats. If I hadn't lost the millions I made trading options I'd think I was smart. Realize now it was just extreme good luck for awhile till the bubble burst and the luck ran out.

I like hearing of other people's option strategies. All I'm saying is when you hear talk of can't lose option strategies, your convoluted iron condors to boot, take it with a grain of salt as there isn't any. It's just gambling pure and simple.

willco, Re: " That is why people like to sell options rather than buy them."

No offense but that's bs. There are exactly the same amount of contracts bought as sold. You can't sell something without a buyer can you. And if 'selling to open' was a cinch we'd all be doing it.
Selling to open (writing) Calls like shorting the stock is a bearish strategy. As long as you figure Intel is going to go down or stay flat you win. So bears short stock and options and us bulls buy them. And don't be deluded into thinking that you can only win 'buying to open' calls 15% of the time. If that was the case the options game would have ended a long time ago.

Mike, Re: "It doesn't look like I'm going to have to worry about getting called away on the Jul $28s. All of these option premiums that I've picked up have really provided downside protection."

I would hope you were right but I'm on the other side of that bet. I like your confidence though but we still have 4 weeks to go and we're just less than 4% away as of Fridays close. So this little zero-sum game we kind of have going here is by no means over yet. I'd say chances are you are going to win, but once in a blue moon Intel takes off after an earnings report so maybe it's this time.

Oh and contrary what some might lead you to believe, options is a zero-sum game. There's always a winner and loser irregardless of rolling them.

Thanks Elmer. I'll be lucky if those 28's end up covering some of the losses of my 29 and 30's. Bought way too many 30's early last month @.47. As the Englishman said, in for a penny in for a pound...or was that the English madame?

Well, for what's it's worth just 'bought to open' some Jul28 calls @ 50 cents today.

Mike, re: selling to open those Jul28's. I'd say don't do it as it's about time Intel's share price takes off. Just seems like Intel is firing on all cylinders right now and now's the time to be more bullish and buy those calls not be writing or 'selling to open' them. Time will tell though and remember we've got an extra week, 5 weeks, till the next expiration. So I'm guessing you'd get called away your stock or have to cough up money to continue the game as Elmer said. Either way it seems like a loss to me, but then again I just had a batch of Jun 28's go worthless on me today, so I'm just a monkey throwing darts also.

Still, less than a dollar to go with 5 weeks this time and an earnings report to boot just seems like a stupid gamble to be selling the Jul28's

Re: the new MacBook Air having 1366x768 display. That doesn't make sense to me as my year old 13" MBA says it's display is 1440x900 which by the way is plenty good for me.

Maybe you might consider selling options instead of buying them?

I have, unfortunately not lately.

If I'm really trying your patience then I apologize. I'd recommend if the feelings persist you go see a doctor, it might be serious. You really shouldn't get all excited or misconstrue my sentiment about Intel. As I said a while back, Intel is my only stock, other than my TSP retirement account; I just automatically reinvest the dividends for more Intel. Still have their 1994 annual report gathering dust here.

What's hurting me right now is the way I got so damn bullish on their call options of late. I'm not anti Intel as our fiesty little canuck friend chippy thinks. Just the opposite, over the years I've been way too audacious in betting on Intel calls. That's what I should maybe GTFO of. I am certainly not going to start selling the stock until retirement, which is only a few more years to go.

Finally, probably should have just suffered in silence rather speak of my concerns. Too late now, maybe June will be a better month. Hope springs eternal for an options trader....when he ain't complaing about it:)

Here's a picture of an IBM 5MB hard drive from 1956 being loaded on a plane with a fork lift.
http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2010/01/on-air-freight-and-old-hard-disk-drives.html