iPhone HD? Whaaat?

Tonight’s buzz is about $AAPL new iPhone HD, to be announced by Apple on June 22nd. And an iPhone for $VZ.  If you believe the WSJ!  And Engadget!  I don’t care too much one way or another about the Verizon announcement.  I know some do.  It’s good for $VZ stock, though.  Less good for $T stock.

From the WSJ

Separately, Apple plans to release a new version of its current iPhone this summer, continuing its practice of annual upgrades at about the same time of year, said people briefed on the matter. The model is likely to be thinner and have a faster processor, two people familiar with the device said.

From Engadget:

Soon after the news broke, we were informed that the next-generation iPhone would be announced on June 22nd (a Tuesday, naturally) and would be dubbed the iPhone HD (a name that has been tossed around before).

…

John Gruber's just weighed in with some more tidbits, in his characteristically polite way. Gruber says the next model will have an A4-class SoC, a 960 x 640 display, a front-facing camera, and that iPhone OS 4.0 will enable third-party multitasking.

Well, and here I am coming up on my 2-year contract expiration.  An iPhone or that Sprint HTC Evo 4g?  Leaning Apple, because no 4G network in my area just yet.  And in 2 years, there will be another phone…

Could the whole thing just be a bunch of stinkin’ rumors?  Of course.  You never know with Apple.  For how long has a Verizon iPhone been rumored?  Or multi-tasking operating system?  Or a front-facing camera?  Hmmm?

TGIF!

• The stock market seems to have taken a pause late in the week after making a new high since the March 2009 low.  $$
• South Korean naval ship sinking?  Several people died in the sinking, caused by an unexplained hole.  The WSJ says A South Korean naval ship sank following an explosion near a disputed maritime border with North Korea late Friday…
• Also, 4th quarter GDP number revised downward.
• Bill Gross disputes what the CBO, Congress and President Obama are saying about the health care reform bill reducing deficits.  “Long-term bondholders beware,” Gross wrote in a monthly investment outlook posted on Newport Beach, California-based Pimco’s Web site today. “No investment vigilante worth their salt or outrageous annual bonus would dare argue that current legislation is a deficit reducer. It will add $562 billion to the deficit over the next decade.”  (Bold my add).
• AT&T plans a $1B charge tied to health care benefits. Yeah, these are coming in droves.
• Did you watch LOST this week? Felt a little desperate trying to explain the story of Richard.  Instead of flash backs or flash forwards, it seemed the whole episode was about Richard. (But I liked it).
• My two-year deal with ATT on the iPhone ends in the months ahead.  I’m waiting to see what the next iPhone will feature, but did you see the new Sprint HTC EVO?  Wow.
• I thought I might catch a break at work this week, but the pace continues to be hectic.  That impacts lunch time and break time, thus blogging and tweeting time. 
• I need to get some kind of workout in.  Me and Michelle Rodriguez (pictured).

Hello, Monday. Hello, Melissa.

• Monday, back in the government health care saddle!  $$ Market up! Melissa Lee seems unfazed.
• What the health care bill means for you.
• Amazon develops Kindle app for the iPad.  Kind of interesting.  Does this make folks want to buy a Kindle when they can get the same functionality on the iPad via an app?  I think the Kindle is dead. 
• Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius says that, despite a new CBS News poll showing widespread skepticism and confusion, Americans will be "enthusiastic" about the health reform bill passed by the House of Representatives once they understand it.
• Greece and debt…  Prospects of Greece getting a European aid package grew more distant Monday after Germany made the strongest suggestion yet that the International Monetary Fund should handle a bailout if Greece is threatened with insolvency.
• What makes a single guy undateable?  Guys who eat salads?  Really?
• With the health care debate all but over, Americans turn their focus back to the important things in life, like Dancing With the Stars!  I’m going out on a line here, but I don’t think Buzz Aldrin lasts too long.  Thumbing through the profile pics of the new dancers, I’m pulling for many weeks of Erin Andrews and Nicole Scherzinger.
• The porn star ex-wife of Sandra Bullock's hubby has reportedly decided to take him to court to get custody of their daughter.  Jesse James' ex-wife, Janine Lindermulder, will fight for custody after it was revealed last week that he had an affair with tattooed temptress and Hitler-loving hussy Michelle "Bombshell" McGee.  WTH, I guess I live a real boring life.
• IRS warns of Dirty Dozen tax scams!

Back!

Spent the last 5 days up in Reno betting on March Madness games.  Went enough over 50% on the games to come out a little ahead.  The last game I had was Purdue –2.  A push in OT.  I’m now hoping for Cornell, Northern Iowa, or Saint Mary’s to win it all.  Knock off the big boys!

I see that the health care bill is most likely going to pass.  I glanced at the Congress folks making spectacles out of themselves.  It’s a sad day in America, IMHO.  When I read about the tax in rental income, I wondered how well this was thought out.  Don’t folks realize that any taxes on rental income will be met with higher rents?

Anyway, vote ‘em out in November.  I’m done thinking about it for now.  I imagine the tax accountants will be working overtime figuring out the best ways for their clients to minimize the damage from this bill.

A quick check of the markets? We’ve had a great run and ran into some giveback Friday.  Stock futures look down.  I suppose the news of the day is impacting that.

March Madness and Health Care

No blog activity as I'm up in Reno betting on March Madness games. Not following Wall Street the past few. But it's hard to miss the news about the imminent Health Care vote.

I think passing HCR would be a very expensive mistake. I believe that the projected costs understate what the actual costs will be. This won't save any money. It will be a budget nightmare.

All I have to offer is my opinion and maybe the history of government programs and projections. One thing the government never projects is the impact on human behavior as people try to avoid taxes and fees.

We will see how it goes.

Not today's business up in the sports book, though. Go St. Mary's!

Ginger or Mary Ann?

Have you seen the iPhone app Show of Hands? It takes a poll and you can view the results bases on a few demographics.

Nevada and Iowa are all about Ginger!




Both political parties prefer Mary Ann, especially the Republicans!








If you lead a poll-driven life, check it out! Today's questions included "Is Google Skynet?" and "What's a better investment, wind or solar?"

Saturday Randomosity

• Climategate Was an Academic Disaster Waiting to Happen.  Last fall, emails revealed that scientists at the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in England and colleagues in the U.S. and around the globe deliberately distorted data to support dire global warming scenarios and sought to block scholars with a different view from getting published. What does this scandal say generally about the intellectual habits and norms at our universities?.  Nice opinion piece from the WSJ.
• President Obama to revamp No Child Left Behind.  “…the Obama approach would set firmer standards for success while lifting nearly all the measures that the Bush law uses to try to prod change at failing schools. Obama aides describe the plan as "tight on goals, loose on means."  Good luck.
• If your iPad battery fails, Apple will sell you a new one for $99.  Plus shipping.  Ouch.  I can live without an iPad 1.0, but I know folks will be lining up for one in April. On-line pre-orders have been brisk.
• I’m really waiting the next generation of the iPhone.  My cargo shorts pockets aren’t big enough for an iPad.
• I like Pandora Radio.  I have the iPhone app, and also added the channel on my Roku box.  Sweet.  I even added a Taylor Swift channel!
• March Madness ready to happen.  I’ve loosely been paying attention to conference tournaments, but I don’t really start paying close attention until Thursday. Everything else is pre-season.
• Promised myself I’d get outside today and exercise.  Winter is almost over!  Time to dust off the cobwebs.