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The Value Of Not Following The Name Brand Following Crowd, Re: Apple, Goldman & RIM
This post is dedicated to those who do not see the obvious due to name brand blindness. It came about from a conversation that I had with two other prominent financial bloggers/advisors/asset managers who not only have a lot of respect for my contrarian accuracy in the past (Ex. Goldman, Research in Motion, Google, Bear Stearns, Europe, etc.), but are in near complete agreement with my analysis (the real analysis, behind the paywall) of Apple. When asked why they
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don't review their opinions and findings more vocally in the media and their respective sites, they literally stated that they were reticent, if not outright intimidated by the cult-like deluge of Apple fanatiism that was sure to follow. Now, that is a damn shame. Those that run new media sites are actually being censored through intimidation. Well, as you may realze, the boy from Brooklyn loves to dance, so here we go...
In 2008 I warned my readers and subscription clients not to be blinded by brand names:
February 2008: Are you hooked on name brands? and As I was harping on relying on Name Brands..., as excerpted -
It's been a busy day and I haven't had a chance to get to the blog. As all know, I've been quite bearish and I believe that the end of the beginning may be here soon. That means a true bear market where truly significant losses are common place for years on end, with intermittent bull runs. This is where value investors get burned because they can't tell the difference between value and price. Just because something is a lot cheaper doesn't mean it is a good value. Value is price as a function of future reward, not just a low price. There are some pretty big names that fell into this trap, primarily due to a lack of respect for macro shocks that stem from the residential/credit market crash. I have been very bearish on nearly everything that is connected to the macro crash, and I am basically a value investor.
... The reason I bring these points up is because I have been told several times by several individuals that because XYZ "brand name" investor has bought into ABC company that I am bearish on I had better cover, or I don't know what I'm doing, or blah, blah, blahhhhh!!!
... So, to make a short story long - no, I don't think a company is automatically a "no go" because a "name brand" took the opposite position. If I had that mentality, I would have lost out on the profit to be had taking the opposite side of all of those other "name brands" listed above. We all make mistakes, and I know my turn for a big mistake is coming up soon, but until them, or even after then we all need to keep in mind that all investors are human and they all make mistakes, name brand or not.
Yes, simply jumping on board a popular brand make decision making easier and offers a feel good warmth when you partake since there is plenty of company in following the crowd, but the reality of the situation is that long term the decisions made by choosing the brand over the substance is often not the optimal one (for you that is, it's often quite a good one for the brand) and that warm fuzzy, follow the crowd feeling that you get often turns much colder as you find you have purchased much more marketing than actual performance or substance.
Of course, as the rebellious, anti-establishment guy, I fly in the face of all of this, and actually relish in doing so. Let's run down a list of brand bashing analysis that I have done in recent past. Keep in mind that when my contrarian opinion was initially released on all of these companies, the fundamentals were fully supportive of the groupthink consensus. The caveat is, groupthink is usually wrong.
Research [has lost its] In Motion
On Friday, 16 December 2011 I posted RIM Gets RAMMED! Again... Remember That Contrarian Call 1st Quarter of 2010? The reason? I warned on RIMM the first quarter of 2010, at a time when it was considered a valuation steal and Canadian nationalism caused many to defend this stock with zeal. Of course, at that time (Q1 2010) the zealots couldn't see the deterioration because RIM's fundamentals were still quite strong.
Of course, as we know now, you often have to look past yesterday's fundamentals!
Nearly all of my calls on equity, sovereign nations and industries are highly contrarian. At first blush, I get a lot of flack, negative feedback and very little attention save that small coterie of paid subscribers whom I cater to. In the spring/summer of 2010 with RIM trading in the $60s or so, I warned that this company had definitely seen its heyday. I put out very specific research to subscribers, including downloadable models and extensive reports. I was dismissed as having nationalistic beefs with Canadian companies (WTF???). Well, about 80% in market value loss later that short is still popping profits.
BoomBustBlog banking and tech research has been near perfect for 2010/2011. Subscribers who took advantage of this deserve kudos. To wit, and as excerpted from Another RIMM Job? It's Amazing How Many Institutions Don't Read The BoomBust!
Let's try this again: As Forecast Last Year and Clearly Demonstrated This Year, Research in Motion's Problems Are Far From Over
Research in Motion has been one of the most successful tech shorts of this blog's history (thus far). We first recommended a short last year and reiterated it in the fist quarter of this year. Reference:
- BoomBustBlog Research Performs a RIM Job!
- BoomBustBlog's Fundamental/Forensic Analysis of Research in Motion Has Returned 2x-3x Original Investment This Year!!
This is a snapshot of RIMM as of the writing of this article...
As you can see, the results have been spectacular, particular if well timed puts have been put to use. In January I posted:
I personally see a clear leader in mobile computing becoming visible in 2012. Using options, a minimum of 2012 expiration OTM and ATM contracts can be purchase at the most optimistic break points demarcated by the model above after being populated with assumptions you feel most valid. I will have a proprietary BoomBustBlog option model available for download to paying subscribers by the end of next week, at which time we will revisit the analysis above.
A 50% drop in price later... On that note, Bloomberg reports: RIM to Cut 2,000 Jobs as BlackBerry Loses Share to IPhone
Additional RIM writings...
Another Name Brand Bites The Dust?
On July 24, 2008 I penned Reggie Middleton on Risk, Reward and Reputations on the Street: the Goldman Sachs Forensic Analysis.
At that time, I was virtually ridiculed for even suggesting that the high and mighty Goldman could possibly take a loss. Why, they were best in class, cream of the crop, hired only the best there was (despite the fact that they hired the same guys that all of their competitors did from the same talent pool, same schools to do the same things). You see, unlike today, it was not cool to bash those doing God's work just a few years ago. As a matter of fact, no one would do it, despite the fact that their balance sheet screamed for a bashing... Well, I've put out a rash of research since those days, and guess who was right, Reg or those name brand junkies...
A Few Quick Comments On Goldman's Q4 2011 Results
Here are some links that you are unlikely to find anywhere else...
Just As I Predicted Last Quarter, The World's First FDIC Insured Hedge Fund Takes A Fat Trading Loss
 I'm Hunting Big Game Today:The Squid On The Spear Tip, Part 1 & IntroductionI'm Hunting Big Game Today:The Squid On The Spear Tip, Part 1 & IntroductionI'm Hunting Big Game Today:The Squid On The Spear Tip, Part 1 & Introduction |
I'm Hunting Big Game Today: The Squid On A Spear Tip
Summary: This is the first in a series of articles to be released this weekend concerning Goldman Sachs, the Squid! In this introduction (for those who do not regularly follow me) I demonstrate how the market, the sell side, and most investors are missing one of the biggest bastions of risk in the US investment banking industry. I will also... |
 Hunting the Squid, Part2: Since When Is Enough Derivative Exposure To Blow Up The World Something To Be Ignored?Hunting the Squid, Part2: Since When Is Enough Derivative Exposure To Blow Up The World Something To Be Ignored?Hunting the Squid, Part2: Since When Is Enough Derivative Exposure To Blow Up The World Something To Be Ignored? |
Hunting the Squid, Part2: Since When Is Enough Derivative Exposure To Blow Up The World Something To Be Ignored?Welcome to part two of my series on Hunting the Squid, the overvaluation and under-appreciation of the risks that is Goldman Sachs. Since this highly analytical, but poignant diatribe covers a lot of material, it's imperative that those who have not done so review part 1 of this series, I'm Hunting Big Game Today:The Squid On The Spear Tip, Part... |
 Reggie Middleton Serves Up Fried Calamari From Raw Squid: Goldman Sachs and Market Perception of Real Risks!Reggie Middleton Serves Up Fried Calamari From Raw Squid: Goldman Sachs and Market Perception of Real Risks!Reggie Middleton Serves Up Fried Calamari From Raw Squid: Goldman Sachs and Market Perception of Real Risks! |
Hunting the Squid Part 3: Reggie Middleton Serves Up Fried Calamari From Raw SquidFor those who don't subscribe to BoomBustblog, or haven't read I'm Hunting Big Game Today:The Squid On The Spear Tip, Part 1 & Introduction and Hunting the Squid, Part2: Since When Is Enough Derivative Exposure To Blow Up The World Something To Be Ignored?, not only have you missed out on some unique artwork, you've potentially missed out on 300%... |
 Hunting the Squid, part 4: So, What Else Can Go Wrong With The Squid? Plenty!!!Hunting the Squid, part 4: So, What Else Can Go Wrong With The Squid? Plenty!!!Hunting the Squid, part 4: So, What Else Can Go Wrong With The Squid? Plenty!!! |
Hunting the Squid, part 4: So, What Else Can Go Wrong With Goldman Sachs? Plenty!Yes, this more of the hardest hitting investment banking research available focusing on Goldman Sachs (the Squid), but before you go on, be sure you have read parts 1.2. and 3: I'm Hunting Big Game Today:The Squid On A Spear Tip, Part 1 & Introduction Hunting the Squid, Part2: Since When Is Enough Derivative Exposure To Blow Up The World Something To... |
What Was That I Heard About Squids Raising Capital Because They Can't Trade?
Reggie Middleton vs the Squid That Can't Trade!
Now, all should sit back and watch as those other two highly contrarian calls take root, involving the biggest NAME BRANDS of all!
Many commenters in blog forums query why I don't admit being wrong on Apple. My response is, "Where was I wrong on Apple?" In October of 2010 I said that although I wasn't short Apple they will eventually feel competitive pressure and they will deliver a rare but well deserved earnings miss.
On my blog I gave a time frame of 4 to 6 quarters for said miss. Well, exactly 4 quarters later, guess what happened! The Only, and I Mean the Only, Investment/Research House To Warn Of An Apple Miss Is Vindicated!!! This is what I would consider being right, not wrong!
The following quarter, Apple had blowout results which were not unexpected at the BoomBust. Alas, if you bother to peek under the hood, all was not indicative of the massive trend upwards that you have read about in the media, though - see Anecdotal Observations On Apple's Recent Quarter. Sometimes it actually pays to read the fine print.
Remember, I never said Apple would crash or go out of business. What I did say was that they would face margin compression as a result of competitive pressures.For any other company, this would be common sense, but because this is Apple, sense is most uncommon. If it were not, then the many indications that Apple will not be able to ride solely on marketing powers and trendy fashions would be obvious. Reference Risk Factors Threaten Apple Margins… All in all, I think Apple is an amazing company, particularly in the aesthetic product design and marketing department, but all of those who wonder why it trades at such a lower multiple than Google or MSFT faile to realize that MSFT and Google actually have hard barriers to entry for their cash cows while Apple relied much more on trends. So, while the money is definitely being make, its staying power is most unproven and probably not as stick as the more proven stalwarts.
There there is the consistent undervaluation of Google and the likelihood that they will control smartphone mobile computing for the balance of the decade...
The table of contents outlines how we have broken Google down into distinct businesses and identified both the individual business models and the potential revenue streams, as well as valuation for each business line.
Page 57 of the analysis shows a sensitivity table which outlines the various scenarios that can come into play and how it will change our outlook and valuation opinion.
Professional/institutional subscribers can actually access a subset of the model that we used to create the sensitivity analysis above to plug in their own assumptions in case they somehow disagree with our assumptions or view points. Click here for the model: Google Valuation Model (pro and institutional). Click here to subscribe or upgrade.
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Reggie,
You are the same as all the wall street guys that parade on CNBC. You have your own agenda and you keep pushing it. I am sure you will keep bashing apple and after years of it going up it will eventually come down (as everything does) and you will claim how smart you were and have a whole long post repeating all your "predictions". The truth is that people that listened to you would have missed a lot of wealth creation. Bottom line, you suck!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reggie, these comments reflect emotion, not reason. Apple is going parabolic right now and it will soon be a good short for a trade. But I will wait for it to turn. Predicting when that might happen is foolish when it is so easy to see the fact of the turn when it actually happens. The main reason it is so popular with the institutions is that there is such a vast pool of retail fan boys out there to whom they can distribute the stock at the highs. It is a dependable pattern for traders. The yuppies always buy the stock of the latest gadget that fills their hand. I call it the "Prince raquet effect" from way back in the early 70s when the oversize tennis raquets first came out.
Fad stocks crash and burn no matter how good their products might be.
Now that Jobs - who never had to confront job risk - is gone, the first dissappointing upgrade or product launch will plunge the company into carreer risk rigor mortis. The executive suite will become as cautious as the pharma companies,
I will say one more time, APPL is creaming everyone in the Greater China market. If I were competing with APPL, I would be very concerned about this.
They are literally positioning themselves as the LV of personal communication and computing devices in China.
For the Chinese there is only one LV and it's starting to look like one Apple.
Reggie is spending too much time in lap-dance Clubs.. nothing wrong with that, i spent years in those fantastic places ;)
but he ought to get his lap down a high street soon. Apple shops are buzzing everywhere i go in Europe. They're on a par with the very few/best retailers for shop atmosphere like Berska, H&M and Pull & Bear. The happy customers are evryone from schoolkids after laptops and iPhones to Grandads picking up iPads (a quite remarkable cross section of public)
while Reggie wants another pair of tits in his face he should see another thing that's remarkable.. all the shops, even the likes of Berska et al, are generating their interest with "Sale ..-30%... -50% ---70%" signs plastered all over their windows
Apples stores are buzzing with not a single discount sign, a complete stand-out on the high street
So much for "margin compression" eh Reggie?!!
And contrary to Reggies casual quip (that reveals so much?) that Apple "should retreat upmarket" Apple are ligning up across many telecoms carriers. The usual cool precision guided targeting with which Apple consumately rips major players apart before they know what's hit them
If Reggie goes into any phone shop he'll find 200 models of Android dross and a single iPhone competing with the lot. If anyone has "margin compression" it'll be the desperate Android turkeys running at 100 mph offering all types of models, styles and colours just to stay up with Apples single mega-product
Whose margin is compressing at factory level producing 100's of models versus Apples one production unit Reg? ...is that why Goofball are now copy-catting (years later) Apples single hardware model Reg?
Reggies 'analysis' of this sector has all the hallmarks of a frozen turkey ...DOA
FWIW, I no longer use Google, however, I'm a Mac user since IIe
LOL.... another stopped clock Apple basher.
News Flash: the entire market tanked in 2008. Where are they now?
Contrarianism suffers the same fate as all investment strategies: When it becomes too popular, it stops working.
That's why I will NEVER share my strategy....heh.
>>That's why I will NEVER share my strategy....heh.
Until it stops working of course. Then I'll write a book about it:)
Apple was trading at some point (Lowest Price) was $96 now its at $500
This is 421% Change! Is that normal?!
Reggie, I agree in principle with your philosophy. We here in the high-tech community hate it when Wall Street, and its herd mentality, choses favorites in a crowd of competitors. We call them "Wall Street Darlings." Invariably the favorties are not the best technology or value but simply who is the most subservient to the Wall Street clowns. It is a self-fulfilling philosophy that Wall Street loves to play: there's only room for one or two at the top. BS. I wish Wall Street would self-destruct and leave consumers as the judges of success.
So when exactly over the last 12 months was your "long Google & short Apple" call profitable:
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AAPL+Interactive#chart6:symbol=aapl;r...
Or shall we look at the last 2 years:
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AAPL+Interactive#chart1:symbol=aapl;r...
Or how about looking at AAPL's terrible margins compared to GOOGL:
http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/profit_margin#series=type:company,id:A...
Snoopy
actually, it was profitable when i suggested to short, right before apple missed and goog surprised to the upside.
it'll be Goofballs 'surprise' to the downside that'll rock you
..when people get fed up with their un-invited nosey monitoring of their private computer usage so these cunts can flog (un-invited, without permission) Goo Ads
'Poof' goes Goonbubbles Ad (business) model faster than a flash
Holy effing crap! In October 2010 you warned - and the stock was $300 a share? And you are now proclaiming great success?
Reg, wake the eff up and smell the coffee. When you issue a warning on a company, sharply contrarian, then said company goes on to only greatly expand their already impressive cash production, YOU WERE NOT RIGHT!
As you ignore what was just written in the article above. In oct 2010 I said Apple will miss in 4 to 6 quarters and 4 quarters later they missed. Once again, point out where I was wrong. Stick to the facts.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/goldman%E2%80%99s-430-target-screaming-buy-apple-its-all-time-high-direct-contravention-reggie-middl
This one is pretty much all wrong? You specifically challenge Goldman at a $430 target. You tell me who was right then.
You brag that the market is "finally" waking up to the trends you view as obvious, with the floor dropping on AAPL and GOOG jumping on the parabolic elevator. Yeah, guess that one didn't work out either.
on everything else.. from start to finish ..and the bits in the middle
While I respect Reggie's skills, when I got to the part where he wrote "Where was I wrong on Apple?" I was just embarrassed for him. That is, in the face of things, a spectacularly sad and stunning statement. It's beyond denial.
Again, for the umptheenth time, where was I wrong on Apple? They missed when I said they woukd miss, they lost market share when I said said they would and the rest is to be seen. Outside of inslults anf innundo, I missd where I have been wrong to date.
Reggie is for sure in denial... it's the day he awakens that'll be memorable
until then it's not just the cherry picked crap he peddles as much as the stuff he doesn't say
as example the only time Reggie wheeled out a stock chart last year was 3 weeks where Goofball out-performed Apple (while Apple slaughtered Goo the other 49 weeks of the year: 2011 wasn't even a fuking contest in share terms, not that reggie will ever mention it)
..then Reg, who is not one to shut the fuk up when he's getting hammered to a pulp, comes out with the investors are all short sighted and not seeing the 'true value' of Goo's cooked books and are clearly deluded in a religous sense to follow Apple (and their very real cash mountain) for knocking everyone out of the teck iSpace for a decade or more
Reggie needs a check-up at the Docs before he goes any further questioning everyone elses sanity but his own
Reggie is so wrong on Apple, and so enamoured with Goofball the poor bloke doesn't have any bearings left
the other day Reggie prompted who was the greater contributor, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates? His answer, global monopolist, peddler of bug-ridden crap for decades, Gates!!!
this is a clear signal to the establishments monopolist Matrix destroying free markets and raping the world to 'plug Reggie in'
He's ready ..he's done his (short) time being young and thrusting.. he's already sending out signals to 'Come and Get Me' oh mighty Bill Gates... a spot on CNBC and a once a year ego blow-out on the Jon Stewart Show and Reggie will happily comply/crone for the system/asylum
Apple will be trading north of 600 one of these quarters then will sell down 15 bucks to 585 and Reggie will be on here pumping his chest with one of his I told you so posts.
"Brevity is the soul of wit"
William Shakespeare
As this also applies to clarity, it is a lesson worth leaning.
Thanks Reggie. This post was an eye opener for many, I'm sure. Best of luck to you.
Authorities have seized Apple iPads from retailers in a city in northern China due to a dispute with a domestic company that says it owns the iPad name, an official said Monday. The Chinese company said it is asking for similar action in more than 20 other cities.
The dispute with Shenzhen Proview Technology threatens to complicate Apple’s efforts to sell its popular tablet computer in China, its fastest-growing market.
seizure of Apple iPads from store shelves in Shijiazhuang
cue Goofballs muck-raking goons
a case in some porochial non-event in deepest China... marvellous stuff, raking the bottom of the barrel with an electron microcope for something to throw (total desperation are just two words)
a marked contrast to Goofball who are patent crap at everything they do and even coming in 2nd at search now
desperate, over-stretched, me-too copy-cats and also-rans in every market: Goofball RIP
The point is that Apples profits are concentrated in one or two products whio they comoete with the product's suppliers and enhpgage in nasty global law suits. Its not just a back province China. The entire iPhone line up was oulled from the shelves in Germany last weEK. Was that trivial?
When you rely on one product for most of your product and yiu fight the suppliers of that product vinthere comoeting product and global IP suits, youbhave a risky earnings strem. this is not rocket science.
I was in Germany last few weeks ...the Apple stores (in Munich and Frankfurt) are buzzing like no other shops on the High Street
to say Apple is an iPhone company with one major product is like saying the sun will be out at mid-day! So what? Microshite has been a one-trick diseased Donkey for decades.. so is Goonball with Search (aka stick your nose into billions of peoples private laptops without their permission and flog them Ads)
I'd rather have Apples business model than Goonbubbles not-mind-your-own-business model
so would Goonball obviously, they're copying the crap out of Apple (years behind the cool dude as usual)
Maybe RM could tell us where he sees AAPL stock end 2102. Tht would be an indication. And also for Google and RIM. So that we have trends and spreads of how they perform in simple terms.
A contrarian always loves a challenge!
"So, to make a short story long.."
Point of Order: it took you 5 vacuous paragraphs of inane he-said-my-mates-said hear-say to get to the point(less) bits...
..then off you go again (ie. food fight in a Pizza Hut) trying (desperately) to throw as much pointless crap around in the hope lots of nothing to do with Apple sticks some mud to the cool dude. Stop frothing at the mouth and flailing around in a tizzy Reggie, i'm getting worried for ya lad
"We all make mistakes, and I know my turn for a big mistake is coming up soon.."
It's arrived, you're just too bizzy in a tizzy telling everyone else they're wrong to recognise you've been slaughtered throughout 2011. 'Wakey Wakey'
"..but until then.. we all need to keep in mind that all investors are human and they all make mistakes, name brand or not."
Apple hit $500 today. How's that also-ran 3rd rate nag Goofball doing Einstein?
I'll tell you: they're just rolling out their Apple copy Cloud, just about to roll out their Apple copy-cat TV, even further behind rolling out their Apple cribbing move into hardware. Goofballs entire fuking business plan was written by Apple YEARS AGO you blinkered jock
You'd make an awful Zulu Warlord Reggie... you're deaf dumb and blind
You made a comment on your BBB site 2 weeks ago that Apple should "retreat up market"... have you lost your bearings???
Apple have just rolled out on 3 telecoms carriers and are beefing up their retail skills. Funny thing is you know Apple have upped their retail channels but the penny doesn't drop for you!!
Instead of "retreating" up-market as you oh-so casually quipped over your Starbucks Apple are actually cooly quietly lining up the big guns on the battlefield. They're not retreating muppet, they're taking an SAS marksmans aim for a turkey shoot
..and Goofball (and you Reg) are the tiresome turkeys about to be well and truly f**ked.. sorry plucked
Reggie, maybe you are right about Apple. But I have been following the company for more than 20 years. The Apple Death Knell Counter is now at 57 and it doesn't include your calls.
There are some threats to Google as well and I think their biggest threat will be themselves. Their search engine was the best 10 years ago and it's still the best. But it's dated and it's not improving. They want to be in every business to defend their search monopoly. It won't work. Look at Microsoft. They want to be in every business to defend their monopoly and guess what, it doesn't work.
They are diluting their resources and produce mediocre products. Apple will focus. Focus is saying yes to one thing and saying no to thousand things.
Can you see my point in retail nvestors ignoring what was written? What does a death knellncounter have to do with this article? Where does this drama come from? Would you write so flamboyantly if Home Deoit was the subject of the article? Where are the comments on RIM and GS? Is allnthat is seen only Apple?
It's worth noting that Apple is solving its margin-compression problems by watching as their competition absolutely implodes:
HP/Palm: Dead
Microsoft: Hasn't done anything worth a damn in 10 years. Apple's share of the PC OS market has been slowly, but steadily increasing for many years now. Windows Phone should be renamed FAIL FAIL FAILITY FAIL.
NOK: About to set the land-speed record for self-destruction. Most profits and market share squandered in the shortest amount of time in history. it's actually possible that they are headed to zero.
RIMM: In complete disarray
Google: Got lucky with Android, but making no money on it. Failing with Motorola brand.
Samsung is now their only real threat.
"There are some threats to Google.."
Indeed.
There's no greater threat to Goofball than . . . Goofball
These clowns have well and truly let success go to their tiny little minds.
They're COPYING EVERYONE (primarily Apple but even trying to crib Microshite platforms) wanting a piece of EVERY PIE thinking they can just walk in and own EVERY MARKET by throwing money at it
But nothing Goofball does is any good... even in their own market, search, they're now 2nd rate while being 3rd rate in every other me-too market.
They've just gone all-in copying everything Apple does including now chasing Apple into TV and even wanting to make the hardware (they are YEARS BEHIND).
This is the tragic case of a good company bloating with its ego into a huge train wreck due very shortly down the line
Apple makes money, mountains of the stuff.
Google thinks it makes money
Goofball is an Ad company, not a technology company. There's a subtle but massive difference ..as 'all reason and logic' Reggie will find out
Agreed. Given Google management's track record with new products (and discounting Android as a lucky market-share hit that doesn't generate any meaningful profits), I'd say Reggie is better off taking a HARD look at Google. Talk about an overvalued brand name!
Never forget that Eric Schmidt helped run Sun and Novell into the ground. And Larry Page has no management experience outside Google.
Agreed... i'd only micro-split hairs regards Google having an "overvalued brand name" ...Google isn't worth junk as a brand name and i'd go further with their non-stop interfering in peoples private computers to flog their un-invited and unsolicited Ad business their worthless brand will become toxic faster than Microshites