Interpreting the Apple Bashboys

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- I own Apple (AAPL). I also write about Apple.

As you might imagine -- seeing as I own the stock -- when I write about Apple, I tend to be optimistic about its growth prospects.

Of course, I'd like to think I see the world through non-rose-colored glasses. In the last few months, I've written about why the monolithic iTunes product worries me and what I see as the 10 biggest mistakes that Apple's made in the last 15 years since Steve Jobs returned to the company.

I'm going to keep calling it like I see it and hopefully -- over time -- people will judge that I've done a pretty good job at assessing investment reality. If I'm wrong, my reputation will take a hit for being bullish about Apple.

I accept the fact that there are many Apple bears out there. They are welcome to put their views out there in the marketplace of ideas and let the public judge them over time.

Read the full post on TheStreet

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Fifth Third and Huntington: Big Winners from Stress Test

5/8/2009 12:30 PM EDT

Earlier this week, I said I thought that Fifth Third (FITB) and Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) were my favorite banks going into the Stress Test results. They've been the best bank performers today -- up 57% and 45% respectively today and more for the week.

I've sold my FITB May $6 calls this morning but rolled some of that profit into August $17.50 calls, as I see further upside ahead. Put me squarely in Jim's camp on financials versus Doug's(at least with respect to these smaller regionals).

For these two smaller players specifically, yesterday's news takes away the fear of highly dilutive future offerings. Yes, the risk of a drop in commercial real estate but that is countered with the potential for consumer mortgage re-fis continuing as we saw earlier in the week with FITB. What yesterday's results showed is that Midwestern regional banks were much better positioned than those in the Southeast (although FITB has its share of Florida exposure). This makes me less concerned about the commerical real estate shoe dropping in that part of the country.

Position: Long FITB.

Originally published in RealMoney.com

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Buffett's Free Pass

I was intrigued by two articles this morning reviewing the Buffett/Berkshire (BRK) shindig over the weekend by Doug Kass and David Morrow.

Both point out that Buffett gets a free pass at these get-togethers over the years (as well as from the press in general). Neither says this out of malice. They are stating fact.
Buffett himself did not conjure this reality up. He has simply done his job over the years with his colleagues at Berkshire and is living with the widespread media interest around him and the firm.

Yet if we've learned anything from the last year, it's that investors and the media need to do a much better job at being skeptical of conventional wisdom, of not being afraid to skewer a few sacred cows here and there.

I recall in 2004 the tempest in a teapot over whether Buffett should continue to serve on Coke's (KO) board of directors because he was on the audit committee who authorized their auditors at the time do some non-audit work. There were howls at the time against CalPERS and others who supported Buffett's removal from the board. The counterargument went something like: "It's Warren Buffett. How could you possibly oppose his re-election?" That's not a fair argument in my view.

I'm not suggesting a smear job of Buffett or Berkshire, or that he shouldn't have been re-elected to KO's board. I'm suggesting we not worship false idols. I'm suggesting we ask tough questions when they deserve to be asked, no matter who's being put on the spot to answer them. When there are legitimate questions to ask, investors and the press should ask them. The press shouldn't be afraid of losing their access to future interviews.

No one deserves a free pass after what we've witnessed in the last 18 months in the capital markets -- and Warren Buffett would be the first to agree.

Position: None.

Originally published in RealMoney.com on 5/4/2009 9:34 AM EDT

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