$AAPL (+1,9 %) delays iPhone Air launch in China due to eSIM approval issues. Critical market for AAPL, where competition with Huawei is fierce. Other models (iPhone 17 & Pro) still on track for Sept 19 release. Stock up ~2% Friday to $234.5.
Debate sobre AAPL
Puestos
1210Sep 10 / A Cheer for Apple’s Business Strategy
A Masterclass in Selling… Without Innovation
Apple hosted its big annual event yesterday. We got the iPhone 17 lineup (including a thinner iPhone Air), new Apple Watches, and the AirPods Pro 3 with real-time translation, heart-rate sensing, and what they call “the world’s best ANC.” All fine updates, but let’s be honest: this wasn’t groundbreaking. It was Apple doing what Apple does best – adding features, polishing the hardware, and convincing the world that you can’t live without it.
Here’s the weird part: Apple has survived for years now without any real innovation. Think about it. When was the last time we had a true “wow” moment? Something worth Steve Jobs’ legacy? Groundbreaking technology like the first iPhone? Maybe the iPad? No, everything since then has been iteration – refinement, not revolution. And while that’s impressive in its own right, it also makes the company feel a little stuck. The lack of meaningful AI integration is especially telling. Siri has been behind for years, and even after all the hype, their AI announcements are delayed, vague, or overshadowed by competitors moving way faster.
Growth is slowing, margins are pressured, and Tim Cook is trying to reposition Apple with more U.S. production, new ties to the White House, and facilities moving to India. That’s smart geopolitically, but it doesn’t answer the bigger question: what’s Apple’s next act? Can it remain a leader in a world where AI is rewriting the rules of technology? Right now, the answer isn’t clear.
And yet – people buy everything they put out. I do, too. I’ve got an iPhone, iPad, MacBook, multiple AirPods, Apple Watch, Apple TV, AirTags, and pay for Apple Music, Apple TV, and iCloud+. Why? Because their stuff is great, and Apple managed to create an unmatched technological ecosystem. That’s the genius of Apple. Even if you know they’re not innovating, you’re still trapped in the same structure. The devices work so seamlessly together that leaving feels impossible. That lock-in is Apple’s greatest innovation of the past decade.
So yes, I admire what Apple has built – it’s one of the most successful business stories of all time. But I also see a company in transition, leaning on its past and polishing its cash cows, rather than defining the future. Yesterday’s event made that clearer than ever. Apple will keep selling, the brand will keep dominating, but the spark that once made these events truly exciting? That’s been missing for a while. The company has transformed from a technological pioneer to a premium lifestyle brand with nice features and looks.



Today Apple presents the iPhone 17
Since my new $AMZN (-0,74 %) Kindle arrived today, I wanted to test it right away and drew this masterpiece 🤭

"Who has data, has power!" - Alphabet Inc: Complete Analysis
Alphabet, Google's holding company, continues to be one of the most solid examples of long-term value creation. Although the risks associated with its business have been widely mentioned, notably the lawsuits threatening the sale of search and the impact of LLMs on the search engine's growth, the company has proved resilient.
Its business model combines scalability, profitability and a continuous commitment to innovation:
- Market dominance: it has more than 90% of the global search market and more than 2 billion active users on YouTube; 📊
- Highly profitable model: robust operating margins, cash generation capacity and an ROIC of over 35%; 📈
- Growing diversification: although 75% of revenue still comes from advertising, the accelerated growth of Google Cloud and digital subscriptions (YouTube Premium, Google One) is reducing this dependency; 🚀
- Betting on AI: Alphabet is integrating Gemini into Search, YouTube and Workspace, opening up new sources of monetization; 📌
- Robust cash reserves: more than 100 billion dollars in liquidity, making it possible to finance massive investments in AI and infrastructure without compromising financial strength; 💼
- Long-term strategic options: through Other Bets, it maintains exposure to emerging areas with high growth potential, such as autonomous mobility (Waymo), digital health (Verily) and longevity (Calico).
This balance between highly profitable core business, growth diversification and disruptive strategic bets is what makes Alphabet a unique company and an investment that continues to deserve attention.
🔎 If you want to know more about this investment opportunity visit the full analysis at: https://open.substack.com/pub/dalemcapital/p/alphabet-inc-analise-completa
$AMZN (-0,74 %)
$GOOG (+0 %)
$CRM (-1,31 %)
$NOVO B (+0,98 %)
$NVDA (+0,32 %)
$ASML (+1,12 %)
$PLTR (+4,15 %)
$O (+0,49 %)
$PEP (-0,6 %)
$VICI (-0,35 %)
$META (+0,41 %)
$MSFT (+1,74 %)
$AAPL (+1,9 %)

Trump and the tech CEOs
Trump recently organized a big dinner with the most important minds from the tech world, which caused quite a stir worldwide. It was particularly striking that all the guests gave a kind of acceptance speech to Trump, which was a bit reminiscent of the GDR and the like.
Although I'm actually still quite sympathetic to Trump (he's at least not half as embarrassing as most European heads of government), I still find it a bit strange. It does seem a bit like a staged soap opera.
I mean, it's clear that as a serious businessman you exchange formal courtesies on such an occasion and don't go completely crazy and start insulting the president or something. So it's not entirely funny. But I also kind of wonder who came up with the idea that everyone should say a few words in turn? I mean, they can't help but say something nice. Still, it's kind of a funny picture howt Bill Gates has to attest to Trump's "great leadership".
Among others also present were Sam Altman ($AMD (+1,66 %) ) Lisa Su ($AAPL (+1,9 %) ) Tim Cook ($ORCL (-4,69 %) ) Safra Catz and ( $MU (+4,63 %) ) Sanjay Mehrotra
But more important than who was there is actually who was missing. The press noted with great satisfaction that ($TSLA (+7,29 %) ) Elon Musk was not there and speculated that he had not even been invited - which Musk has already denied. ($NVDA (+0,32 %) ) Jensen Huang and ($AMZN (-0,74 %) ) Andy Jassy were also not on site.
Trump is definitely seeking proximity to the tech industry. The behavior of ($META (+0,41 %) ) Mark Zuckerbergwho took the place of honor to Trump's right, but actually seemed frightened rather than confident. Another important moment was a brief conversation between Trump and ($GOOG (+0 %)
$GOOGL (+0,02 %) ) Sundar Pichai regarding a federal judge's ruling this week in an antitrust case involving Google's monopoly on search. The judge handed down a lenient sentence and rejected the demands for harsh penalties. The company thus escaped being broken up.
"You had a very good day yesterday," said Trump. "Do you want to talk about that great day you had yesterday?" He was glad it was over, Pichai replied. "Biden was the one who pushed this lawsuit,"Trump said. "You know that, right?"
So Trump is pursuing a Bismarckian carrot and stick policy with the tech CEOs. Those who get in line get help from the state, those who step out of line are reprimanded.
Sep 3 / Huge Win for Google (& Apple)
A (not unexpected) Win for the Tech Giants
A few days ago, I discussed the possible repercussions of Alphabet’s monopoly case. Now we finally got clarity. A federal judge just handed Google one of the biggest wins it could’ve hoped for. But for another company, this win is even more crucial: Apple. The government wanted to ban Google’s $20+ billion annual payments to Apple for default search placement on iPhones. However, the presiding judge ruled differently – calling such a move counterproductive, since it would only give Google free access to Apple’s users. Translation: nothing changes, management is happy.
Besides, let me just add that this was the right call. The case never made sense in the first place – as do, unfortunately, many of these antitrust cases. I am for as much free market as possible, and therefore often more critical of this sort of government intervention. Administrations shouldn’t decide over right and wrong in business. Why break up a monopoly, simply because a company positioned itself better than competition? It’s not on Google that competitors dropped the ball.
Google’s stock popped 8%. For Apple, it’s a similar picture, but the real story is in the margins. Those payments are almost pure profit – 75% gross margins, compared to ~37% on hardware. Losing them would’ve been catastrophic at a time when iPhone growth is flat, AI efforts are lagging, and Trump is pressuring his “friend” Tim Cook to move production back to the U.S. Apple didn’t just dodge a bullet here – it dodged a goddamn hellfire missile.
Yes, the court required Google to share some search data with competitors. But let’s be honest: that won’t matter anyway. And the market just proved that. Neither Google nor investors would call that a bad ruling. The idea of Perplexity (or anyone else) buying Chrome for $34 billion was fun, a good PR stunt, but unrealistic from the start – and the judge tossed it aside completely.
What’s important: both companies keep their status quo, which is about as good as it gets. Google still faces other antitrust cases in the U.S. and Europe – which are very likely to fizzle out the same way. Apple could see this decision revisited if competition doesn’t improve. But for now, they both breathe easier – one pocketing 20 billion, the other securing default dominance, lifting both stocks higher.

Goodbye SMH - Portfolio update with +58% TTWROR
Today I said goodbye to $SMH (+0,32 %) today. Despite the volatility, the entry in April was worthwhile and brought a nice profit of +40%, and that with an ETF! It wasn't a long-time play anyway, as it was a sector ETF.
Part of it went into the $QDEV (-0,28 %) together with my DCA, and later I will also get $TDIV (-0,34 %) get another share.
This means that companies such as $AMD (+1,66 %) , $MU (+4,63 %) , $INTC (-2,38 %) and others are completely out of my portfolio, 0% exposure.
My US share is now <60% and tech at 38%. The top 10 stocks make up less than 30% of the total weighting. This makes me almost as unconcentrated as the $IWDA (-0,17 %) and better diversified than the $CSPX (-0,1 %) .
New portfolio key figures:
P/E 30.0 (<30) 🟡
Forward P/E 21.6 (<25) 🟢
P/Β 13.0 (<5) 🔴
D/E 0.8 (<2) 🟢
EV/FCF 28 (<25) 🟡
ROE (5-Jahres-Durchschnitt) 50% (>15%) 🟢
EPS growth for the next 5 years 23% (>7%) 🟢
Sales growth (5-year average) 15% (>5%) 🟢
With this high ROE, I am also ok with a high P/E.
Top 10 positions now:
Alphabet $GOOG (+0 %)
NVIDIA $NVDA (+0,32 %)
Broadcom $AVGO (+0,14 %)
Microsoft $MSFT (+1,74 %)
Meta $META (+0,41 %)
Apple $AAPL (+1,9 %)
Roche $ROG (-1,37 %)
Taiwan Semiconductor $TSM (+0,23 %)
Mastercard $MA (-1,2 %)
Visa $V (-1,22 %)
Can you also write other key figures, such as the average correlation of the shares?
US companies race through 1 trillion dollar buyback wave in record time
US companies plan share buybacks on a historic scalewhich is a sign of the American economy's confidence in the economy. Nvidia Corp is the latest company to join the long list of buyback plans.
The announced buybacks exceeded the 1 trillion US dollars reaching this level in a very short time, according to data from Birinyi Associates. The previous record was set in October last year.
In recent months, corporate giants - particularly in the areas of finance and technology - have given the green light for extensive share buyback programs.
Source: https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/markets/us-firms-racing-through-1trn-buyback-spree-in-record-time/

On the other hand, buybacks are always a means of stabilizing the share price and boosting confidence when times are not so rosy
Successful together
As promised, I have listed the monthly performance of the reported stocks.
I hope it will inspire you to find new companies.
And a little added value.
1 to 10
$ONDS (+2,59 %) 172,70 %. $IREN (+3,1 %) 79 %
$NB (+11,26 %) 67,48 %. $LMND (+3,81 %) 37,24 %
$BMNR (+14,39 %) 28,85 %. $UUUU (-4,58 %) 24,70 %
$NBIS (+1,32 %) 23,64 %. $GILT (-1,86 %) 22,64 %
$UNH (-0,25 %) 20,74 % $VLA (-1,06 %) 19,61 %.
$ETH (+1,37 %) 19,05 %
10 to 20
$APP (+1,71 %) 18,69 %. $RDDT (-0,01 %) 18,41 %
$MP (+0 %) 13,81 %. $HOT (-1,14 %) 13,37 %.
$9868 (+1,27 %) 13,18 %. $XPEV 12,87 %
$LOTB (-0,12 %) 12,78 %. $CWCO (-0,7 %) 11,76 %
$TUI1 (-1,28 %) 9,41 %. $AHT (-1,58 %) 7,66 %
Remainder
$PRY (+1,76 %) 7,47 %. $MU (+4,63 %) 6,82 %
$AAPL (+1,9 %) 6,87 %
Momentum strategy, being successful together.
Hello my dears,
What do you think of the idea that we might share our weekly winners once a week.
This way we discover all the stocks that are currently showing high momentum.
These might be suitable for a short-term trade.
But we might also discover a long-term investment.
Stocks that are just breaking out due to a story, good figures, new innovations, approvals, etc
And are perhaps not yet on the radar of the community.
What do you think of my idea?
Who's in and which day do you think makes sense?

1. world small cap value $AVWS +8.19%
2. world value $XDEV +5.49%
3. world small caps $WSML +5.19%
4. Japan $LCUJ +4.71%
5. emerging markets small caps $SPYX +4.06%
It can be seen that small companies outperformed large ones around August and cheaper ones outperformed expensive ones:
And cheap small companies did best. 😁
Bonus:
Gold/USD +3.49%
ETH/BTC +35%
SOL/BTC +30%
Valores en tendencia
Principales creadores de la semana