another guy i know retired now on his imagination technologies purchase. funny thing was, he accumulated most of his shares through a UK ISA wrapper, so it was all tax free too! just shows how steadily buying small amounts can pay off.

Buy something you believe in, avoid trackers as most of the companies in the index will never make a huge amount of money. (Car Manufactures, Airlines, Banks , Insurance companies or low cost anything providers.)

Only after voting in the poll did I see the option 'other' which meant specifying another stock. Therefore disregard my selection of Google. For the modest payment of CHF 1,000,000 or currency equivalent I will reveal my real pick.

anyway. my current view:

short apple
long google

let's see how that turns out.

You have always been bearish on Apple, interestingly today after the stock fell!

actually, i was going to implement the google buy last week but got bogged down in details of looking for a new share trading platform.

i do think apple are on a downward trajectory, but not sure i would be brave enough to short. esp. with xmas looming. but with US capital gains issue and the long term pressure from competitors, i think apple will lose both market share and suffer lower margins.

Lot's of insider sells?
They've been cashing-in for some time.

The increased capital gains taxes payable from next year would be responsible of a huge amount of the insider sales...........

Go with Amazon.

Barratt Developments.

It has come down from its mighty high and you also get 2.5% discount on the property you buy, so if you're thinking of buying a property then buy at least 1000 shares and hold it for one year. The discount alone pays for the share purchase.

And who the hell pays for the crash in the property you buy from Barratt's!

What a load of bolox!

Buy some turbo puts if you fancy a punt...

is apple now below the $500 level. is it in full rout?

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple...ow-2013-3?op=1

goog was 687, now 806. +119 (+17%)
aapl was 538, now 430 -108 (-20%)

37% in less than 3 months!

still not a big fan of appl, but that's enough of a fall for me.

Strip out the cash & your paying 6 years earnings, bargain of the century. I hope it falls further so I can increase my stake.

Been tempted to look at it in more detail. You are working outbased on current earnings. How doea it look if you assume revenues down by 50%?

Very poor advice without knowing what someone's investment objectives and circumstances are.

You probably know Warren Buffett's view: "People who want to get rich quickly will not get rich at all. There is nothing wrong with getting rich slowly.”

Trackers will help you get rich slowly. You probably know the theory of 'passive investing'. It's pretty simple. We all want to beat the market. But investing in stocks is a zero sum game. For someone to gain, someone else must lose. Unless you are very lucky or are one of a tiny handful of investors who seem to be genuinely insightful over a long period, you are very unlikely to beat the market over an extended period. So if you can't be certain of beating the market, why not at least guarantee that you'll match the market? Hence trackers.

"Buy something you believe in" ??

Hmm. Is that good advice? If this isn't too stupid a question, what if what you believe in turns out to be wrong?

About 3 months ago you said: "The bears got a spanking today with Apple rising 7.5% today, 1000 must be in sight over the next 12 months, it's a huge bargain at today's prices.""

Well, it was 560 then, and it's at 430 today. A long way off $1000 a share.

Any body who bought FTSE 100 trackers in 2001 won't buy your story that trackers work.
I am happy Apple is falling, ideally to $140 then I can buy the whole company for free! When you wish to take a major stake in a company (aiming for 90% of net worth) a falling share price is to your advantage, volatility & uncertainty is what I like. On the assumption I will live to 85, time is on my side.

Edit, Warren Buffet does not believe in or invest in trackers. He goes on to say that diversification is for people who do not know what they are doing. He also does not care what the stock market does over 1 week, 3 months or even 3 years. He takes advantage of great companies that are marked down!
FWIW he did not get rich slowly, he has doubled his wealth every 4 years (on average) over more than 50 years..............

If revenues drop to 0, then the cash mountain will get eaten up! I to remember Michael Dell stating that Apple should be wound up whilst shareholders still had some equity........

Oh please.

If I took the same line as you, I would google a few charts and choose a date and a period that would 'prove' my point too. It's the most illogical and foolish approach available, to scan the statistics until you find a period that "had you bought on this date and sold on this one, then..."

So you are long on Apple but delighted that the share price has plummeted? Yes, I'm sure you are.

Buffett is a value investor, and a member of that very exclusive club I referred to, who seem to have the insight and/or luck to make the right calls over a very long period of time. The rest of us can't. Hence the idea that it is better to match the market, or those portions of the market you are interested in, than to almost guarantee to be lagging the market, not to mention stressing yourself out by constantly checking your portfolio.

I like both. Most of my long-term pension fund investments are low-cost ETFs / trackers but sure, I have punts on well-researched value shares for a bit of excitement. Apple does not yet fit into that category, though you are right that if the share price keeps dropping, a point may well come when it merits a buy.