I am staying in Hua Hin at the moment. I think it is fair to say this is Thailand’s premier beach resort as the Royal Family have a palace here – I’m certainly impressed with the place even though I got thrashed on the Go Kart course yesterday.
Anyway I was having dinner with a friend in one of the restaurants which are supported by poles laid into the beach and we started to discuss Apple.
He was saying that a few people are now suggesting the best is behind this company and it is time to go short.
I can see a number of compelling reasons to agree not the least of which is the huge prices Apple charges for its products as we now see similarly attractive products entering the market in direct competition.
Plus I recently bought an iPad and I cannot say I am too impressed. Why on earth you have to pay an additional £100 for an additional 16 GB and yet another £100 just so it can take a SIM card beats me – the expression “rip-off” springs rapidly to mind!
Anyway I extracted my Nokia E5 (cost c. £100 for the whole unit including ability to take a SIM card and it will feed my computer a very effective internet link), looked up Apple on IG and promptly put on a “test” short position at £2 per point. Little did I know!
Within seconds I was down £400, and seconds later I was up £400!! That will teach me to pay more attention! Anyway I closed for a £400 profit and Apple and I are now square as that covered the cost of the iPad!
Otherwise markets are still pretty quiet – incidentally if I had only held onto my £2 pp short of Apple I would now be up around £4000 on that “small” position.
2. UK FTSE 100
FTSE closed yesterday at 5793 down 1 points with the spread betters now (03h00) quoting it at 5763 (-30). FTSE is stalling around 5800 but higher prices still seem indicated. We remain 50% short via the ETF SUK2. We are also 50% long the VIX via the ETF VIXS.
3. The German DAX
The DAX closed yesterday at 7213 down 1 points and has spent the last two sessions going sideways in a narrow range. We are now 50% short of the DAX via the ETF ETFS Fund Company Plc DAX 2X Short Fund Shares EUR (GBP).
4. The US DOW
The Dow closed yesterday at 13254 down 52 points with the spreadbetters now quoting it at 13224 (-30). The sharp fall on Apple is of some concern but little to go on right now. We remain 50% short of the NASDAQ via the ETF Proshares Trust Ultrashort QQQ