Is “Wu” Chinese for Toni?

J/K, keep up the good work Eric :)

Toni?

you’re late on the band wagon
YOu want to buy, that’s why you downgrade the stock today.
Apple is strong and it will be strong.

whats neutral… Hold or Sell..?

Neutral means Wu doesn’t know what “he” means

Neutral is a hold, underweight is to trim your position a little.

Neutral mean a lot of p.o.’ed AAPL fanboys.

Apple was clearly overbought yesterday once it traded above 163.71.(Bollinger upper band penetrated)Todays pullback no surprise.Key near term support comes in at 158.38 and then 154.92.Longer term the stock is very attractive,short term fasten your seat belts.

Hmmm. Neutral. Well, someone has to hedge. I would have been more impressed if he had downgraded to Hold or Sell. Guess Wu is not too sure of his own analysis. Why is the stock down so much on Neutral?

I don’t think ATT mentioned a number for iPhone shipments on their quarterly call, so that may have created some risk in the stock.

When all it takes to cause the market to dump 3.7% of the stock’s value is ONE analyst’s debatable musings, it shows how ridiculously manipulatable the market has become.

What does “no longer expensive” mean? Sounds like a reason to buy. Or was that a typo, Eric?

What is Wu’s rating as an analyst? Merrill and GS know the situation a lot better then this group in any case. I’d roll with them over this guy. And why is he coming out NOW with this opinion, just right before earnings. If he is wrong his ass should be fired.

neutral is for amateurs

I guess he was asleep when the stock was at $200

Thanks for giving me an entry opportunity Mr. Wu. What a sweetheart.

apple is not volatile at all. it goes up, everyone takes their profit, then it goes down, and everyone buys, and so on, and so on, and so on.

Whenever there is a negative comment by some obscure analyst, it seems to pop up in Eric’s blog. This blog seems to fail to point out the upbeat comments made by well known brokerage houses - names like Lehman or Goldman who recently raised their price targets on AAPL.

I agree with Paddling, it seemed like all of sudden one day before earning, Mr. Wu downgrade the stock. I guess he wanted in on this one before it gets “TOO EXPENSIVE.”

Paddling Shorts - see comments on 4/19 regarding Goldman Sachs and Caris upgrades and 4/21: Citi and RBC

What is Wu’s track record as far as his previous predictions?

June quarter weak??? June will be a blowout because every american that gets their stimulus check will be at the apple store the next day buying an iPhone. Mark my words.

This downgrade will cause irreparable harm to AAPL’s stock price. Here’s why. The downgrade today has put doubt into investor’s minds as to whether AAPL’s stock can go up on earnings. So no matter what AAPL reports, it could be $1.50, investor’s are going to still sell shares of AAPL thinking that everyone else think that AAPL is overdone.

So on top of Shaw Wu causing AAPL’s stock to fall $8.00 today, he has made it impossible for the stock to go up on earnings.

Had he said nothing at all, earnings would have had a fair shot. AAPL might have went up on great earnings, or down on bad earnings. Now AAPL can only go one way.

LOL if Apple reports $1.50 it will hit $200!!! Guidance was 97 cents, Street consensus is around $1.07 and I think the highest is $1.23 (by Citi).

What I like is this: there are a boatload of analysts and investors who like this stock, yet one bozo says “Neutral” and the herd just drives the price down. I’d like to propose a rule that states every analyst must make his/her portfolio (gains/losses) public knowledge so we know if they have any sort of credence or track record…

This is rampant manipulation.

That didn’t take long for the chicken-shit investors to kick in. Let’s see, many have a positive outlook, one a neutral, so lets stick our heads up our backsides and panic panic panic, sell sell sell, you people are pathetic!!!

We’ll see about that. Look at how they are selling the stock today. The market wouldn’t be selling the stock this hard if they thought AAPL had a chance to go up on earnings. It would be stupid for the market to do so with 1 day to go. Usually, when a stock sells off hard before earnings, it sells off on earnings.

This market sell off today is a message that they don’t care what AAPL reports. Analysts and the media will bame the sell-off on weak guidance or weak iPod numbers but the reality is…

An asshole analyst yelled fire in a crowded room which prematurely ejaculated a spark for a sell-off. They’re selling AAPL as if it had already reported the numbers. You only take AAPL down 10 points or 6% on earnings. Apple normally moves 6% on earnings. Thus, this is a pre-earnings release sell-off!

All because of 1 analyst!

As I said before, if the investors are too stupid to weight all the reports, then there is not much we can do about it. Basically the investors have no guts and can not think for themselves. What a bunch of a-holes.

Wu’s track record is excellent.

I’m responding to whomever threw out the $1.50 eps comment and a sell off would still occur. That would NEVER happen…$1.50 would obliterate any model. BTW if it’s you who posted it, stick to one moniker instead of jumping all over.

Wu knows Apple fairly well, and his downgrade is as much based on trading activity as anything. He’s saying long-term he likes Apple, but short-term speculators have driven the price to a level where further gains in the next few weeks are uncertain. The downgrade is because the traders represented by many of the comments here, are a fickle lot. Trading volatility has led to uncertainty for near-term valuation. If you’re long, this is all irrelevant.

You are correct, Tyrone.

I’ve followed AAPL for years. Very closely so. My model this quarter is for AAPL to earn $1.31-$1.33. Here is my while publicized article on thie issue:

http://bullcross.blogspot.com/2008/04/apple-set-to-significantly-beat.html

But I’m still very cautious about what will happen to AAPL’s stock price on earnings. This has happened before with AAPL. In January of 2007, analysts were estimating that AAPL would earn $0.82. The whisper was as high as $0.92. No one thought AAPL would earn anywhere close to $1.00. Yet, AAPL earned $1.14, provided strong guidance and had a blameless report. Notwithstand the immaculate report, the market sold AAPL off $9.00 from $97 to $89. I remember. I was there.

So I wouldn’t be so quick to say that a complete blowout of the numbers will take the stock up. The market knows how to ignore a particular number. This sell-off is a pre-earnings sell-off. I don’t care how you cast it, a $10.00 sell off pre-earnings is a pre-earnings sell off.

I’m sorry. He does not have a good track record. I’ve followed AAPL and Shaw Wu for years and I can say that Shaw Wu is an asshole. In July 2006, Shaw Wu claimed that Apple would release a new iPod Nano in August despite the fact that Apple characteristically doesn’t release new iPods until the fall in September as it has over the past 5 years.

In late July, Shaw Wu claims that Apple has had to delay updates to its new “nano” that was suppose to arrive in August but will now be released in Sep. Shaw Wu caused a lot of pressure on Apple’s stock price that summer. He’s an asshole.

He acted exactly like Tony. Don’t believe me, read it for yourself. He’s a paid basher:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/06/07/10/analyst_offers_update_on_ipod_nano_delays.html

My foot! Street consensus view of July or August release. He put that view into play and when it became clear that Apple would not release the new iPod Nano in July or August, they stock sold off from $60 to $50!

I was there. I remember the mood. Everyone was so pissed at Shaw Wu. They knew exactly what he was doing.

Here’s another article of bashing! Don’t forgive this guy…

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/06/06/28/new_ipods_may_face_delays___analyst.html

He claimed that Apple delayed its iPod Nano until the december quarter! Of course, Apple released the iPod Nano in the september quarter as usually.

But he kept bashing AAPL down that whole summer on the iPod Nano delay story. Apple never gave evidence that it would relase an iPod nano in July or August, and there was no evidence that Apple had delayed its nano release from September to December.

Yet, Shaw Wu kept bashing. This is only one situation where Shaw Wu was an asshole. I could post multiple reports on his manipulative bashing.

Hey what happened to that post that ripped into WuWu?? That was a great post w/links to his shady analysis.

I think this is a very good call from Wu.
Also this correction better’s apple chances for some sustainable gain beyond the end of the week.

We better not be going to 120 again……

WU: chinese stocks are bubble not AAPL.

Check the P/E, they are going to your country CHINA, and my country INDIA for all the 2 billion consumers, have the I phone experience. They still need to get a retail store in those country’s.

Shaw Wu has been covering Apple for a long time. All the trigger-happy day traders who watch the ticker from their cubicles, and yell things like “who is this guy?? I don’t trust him! I only trust the BIG names like Goldman & Lehman. Wu is an A-HOLE!! He permanently destroyed AAPL!!!” are morons. They’re showing they don’t know the company they’re buying, nor the analysts who cover them.

Shaw Wu knows AAPL a WHOLE LOT better than these day traders asking “who is this guy commenting on my stock?”. The irony.

thanks mr wu for giving me an excellent entry point, all these analyst are only concerned with their own interest

All we need to remember is Wu’s orginal prediction of only 250,000 iPhones sold for fiscal 2007.

at Apple insider Wu has been quoted to say : “Recall that in only the past year, Apple stock has been below $100, more than doubled to above $200 and fell more than 40 percent in less than two months to $115, only to move more than $50 to $168 in about seven weeks,” he explained. “We find this trading action amazing and indicative of the trading environment despite Apple shares being arguably universally loved.”
if this is true then he is not sure of what is to come and shouldnt downgrade the stock 1 day before earnings..

he probaly has a heavy short position, what about the analyst who upgraded yesterday

Marketwatch: “Wu also said the stock is so close to his $175 price target that there is little room for the shares to rise, and predicted that a 15% to 20% price correction is more likely in the coming months.”

he probably is saying that to be right for his 175$ mark…

The fundamentals of Apple have not changed as drastically as the stock price gyrations would suggest, and certainly there has been no significant negative developments to explain dramatic downward movements.
The macroeconomic risks would explain a part of the downdraft and the exit of momentum players after earnings in January would account for another part.
If Wu was credible, he would have made this “valuation’ call when AAPL was at $200, especially since it was above his target of $175.
The timing of this call is definitely suspect.

he could express his concerns about “whether the numbers would be good enough” and not downgrade it.
is he becoming a usual suspect..?

I do not where got this pathetic information. He means to say that Leahman, Citi and RBC are out of their mind. Why some invstors are reacting to this silly comment by him. Oh, I know Wu wanted to buy and he is hitting his head against the wall for not buying it earlier.

Expectations are high. “We are concerned that expectations may be too high with the stock rebounding over 45% in recent weeks,” he writes.
WU-WU DIDN’T UPGRADE APPLE WHEN IT GOT DRIVEN TO $115/SH. WITHOUT CAUSE. HIS DOWNGRADE IS JUST A VERY POOR REASONING TO “CHURN” CLIENTS ACCOUNTS SO HIS BROKERAGE CAN MAKE UP SOME OF THEIR LOSSES IN THE SUBPRIME MORTGAGE FIASCO.

All he said was “hold.” Who are the idiots that think that means “sell” ?

Idiot-Wu, when you value this stock at $175.00 … you meant $175.00!!! it doesn’t matter how fast or slow! who the hell care the speed you have in mind!?

“Arguably, shares should not have hit as low as $115 and as high as $168 in such a short period of 7 weeks”
Well remember the stock was oversold since it hit $200. Before that it was a steady rise to $200. Also it was “analysts” that drove the stock down to $115 in the first place with their “news” their “sources” were telling them iPods, iPhones, and Macs were doing terrible. Now just ahead of earnings and everyone has to start setting new price targets and ratings just before earnings. THAT is more than “suspect”! AAPL is not just everyone’s favorite stock, it is also everyone’s favorite stock to manipulate and pick on.
Buy AAPL to “invest” and not “trade”. Let all the “traders” do themselves in the behinds.
And remember, the market is also down big on oil today adding the the pressure, it’s not just this wanker driving down the price.

Read it for yourself.

http://bullcross.blogspot.com/2008/04/shaw-wu-downgrade-reminiscent-of-stock.html

Shaw Wu is wrong.

bullcross.com has an interesting article on Shaw Wu’s manipulative behavior.

I have followed Mr. Wu’s notes a long time and find him to be either incompetent or actively manipulative. As others have stated earlier, he started the iPod Nano rumor that caused share prices to fluctuate. This is similar to another analyst who earlier this year claimed that iPhones were sitting in warehouses or that Apple was stuffing channels at the expense of its own stores.

Mr. Wu’s choice of words are the reasons why I have questioned his intentions. The biggest one was the claim of “street consensus” during the iPod Nano fiasco. I was using Morgan Stanley then and had an account with Bears and Stearn as well as Wachovia and there were NO consensus from any of these firms. It was a fabrication.

It is very sad that there are all sorts of people out there including irresponsible so-called “expert” and a large population of immature gullible investors.

As long as you are long and understand AAPL’s fundamentals and corporate product strategy, you should make your buy or sell decisions base on that.

Good luck!

Read my article on Shaw Wu at www.bullcross.com. Here I write about the iPod Nano fiasco. It’s interesting that you recall those days. Take a look at the article. You won’t be disappointed.

Are you with me Dr Wu?

I am new to the investing “Game” and I have a few very fundamental questions:
1. How do the Tonis and the Wus get away with this kind of blatant manipulation in the face of such intense scrutiny that a stock such as AAPL undergies
2. What can be done to punish the Tonis and the Wus, isn’t there a regulatory body that monitors stock manipulation

There is such a body. But it is as blind as it is limp in being able to do anything about it.

Shaw Wu wanted to prevent a GOOG-type earnings reaction and he got what he wanted.

BullCross: Well done! Thanks for the write-up, we need more like that. These “experts” need to be held accountable. Yes, I go back a long way, all the way to pre-pre-split, which is well before the stocks split twice. It has been a long ride through some really bad times and some good times.

The company has good technical execution and strong product strategy. It also has stuck by its guns of selling high quality products that are easy to use. The ease is NOT limited to well-known everyday features but deeper and more complex functions. It is this ability to make previously power-user-only features accessible to the masses that differentiates Apple from the likes of MSFT, IBM and HP.

As long as it continues to execute, its share will have its value. Unfortunately, dummies like Wu and Toni will also continue to spew their amateurish notes.

I bought a few more shares today!!!!!!!

Tim, I couldn’t agree with anymore more than I do with you. It’s good to see another long long long term investor. I have been covering Apple for years. Since the introduction of the iPod. I’ve followed and fully analzed the last 13 quarters for Apple.

Read my earnings estimates. I’ve been pretty accurate in my estimates in the past. I’ve had a margin of error of a few pennies and have hit MOST of the quarters right on the dot.

Here are my estimates for this quarter:

http://bullcross.blogspot.com/2008/04/apple-set-to-significantly-beat.html

Here are my estimates for 2009:

http://bullcross.blogspot.com/2008/04/apple-set-to-significantly-beat_15.html

I don’t like to think about how rich I’d be if analysts weren’t around to manipulate the market. Anyone here ever trade on their opinions?

there needs to be some type of regulation for these d bags, its sad that you can no longer know what analysts true intentions are

I still find it hard to believe that Wu singhandedly one day before results of a Co like AAPL has managed to down the stock $8, billions lost thousands of investors hurt

All the Tonis, Wus and other parasites like them cannot keep a good thing down for long, the best we can do is spread the word around and continue to expose these parasites and overtime their opinions will hopefully mean little…

hope all the AAPL numbers come out great tomorrow and Wu is exposed as a AAPL basher…

Thanks Tim. I’ve followed Apple for a very long time. I could tell you and I are two people who see eye to eye. It’s so interesting that you pointed out the iPod Nano fiasco. Read my comments on earnings. I’ve been pretty accurate in calling Apple’s earnings. I’m looking for $1.31-$1.33 in EPS. bullcross.com

BullishCross…that’s quite a fiscal 2009 model there. Can we slap a $250 target on this baby!

To Wareham:

I think Apple’s stock price will be up to the manipulative stock market. Thus, it’s hard to tell where Apple will be. But I am extremely confident in my 2009 estimates. It makes basic sense that Apple is headed in this direction.

-Bullcross

$1.31-$1.33 for EPS would be sweet! 250 target by year end would be even sweeter!

Dumb-ass investors, Dumb-ass investors, Dumb-ass investors, Dumb-ass investors, Dumb-ass investors, Dumb-ass investors!!! WU is an idiot and If they listen to WU then their dumb-ass’s and nothing will change that. Ripe on the dumb-ass’s that listen to him.

Eric,
I made some interesting observations on this post.
You can check it at:
http://financialjoyride.blogspot.com/2008/04/apple-analysts-reading-too-much-into.html

Thanks,

Shaw Wu’s call had very little to do with yesterday drop. I think Shaw Wu actually got it right, it wasn’t a bearish call at all, just warning of a potential drop due to extremely high expectations.
I have to agree, anything that doesn’t top estimates it will be seen as a failure and at least until June, Apple should trade lower..
in any case it’s all noise and only traders should worry about that This time next year we’ll be talking about Osx having a 30% market share, 60 million iphones sold won’t matter very much.

We better not be going to 120 again……
Comment by Whatever -

Why the hell no??? I wish
if you are worried about a little volatility you should put your money in a nice CD

In retrospect, a downgrade on a day when the markets are also down may not be such a bad thing.
I’ll be lookig to see what Wu does when the stock hits $175, perhaps as early as tomorrow.
I think the anticipation of the arrival of the 3G phone will keep the stock from going back to $120 because the shorts will be more cautious.
In my view a confirmation by Apple of a 3G phone in the works will good for a 5% rise, and the actual delivery will be good for at least another 5%.

I want to become an analyst. What needs to be done?

Is it possible for an analyst to have made a worse prediction than Shaw Wu on cutting Apple right before they announced their 9th straight record quarterly earnings? Why would any analyst in his right mind go out on a limb right before a company announces? All he had to do is wait a day and see what Apple had actually done for the quarter and then make his recommendation. Is this too obvious?