This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Presenting The World's Biggest Hedge Fund You Have Never Heard Of
The world's largest hedge fund is not located in the top floor of some shiny, floor-to-ceiling glass clad skyscraper in New York, London, Hong Kong or Shanghai. It isn't in some sprawling mansion in Greenwich or Stamford which houses a state of the art trading desk behind a crocodile-filled moat. Instead it can be found in tiny, nondescript office in Suite 225 located on 730 Sandhill Road in Reno, Nevada.
"That's not possible" one may say - the world's largest hedge fund is Ray Dalio's Bridgewater, which at last check had about $100 billion in AUM (and which has so far had a less than stellar performance in 2012, underperforming the S&P by a substantial margin). Turns out it is: the fund which was at $117.2 billion as of June 30, and which has lately been growing at a pace of about $15 billion per quarter (which would put it at about $130 billion currently), is none other than Braeburn Capital, a Nevada-based asset management corporation.
Who is Braeburn?
Braeburn is a subsidiary of another far more famous company, which since 2006 has had one simple task: manage the cash of the parent company.
At Braeburn's inception, the cash pile was modest, yet absolutely massive in unlevered terms, at just over $10 billion. Fast forward 6 years, and the massive cash pile has now grown to be epically gargantuan. Of course, the parent company in question is none other than Apple, whose publicly reported cash horde at June 30, 2012 was a whopping $117,221,000,000. This is the AUM of Braeburn.
Any substantial follow up diligence on Braeburn will not reveal much if anything.
CapitalIQ has the following description of the firm: "Braeburn Capital Inc. is the asset management arm of Apple Inc. The firm invests in the public equity markets. Braeburn Capital Inc. was founded in 2006 and is based in Reno, Nevada." And that's it - there is no breakdown of which "public equity market" investments Braeburn is invested in, as is to be expected.
Bloomberg provides the following minimalist information:
Some more useful information cn be found in the Nevada Annual Report of tax-filing entities:
- Entity Name: BRAEBURN CAPITAL, INC.
- Filing Status: Active
- Date Filed: 10/03/2005
- Type: Domestic Corporation
- File Number: E0667452005-7
It also lists the firm's principals:
Gary Wipfler
730 Sandhill Road
Suite 225
Reno, NV 89521
Gene Levoff
730 Sandhill Road
Suite 225
Reno, NV 89521
Michael Shapiro
730 Sandhill Road
Suite 225
Reno, NV 89521
The LinkedIn profile of Braeburn CIO Steve Johnson is also rather bland:
As is that of Braeburn Portfolio Manager Ted Mulvaney, who before taking over capital allocation of tens of billions worked at a fund named for a Douglas Adams planet.
Oddly enough, the only actual personnel link between Braeburn and Apple can be found in the profile of principal Gary Wipfler who just happens to be the official Treasurer, and thus as expected, the person responsible for the mega cash stash of the behemoth tech company.

For some other clues on Braeburn one has to go to the NYT, and a certain article discussing AAPL's ability to legally and quite successfully bypass American corporate tax laws.
In 2006, as Apple’s bank accounts and stock price were rising, company executives came here to Reno and established a subsidiary named Braeburn Capital to manage and invest the company’s cash. Braeburn is a variety of apple that is simultaneously sweet and tart.
Today, Braeburn’s offices are down a narrow hallway inside a bland building that sits across from an abandoned restaurant. Inside, there are posters of candy-colored iPods and a large Apple insignia, as well as a handful of desks and computer terminals.
When someone in the United States buys an iPhone, iPad or other Apple product, a portion of the profits from that sale is often deposited into accounts controlled by Braeburn, and then invested in stocks, bonds or other financial instruments, say company executives. Then, when those investments turn a profit, some of it is shielded from tax authorities in California by virtue of Braeburn’s Nevada address.
Since founding Braeburn, Apple has earned more than $2.5 billion in interest and dividend income on its cash reserves and investments around the globe.
Naturally, Apple is less than eager to discuss the role of its Nevada asset manager:
Apple declined to comment on its Nevada operations. Privately, some executives said it was unfair to criticize the company for reducing its tax bill when thousands of other companies acted similarly. If Apple volunteered to pay more in taxes, it would put itself at a competitive disadvantage, they argued, and do a disservice to its shareholders.
There is much more in the NYT article, but in short, while Apple for now uses Braeburn primarily in its capacity to find legal tax loophole all around the world and avoid paying taxes, there is no denying that with a cash balance that in a two years may be well over $200 billion, applying even a modest amount of leverage would make AAPL the best capitalized bank, mutual fund or asset manager in the world.
What's more, Braeburn has no reporting obligations: there is no Investment Advisor Public Disclosure (IAPD) entry on Braeburn for the logical reason that it is not an investment advisor: it merely manages an ungodly amount of cash for AAPL's millions of shareholders. There is also no SEC filing 13-F filing on Braeburn's holdings. As such, not confied by the limitations of being a "long-only", it is in its full right to hold any assets it feels like, up to and including CDS on housing, puts on Samsung, or Constant Maturity Swaps that pay if the 10 Year collapses. It just doesn't have to report any of them.
Nobody knows: and that's the beauty of Braeburn. It is the world's largest hedge fund that is not really a hedge fund, nobody has heard of, and nobody knows just what assets it holds.
Which is precisely what Apple wants. Incidentally, what Apple probably wants more is to keep the status quo as is. However, with the topic of finding effective tax loopholes which are perfectly legal, yet which apparently are unfair, serving as the basis of the entire presidential race to date, what Apple can be absolutely certain of is that once the farce culminating on November 6 is over, the government's eye will finally turn to minimizing "externalities" among such companies which have been able to pass through corporate tax savings to end consumers by abiding within the legal system that countless other muppet congressmen, senators and presidents have developed over the ages.
Because while AAPL may have built the iPhone, very soon it will be only fair that it share its profits acquired over the years, and thus its cash balance, which at last check was double that of the US Treasury, with the general public.
At that point Braeburn will almost certainly be a household name.
- 188903 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -








When I read the title I though the article was going to be about the FED.
... and I thought the words "tax evasion" would be used more frequently.
I know Ted from the dot.com universe. He is/was a good tech and had the annoying habit of being right a lot. lol I can see why braeburn does well. Ted is a sharp dude. The rest of them are lawyers probably hovering around him collecting crumbs and attempting to understand logic and reason. He's good people and tech. Funny as well, has lots of dot.com war stories.
He worked at Ariba. That's funny.
So can this fund buy AAPL? I mean, that would be the logical course of action if you have CONfidence in your company. Eat your own load, so to speak.
In Australia we have companies doing just that, check out my slideshow:
http://s1144.photobucket.com/albums/o489/_DrBenway/
AAPL needs to increase its share repurchase program.
http://www.planbeconomics.com/2012/03/21/why-is-apple-buying-back-shares/
Funny. Probably true, but still funny.
OT'ish but really interesting story...
India unlocks treasure trove of gold as farmers sell
Laxmibai Karanure sifts through the heavy bangles and necklaces that make up her life savings, working out which pieces to sell from the 100 grams of gold she holds to tide her family over during the drought at their farm.
The 55-year-old Karanure's heirlooms will add to a booming recycling trade, which could account for up to half of India's consumption this year and boost a fledgling refining industry.
The surge in recycling also comes as India looks set to be overtaken by China as the world's biggest consumer of gold, after a hike in import duties in March and a rapidly weakening rupee pushed local gold prices to record highs....
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/10/01/india-gold-scrap-recycle-commodity-idINDEE89001M20121001?feedType=RSS&feedName=globalCoverage2&google_editors_picks=true
Interesting times indeed.
ori
Biggest hedge fund? Trying to dodge taxes. There's an ap for that. iHedge.
it just got bought by SAP AG for $4.3 billion. Sounds like it was a decently-sized company.
Hey CPL, why don't you tell your friend Ted to start buying gold. A LOT of gold.
And silver too, while he's at it.
He's not where the buck stops, he makes sure the people with money don't buy turkey's.
A Portfolio manager is the same as Product Manager, you are air traffic control. Allow things in, allow things out. It's the brains of the business. Everything around the man can be replaced but him because he would be the Alpha and Omega of business planning. CEO's. CIO's...worthless without brains.
Ted would qualify for that. He's seen a lot of bad ideas walking through the crucible of Dot.com. He's got the pedigree and the training in pragmatic thought processes to make a good purchase decision. We all, well anyone old enough, watched a lot of people get badly hurt in dot.com. Braeburn has been releasing quite a bit of information on inflationary hedges and silver/gold are part of their portfolio.
Last time I seen him Dot.com had just gone Dot.bomb and everyone was getting very drunk for a couple of months trying to figure out what the fuck to do next.
Well, lets put it this way. If given the choice on picking someone to help build a shed out of the Braeburn team, Tim is the only one qualified to identify nails, hammers and "work". Ayn Rand was right, 1 out of 10 keeps it running. Without Tim, Braeburn is a very small liability.
He's got the classic post-dotcom-bubble 2-year gap in his resume.
Just like someone else I know! (looks in mirror...)
I'm betting his best idea is to be long AAPL.
Better yet, he should go long the companies Apple is about to sign deals with.
I can't wait for the i-car and the i-house.
Come on AAPL I am giving you ideas. Built an all inclusive state of the art tech savvy box house in China and have it flown in. Provide your own mortgage and blow away all these stick built on site builders. Call me I have the basic design ready.
Apple villages? Apple parking lots?
apple orchards
In the new America, the one without a rule of law, this seems to be a solid idea.
Better yet, he should go long the companies Apple is about to sign deals with.
^^^
THIS!
It sucked ass but the money was good enough to start other gigs, also gave some of those looking to jump out of the industry a chance for a clean break.
Hard to argue with interviewing someone stating their entire industry blew up because of poorly managed financial instrumentation. Everyone got a break and at least you got to spend it with some neat people (one of the programmers I drank with expanded his musical ability, PM's turned into Handymen, etc.).
Somehow now with the same thing happening I'm seeing some of the worst side of people now. Media has the under tone of lazy unemployed, I see the situation as a grab bag. There are all these senior states-people type resources with decades of experience waiting for an opportunity to shine. Millions of solid planners and work horses. I cannot believe the same intiatives aren't being done like dot.bomb. Peer sessions, pink slip partied, startup's and goes. All that.
I suppose with all the laws in place now about terrorist shit tier laws it's a moot point.
The environment is so restricted in terms of socialization. Little wonder people feel alone and desperate while on the dole. I don't recall that being the case after dot.com at all. Everyone was broke but understood that the safest place is in the nerd herd. Companies like AMD, Apple, Microsoft and the thousands of little companies were built with next to nothing but the idea "we fucked up once, we'll do it again but without the flying everyone out to Mexico for a business retreat". Reins were tighter and products were better suited to a practical market place.
of course it doesn't explain FB or LNKD...or the up and coming eHarmony IPO (seriously...who...what...why)....rambling now...lol
I like the Microsoft story where BillyGates is "discovered" by the .gov, and told he can become unbelievably, fabulously wealthy, BUT has to make his system so buggy the .gov snoops have a backdoor to spy on the global interwebs network. . . oh, and he has to put huge sums of that fiat into foundations to fund the vaccines & pharma for "3rd world" (you listenin' amrka?) peeps - y'know, the sweat activated vaccines, and other grand things that can be stealth sprayed no consent needed/sought. and didn't Warren give Billy's "foundation" a billion and a half of HIS winnings? ^^
I'm also fond of imagining SteveJobs got a similar offer, providing he assisted the equalising of China© in the race for global pwnage.
sure wouldn't be surprised to find things tank for the Corp/Core, when the time is ripe.
Good thing Google didn't sell out, does no evil and stayed the most proficient SE : - )
APPL was/is the last straw. FB and others like it were just folks puking after the last party...
The reason why stuff isn't picking up is because there WON'T be sufficient demand. People have loaded up on all they can carry (to their graves); the debt load is what kills it all, kills future growth. And, face it, NO company is based on stasis.
This is NOT a drill...
CPL,
I worked at one of the other tech companies whose Treasury HQ are in Reno for several years. Ted is very much a standup guy. I also know Steve, who is no longer with the firm, having moved on earlier this year. True that about just trying to make sure you don't screw up. Most Treasury Mgrs. have huge career risk and don't get paid for making a few extra bps through security selection. The IPS of the firm dictates the amount of risk taken. Most corporate Treasurers are accountants, no PMs, so not much risk at all is taken with regards to equity exposure, mostly SPY or sub-advised acconts.
Good to hear that he's still a good lad and he, LOL, definately landed on his feet. Good for him. Say greetings from Silicon Alley and Silicon North.
"He's good people". When you don't count the Chicom sweatshops and the "abandoned restaurant across the street". And then there's the ".com war stories". Phew. That globalist stench.
Correct me if I'm wrong but China opened up that opportuntity and since Apple isn't completely communist yet and took the OFFER to build their shitty tablet overseas to save cash. I refuse to see that as a big deal. It's a good thing it happened.
Don't confuse ethics with morals. You yourself are typing on something a teenager built overseas for a salary well under minimum wage standards. Believe me, without the ChiCom building all the crap we've got today I hardly believe most here would be able to afford a PC. My first PC was a Commodore PET, you don't want to know what it cost. My first mainstream PC was a Sinclair ZX81, it came in pieces and not much else. It overheated but had a functional Basic language that introduced the markets to standard programming language because nothing like Borland or Microsoft Existed.
People took out home loans against their first PC purchases in the mid 90's when a PC, a shitty PC, would start at around 2k. Again. China opened the opportunity to bang your Che drum online. like everything else in OUR lives, China makes it all. Think the bowl of rice you eat once in a while isn't tainted by blood? What do you think Chinese prisoners do while in jail there? Write political essays? No. They make your crap cheap.
And yes, my memory of the man is he's good people.
Actually, Not. If it were built here, it would be built better...and cost more. And people would have the actual income - instead of plastic debt - to buy the stuff. It's all a Ponzi, bright boy. And your rich parasite.com friend still sux.
Oh boy...
Yes it is a Ponzi.
What would blow your mind is you'll soon get the chance to build the equipment with the Fed printing money hand over fist. That's the plan if you hadn't noticed. Everyone is going to switch places. First world becomes third world, third world becomes first world. So don't sweat the Ponzi, it's there to create jerbs for you and your sensitive needs for Americans to be abused by labour practices.
BTW Tim didn't start rich, he got rich by saving/trading/working (like most of us), his last name is Mulvaney. He got into schools because, like the rest of us smartie pants, we studied hard and obtained grants/worked shit tier jobs to go to a good school. Because if you don't do better than your Father in an Irish household you'll never hear the end of it.
So unless there is an Illuminati Jew Bilderburg Bavarian Vatican UFO conspiracy that includes the Irish somehow I would like to know. Appearently I'm owed some back pay. lol
parasite.com must be exceptional indeed...I've never seen an Irish male w/o a bottle in hand or mouth. And, no, the jobs are not coming back to Amerikwa. They're going to vaporize along with all other global paper-ponzi artifacts. Invest in lead.
Thank christ your lead ownership goes as far as your ability to procure it in an inflationary environment. If you thought gas was expensive, wait until you check out the price of shells.
You can hole up in a bunker if you want. In fact I advise you to do so immediately. There is some really cheap property up in around the Husdons Bay area, Canuck government will even shell out a couple of bucks a month for cost of living allowance. My plan is to stick it out in my community and do what needs to be done. I like people I don't have to continiously be armed around and other than the church biddies, nobody is particularily interested in starting a tyranical fiefdom. Easier hanging out with people that know how to live instead of hide.
Because that's what the survivalist movement is. It's hiding because you don't have someone standing next to you with share the experience with. It seems a very lonely idea. But hey...long canned goods and shotguns it is. I just see more value in silver, gold, seeds, a metal lathe, an anvil and a hammer. The world doesn't stop with one piece of bad news or ten thousand pieces.
In the 1700's while there was a Civil war happening in the infancy of the US, at that exact same moment during a very exciting piece of history there was a little boy in India that didn't know or care because he was eating supper. I was going to go into a long post about dead cat's in boxes...
CPL, how do you like the hate fest? I bet it feels good to work your whole life and then watch it all get sucked away from you, watch your colleagues eat dirt. Did you ever consider that maybe part of the problem is all the in fighting? Everyone going after each others throats all the time?
It is a question asked by philiosophers in all cultures. What is the definition of human nature. Socrates theory on Art is one of my favorites. Apollo and Dyonisius. The science being influenced by art, then in turn the science pushes art into new territories. Conflict is human nature. To out do the next person, to seek something more. To cease seeking an answer, regardless of the moral abstract of what is "right", it has launched ships, built rockets and made fabrics...it's the reason for being. Well, if you want to improve. Conflict isn't a bad thing. It's called competition when we as a society see it as moral. Thievery when it is unjust and society deems it immoral.
The infighting is part of the process to dispose of what works and what doesn't. I would hate to be on a engineering team that didn't argue about functional, operational and safety issues on a product. My job is to make sure you as the end consumer get the safest, functional product the team and I work on in a reasonably priced manner. The fact it's made in China or the US only is decided by one single factor. Cost. China opened it's doors and offered space. Apple doesn't magically obtain space, they have to go through the same crap every other Chinese business does...including bribing the shit out of people/municipality, hiring the retarded nephew of the local mayor, all of it. Just like the US. People scream murder when China throws a tariff on goods, or the municipal blood money needs to show up. Do the same thing in somewhere like California where the tax laws changed...well, people leave.
There is a point where the conflict just drives people away. The US suffers the same issues as Ethopia. Displaced communities. Name a city in the US without a tent city? How did that happen? Certainly wasn't a lack of moral fibre, the law books are full of ridiculous laws on the subject. Taxes? nope...lots of those too. Four levels of them: Fed, State, County, Municipality...and if you are lucky enough to live in NYC...city on municipality.
On conflict. To a passive eye a field is nothing but a field. Maybe a back ground to a pleasant stroll. Perhaps it inspires a painting, a photo and poem. Maybe it is the cause of self reflection. The field is just a field. It is very pretty.
To a biologist however, they see conflict in the field. Plants pushing and shoving each other fighting for sunlight and resources. Bugs at war continiuously. Animals acting as the apex to eat the bugs.
We are no different, our motivations of resource gathering are similar. The mechanical process, resources and perhaps scale (that is debatable though, there is a fungus the size of california in california and oregon and Washington state.)...that's where we differ from ants, birds. We have to build stuff with resources, to obtain resources to distribute resources. Obviously the hot topic is oil with some whispering of food being on the radar soon because of poor growing conditions the world over.
With 7.2 billion of us the idea that there won't be a conflict to provide scarce resources is lunacy. This isn't a battle you get to sit out either and watch on TV, it has already happened and will continue to happen until there are less hands than resources available.
Sucks, but the human race reboots itself constantly. I cannot name a single historical year there was not someone trying to kill another of our species for something minor. Again motivations of survival. The out with the loser and in with the winner. Deserving has nothing to do with it either. Again morals are a construct, Tito was appalled by women that smoked and drank, yet somehow he had no issue slaughtering his fellow country men. It is the darkest of humour.
So much intelligence, so much understanding...
so much drivel...
And so much efficiency in exposing yourself:
"Again morals are a construct"
Isn't it interesting how the cycle continues, with no one acknowledging even an inkling of responsibility?
Responsibility falls under ethics. Ethics defines the ownership of a problem.
Morals seek an outcome to ethics.
It is moral to stone a woman death in Islam for slandering and cheating on her husband.
Is it ethical to do so?
A question only a Talmudist would ask.
Well, you might be a philosopher, but I'm not. I'm 27 years old and I still have enough life left ahead of me to not just give it up to sit around pondering the universe. You talk about living in the eye of the dot.com tornado and working with some of the titans of the industry, so i assumed you were bitter about losing it. i'm bitter already and i don't haven't lost anything - i had nothing in the first place. the only thing i ever had was the money i saved up as marine before going to college. then i went and the money's gone and now i'm done and there aren't shit for jobs and because i'm white i'm not eligible for help. not that i want it. i'd rather go hungry than have to go to wal mart and congregate with the degenerate class. the people who feed off the largesse of those who are too dignified to do so. one thing i know for sure though, is that the answer isn't sitting around wondering what right and wrong are. fucking shit needs to start getting broken. i like what i see in greece. i like when i see a video of a bunch of guys going to all the immigrants' goodie stands and trashing the fucking thing and telling the immigrants to get the fuck out. it might be wrong, it might be mean, or whatever the fuck, but maybe it's time to start being mean
No, I gained. I did very well. I kept my "not drinking the koolaid" hat on and did well enough to be comfortable and share what I have with family, friends and community. I am not even 50 yet. Dot.com was fun, war stories about CEO's naked on beaches eating sand tripping balls and some other weirdness. Mostly it was just about building things and it was one hell of a dog fight.
The Titans I know then, weren't Titans, just young guys in hock for student debt like every other genX kid and they have ideas and friends, which is better than money sometimes. I'd see them at conferences and swap tech tips. Go for a couple of drinks. IT as an industry is still very small and it's really busy. You take the time you can, when you can take time you end up working on the next project that will consume 70 hours a week. Had no clue what anyone did after dot.com. Mulvaney included. The startups he worked for were my clue.
However, for yourself, you want a career, or at least a place to learn from old men...Oil is the place for you. The Oil Sands that is.
www.fortmcmurrayonline.com/jobs/
They are looking for everyone. If you drive a truck. Weld. Mining experience...no mining experience want to learn. Good money, relocation expenses, room/board and nowhere to spend it because you'll be in the middle of bum fuck nowhere. Which is not that bad of a thing.
CPL, I'm reading this thread and it resonates with my experiences, so some big +1s
It's a trueism that if you want to succeed you don't have to be god's own genious, you've just got to be willing to do more than the fucktards around you. In today's world, that means getting off your ass and going to a country that is trying to bootstrap itself into competition with the 1st world, or into a job field that is outside the comfort zone of most people (most are not willing to leave their hometown).
Ditto on the oil path, same goes for mineral/mining exploration, some fairly rough conditions but full costs covered, nowhere to spend your money, and PHAT bonus at the end, no better way to build bank to bootstrap yourself from biblebelt fucktard to expat elite right quick.
It is competition, you just have to be willing to work harder or suffer through more shit than the next guy, it's all on you, stop bitching and get'er done -- complaining that the "immigrant worker" who is succeeding because he's working harder than you is just you LOSING = you're _choosing_ to lose.
Am I right CPL, is that the nub of the matter?
Cheers,
Nage42
"In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God."
In order to find his equal, an Irishman drains a bottle...then breaks it over someone's head.
"What would blow your mind is you'll soon get the chance to build the equipment with the Fed printing money hand over fist. That's the plan if you hadn't noticed. Everyone is going to switch places. "
Glad to see someone else getting this...
It'll be packaged up as "bringing jobs home," or other such BS. And with it will be all sorts of subsidies, er a, "tax breaks" to help fund this corporate shift.
I suspect that things will get hotter over in China and that will be one reason why western corporations will suddenly find themselves as being patriotic (not that I give a crap, as I don't buy any of that nationalistic crap).
BTW - What passes for "smart" today is going to be pretty much worthless tomorrow.
The mad hatter would be proud of the tea party setup.
Dali would have to accessorize the situation with a giraffe.
The Financial situation today is Puce.
CompassionateFascist, all the information you need to know about the IT industry is right here in black and white. Bookmark it for special occassions.
www.phonejapan.com
I like to Kirsten Dunst version better. But that's just me.
That was disturbing...
It's the best description of IT to date. Best layout ever.
The good old Zed X. I remember the "Shut Down" mode was simply pulling the plug, and how much fun it was just to make a little sprite man dance.
"Funny as well, has lots of dot.com war stories."
The funniest thing about the Ted's... is that they have no clue how they contribute to the real wars -- wars of all kinds, and we are losing them all...
If you consider that to be a stretch,
just wait for the punch line.
lolwutfukuhighbitch.
So by the existence a portfolio manager in a successful Ponzi is the bane of humanity?
I could name about a hundred other things that need to be fixed before something as worthless as fiat needs to be considered saved.
There's my deck for one, it needs another coat of stain and the rain just won't let up. Then I have to paint the bedroom and show my middle brats how to patch a hole in the wall when they start kicking the crap out of each other. Need to install the new faucet sitting on top of the fridge that's been there for a month with my wife acting as it's continious advocate to introduce the paradigm of stylish faucet when the old faucet is just fine...I got a list. There's your punch line. Change and shit happens.
"the bane of humanity?"
The bane of humanity is the Self-Absorbed -- the Narcissist and the Sociopath.
They share common outward behavior, particularly when challenged...
when their illusion is in jeopardy, they tend to spew nonsensical, irrelevant info...
always about themselves.
Perhaps you've noticed a pattern.
Touche. So what have you done today Cabreado?
Follow the money. Nice job.
Think they roll it back into AAPL?
Probably, industry 500 are all buying back their own shares as a defensive measure while being given a boat load of cash by the Fed.
But that has changed with QE3. A trader never chases a price. If you chase a price you run out of bread fast. Then there is a external pressures to the company purchasing their own stocks. Customers.
If your customers are broke and you've spent all your money on your own stock, but not just your company, every company has done the same thing and you run out of customers because inflation destroys their capital faster than you can make a product.
Well, then you have to start selling your own equities to stay alive. Business management on that level is just as much about putting your competitor in a rat hole to waste their time and energy as it is about bringing something to market.
Again, all companies are doing it.
QE3 painted them all into a corner. Not a single industry is going to look the same in a year if they flatline on operating costs and have to start eating their own equities. More than likely create another bubble in corporate loans like the 80's. This has all happened before and it will happen again...maybe. Just won't be with USD as a reserve currency and nations will just simply vanish with QE4 being discussed.
I see it as the Central Banks are printing our freedom, because the more of it printed, the less serious it becomes for the everyday schmoe that's back stopped themselves with physical silver and gold. Then we've got oil price/availability....LOL...that's going to the be the vicious pitbull that finishes off nations. Energy supplies should concern people more than Apple.
If
TIME = MONEY = warp speed Printing Presses = the value of time - (x)
Yeah but there's a big difference between buying your own stock and retiring it (ie share buyback), and just buying it and keeping it around.
Both actions increase the share price, but in the case of the share buyback retiring of shares leaves more assets per share.
This leads to very different aftereffects when money to buy your own stock runs out. After a share buyback, the higher price per share is backed by higher assets per share. But if shares haven't been retired, the higher share price is vapor, and when supportbuying stops the price must crash.
Indeed, it's a gimmic. And companies like Apple need to get out of the stock trading business and back into the phone making business because their phones are going to shit at an unprecedented rate. Cook is a fucking weasel
> every company has done the same thing
No company is doing it in quite as grand a style as AutoZone. Yet another quarter where the buyback was 20% more than net income and book value sank 12% deeper into negative territory.
Very well stated. "No customers" is bad for business...
If it wasn't QE3 it would have been something else. The grim reaper can wear many costumes, but come it always will.
It was all pretty grand, wasn't it? We were king of the hill! Silly humans, back to the ground you go! (physical human labor returns)
The correct term here is tax avoidance. Which is legal. Tax evasion is illegal.
I have little doubt in the next year or two tax code will be re-written to make sure only banks with large donations to the two parties will be able to legally avoid taxes, while producers of any sort will need to provide more to the unproductive classes, as they didn't build that.
Just follow the example of GE and become a bank. Done.
Romney's only crime is being obvious about avoiding taxes. GE does it like a pro
I bet Harry Reid is in on this tax scam.
I bet Harry Reid fucks little boys in the ass for pleasure. Because he's a fucking Jew backed Mormon freak. Quick question. What does a Jew love more than a dollar? A Ni&&er of course! Or is it the other way around? Angry yet?
If I were Romney and they started asking for my tax returns, I'd say fuck off. It's my fucking money, keep your dirty chicken wing eating, Jerry Springer watching fingers off of it! Every dollar your pay to the government goes to some jungle bunny sitting on a fucking porch with 12 kids. That money does not go to building rail roads or high ways. It keeps a bunch of nigz fat and happy, parking in the Blue Handicap spot at Walmart in their fucking Tahoes (which they bought on subsidy with YOUR money)
All of which IS NOT CHARITY. It's the cheapest way to keep society safe from them.
What do you do with millions of sub 85 IQ uneducated, unemployable inner city gangsters? You can't effectively police them. You can't put them in concentration camps... yet. If you let them starve, they'll just use their guns to rampage around. So you give them a basic living.
Say thanks to China for financing our debt and getting all these services for free. No, your children will not pay for it. The debt will be defaulted eventually Greece style.
count on that
PS- Not deducting all of the money Romney gave to charity on his tax returns isn't exactly "avoiding taxes." But Dingy Harry outright lied and said he has information that Romney hasn't paid any taxes and the liberal MSM gives him a pass.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/sep/30/google-self-driving-car...
Thought this was going to be a new shop setup by Jon Corzine, Brian Sack and the remnants of JPM's CIO division. It's only a matter of time...
Id love to know how Braburn may or may not be involved in the ramping of AAPL share prices. Anyone know the techniques they may be using to help AAPL price?
Buying shares in a vapour driven market place.
Seriously. If you wanted to manipulate a stock price right now outside of the fortune 500, the other 30K+ of listed equities have no buyers and no sellers. it would cost money though.
Prerequistes are:
Find a shit tier 2-5 buck stock.
Three trade accounts in three different firms.
Each account has it's role.
Take 10k and divide it like so:
Bull Trader: 2k
Pivot: 100 block of something to act as the anchor. Fix the price to your "buy", whatever that is.
Money: Think or Swim allows you to reserve short sale blocks for the big day. 7k
Buy 100 blocks upwards over a couple or days, gather share for future short. Dump the bait, short the sale when it reaches your pivot...you are done. This is a miniature and in reverse of the current scheme which involves throwing SS down a big hole..
beautiful...thanks CPL
Model it first.
Eclipse Trader has some algo plugin's to mess around with to get a sense of timing, use live feed quotes (lots of free one's built in) and trade from three platforms to "see" the reaction. Or join one of the trading clubs...Tim Sykes has his Juggernaut up and running. It's very impressive what he's done with 3 grand. I think he's up to 6 million himself and the rest of his cronies are doing better than he is. He's one of the sharpest guys I know of doing the trader club thing.
Wow! Haven't seen actual trade talk in awhile; some good thinking CPL
Thanks
I confess to underestimating CentralProcessingLeech. He (and his friends) are truly Evil.
Yes, you've found the Overlord Reptilian conspirators website, here we wring our hands and plot of nefarious plots to hamstring humanity.
Oh Lucifier the Morning Star take me now....or are you not one of those loons?
I could pour on the juice about how I plot of ways to procure capital by the sinister plot of "work". It requires labour though, not sure if you are interested that.
You're a welcome breath of fresh air in the loo at a trucker's rest stop on a Nevada Interstate.
May I propose a couple of minor tweaks:
Time the ramping to coincide with some minor piece of positive news, say an annual report with less horrible results than expected, and/or time the shorting to coincide with dividend payouts. Also, it's easier if you, or someone you know, already hold a sizeable proportion of the outstanding shares and daily volume is low.
Wanna see some nice Aussie ramps? Check out NHC, SBR, PMV, MOC. But the entire Aussie market has become a joke. Every afternoon the market flatlines.
I don't think I'd necessarily call stealing funds from the mouths of HFT algos evil. Robinhood-esq, perhaps.
Very nice tutorial
They hired Steve Perkins and got him drunk. He promptly acquired 69% of the company between the hours of 1am and 3am.
Braeburn is good, very good. That is why they need to die, to be sacrificed. ZH got that right.
I wonder if they are going to buy gold?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/10462455
Where the hell isMichael? He has not posted since September18th and he is a multi-post a day guy.
When I read the title I thought it was going to be about the Bilderberg Group.
So APPL has been successful, and abides within the law . . . clearly they aren't paying enough . . .
Dumb.
You obviously are not familiar with the "Fairness Doctrine"
The dude abides man...
"abides within the law"?
LOL. What fucking law?
The best law that money can buy, that's what fucking law.
In other words, some are jealous they haven't found and manipulated this looghole for themselves.
And it gets worse. I'll give you a heads up because you are so far behind. If you think this subsidariary can manipulate Apple's stock, which I don't disagree with, what is to stop said subsidariary from attacking Apple's competitors and vice versa.
Regulation = the mirage of Law at the oasis
SO KEEP CRAWLING THROUGH THE SAND.
YES WE CAN!
Yep, which supports my libertarian view.
I would prefer less government involvement as a whole, however, I think most of us agree that government can serve a purpose in curtailing and prosecuting criminal activity. IThe biggest kicker to my desire for smaller less powerful government is that it is government that creates these regulations, these loopholes that everyone is so angry about. Thus government is the problem but instead of blaming them and making government accountable, the majority just let it go and keep bitchin without doing something about it.
Yea, Yes we can
Buckaroo Banzai: +100
"its cash balance, which at last check was double that of the US Treasury"
Is this a great country or what?
I thought our treasury was quite in the hole and therefore even I have more of a cash balance.
Double your NOTHING! :-) See how easy it is? In the virtual world we can make up whatever we want; it's kind of like Alice Through The Looking Glass!
merica.
iMerica
I couldn't resist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braeburn_apple
I used to pick them in New England orchards. Braeburns are very tasty.
Wiki says they're ideal for tarts.
It's almost as if they were trying to hide it in plain sight.
Ah. Nice. Very nice. Nice name.
Hahaha, I work effectively next door to this office. Its really funny because Reno and Nevada both like playing host to this business. Also they're very careful to keep the company offices discreet even though they've been featured on newspapers worldwide because of the many tax benefits of being located in Nevada. I think they do so because they don't want all the crazy Apple fanatics thinking they're a support center genius bar or whatever the heck apple calls their minions.
I honestly have no gripe about the company. They follow the law, pay their taxes, and do what they're supposed to do. If anyone has an issue with such, they should realize its the laws that need to change (and be more strictly enforced).
And for all the angry Californians... the reason they aren't located in your state is because your state is totalitarian. Stop voting in new taxes, silly laws, stricter gun controls, etc and you'll see business return to your state in the following decades. Here in Nevada (you should learn to pronounce its name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fmUf9FDUOTk), I guess we value personal (and corporate) freedom a little more than some socialist states.
I'm an angry Californian and I'll wax the hell out of your ledges and grind all over 'em.
*_*
Just remember: This isn't Wall Street. Here you don't snort white powder, here you ride it.
Sorry, angry californian, we have beaten you to that. Our ledges are all staked and we have been grinding them up for 30 years now. In fact, we welcome you to come find an open ledge and grind on it. What we don't welcome is an influx of different minded angry californians who wish to change the state of Nevada into the utopia next door as their own stinking utopia burns around their ears.
Ahh, you guys can keep your version of utopia. We have ours up north - Mendo, Humboldt, and Trinity. Don't need nothin else... the cool Pacific, tall redwoods, and the miracle plant... yep.
Nevada has never been a utopia, nor do we claim it. It has been a nice place to live though. However, we have been known to import a little utopia from before mentioned counties, every now and then.
I never understood why those parts of California didn't just give their middle finger to the state and become sovereign.
They're trying.
Check www.jeffersonstate.com
I'm not from CA or Nevada, but neither has much to brag about in terms of financial success. http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2012/sep/12/nevada-foreclosure-rate-back-ri.... Reading this exchange is like watching a debate between Obama and Romney. Who won? Neither.
well, throw your state into the mix, and start bragging, zippy.
Florida. Nothing to brag about either. Unless you like corrupt sociopath governors.
Texas. We've got the most beautiful women in America.
Warts? sure we got them too.
Who doesn't?
None of you have SHIT on us, here in Illinois, where Fearless Leader himself cut his teeth on politics. Corruption is so blatant and out in the open now, nobody even bats an eye. We win in spades.
and we have Chicago ... home of the greats ... Capone, Nelson, Moran, Gacy, Evans (Chi fed), The Daleys, the CUBS !!!
Apple is a Chinese company receiving protection from the U.S. Government patent office. They are Chinese and should be taxed as such!
"They are Chinese and should be taxed as such!"
WTF does that mean? Are you saying China should tax them more? Or, are you saying the US should tax them less?
Not being constrained by long only strategies, perhaps Braeburn should buy some Appole puts - you know, in case Apple looses its way.
BRING BACK THE ZUNE BITCHZ
Wow, great find Tyler! I would never have even come close to guessing that...
Excellent article - thank you for the insight.
I was driving down the main road in Cupertino a couple of days ago (the cross street DeAnza is where FrAppleChino HQ is) with a friend and we pass by the memorial park where there is a man-made lake with fountains. The water was green as fuck - it looked disgusting. My friend says to me "you woulda thunk Cupertino has a lot of money, with Apple and all, to at least keep the water clean." I LOLd and told him about how the city doesn't see a single penny from these corrupt motherfuckers' hands.
I'm gonna move elsewhere in the Bay... this town has gone down the drain.
The only green that trickles down is the green slimy water.
They are way to liberal to kill algae.
too*
In case you ever evolve into a mood to learn.
Not personally targetting you, but.....
"I'm gonna move elsewhere in the Bay... this town has gone down the drain."
And that is why Nevadans hate Californians. Californians realize that their situation sucks in their utopia of laws.... so they move to Nevada and keep fucking things up with their dumb ass voting and attitudes. Nevada is no utopia, never claimed to be one. We at least balance the state budget through whatever it takes. We make the hard decisions, even if they aren't the ideal ones in my viewpoint. California can't do squat, its f'd to hell and you turds keep bailing to Nevada. Please remain in the bay area, us Nevadans like you there.
Interesting article.
Mutualization !!
Think how much better Amerika would be if that 1% corporation's money was in Washington? The crappy McManshions in Virginia subdivision with his and her GS-14s, or shipped to Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Chicago teachers,wind farm, Obama phones, NPR 10 part Stonewall riots documentary,
No...I'm thinking how much better Amerikwa would be if the jobs were here instead of in a Chicom sweatshop.
US sweatshops! USA, USA number 1 (again)!
ha haaaaa!
Now i know where MDB works!
Obama would love to take AAPL 'under his wing' wouldn't he? All that cash just sitting their..it's just not fair in today's world. Src.
That aint' that much money for government. He'd burn through that in a few days.
APPL could then get it all back if they started making iBombs/iDrones...
Holly crap I work about 300 yards east of there, I had no ideal lol.
Where do you work? Immigration? Bally? IGT? FBI? Anyway, I'm sure you're not the lone security guard outside the empty Pfizer warehouse thats been abandoned for years.
(I'm betting FEMA keeps all kinds of crap in that warehouse, btw)
Lol that lady security guard at the Pfizer warehouse is not me bwahaha
Any idea what the FBI is doing with their "renovations" ? Seems like they're having some decent amount of construction in their Reno office.
Are you talking about the new INS building right by the building above or is there another fed location I don't know about?
The FBI office is between the two Bally buildings and the IGT buildings. 980 Sandhill Road, Reno, NV
Hmmm, never noticed it but I don't go that far down Sandhill.
Howdy neighbors. I'm within a couple of miles. Too much! First the worlds biggest HF and now two ZHers in close proximity.
I think when push comes to shove, my rather small doomsday arsenal easily beats the hedging capability of Braeburn... How can you call yourself hedged when your entire asset base is done through ones and zeros, certificates with the DTCC, or fiat currency of a private bank? I find it so funny how Apple is so poorly hedged in the real world.
They're entirely dependent on cheap Chinese raw and trace materials, cheap labor, stable government, etc. They're entirely dependent on fashionistas and dumb ass Americans that think a phone is a status symbol. They aren't hedged in any way!
"They're entirely dependent on cheap Chinese raw and trace materials, cheap labor, stable government, etc. They're entirely dependent on fashionistas and dumb ass Americans that think a phone is a status symbol. "
And the younger generation is totally dependent on iShit. Seems we've managed to check-mate ourselves!