Tag Archives: ROI

August 5, 2026 · 20:42

Wrong footing?

This happens, we all get our footing wrong, even I. As such I had my ‘ideas’ about Ahmed Mawlana, nothing bad. But whilst we see ‘Has the UAE’s meteoric rise reached its limit?’ Which is given to us by the Middle East Eye (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/has-uaes-meteoric-rise-reached-its-limit), so Ahmed Mawlana is a researcher specialising in International Relations and Security Affairs. He holds an MA in international relations from Sabahattin Zaim University in Istanbul, so as I see it, he is no grocery wannabe. And I am fine with that. So as we see “In less than two decades, Abu Dhabi has transformed itself from a relatively low-profile Gulf state into one of the region’s most assertive powers. How did a country of around one million citizens acquire such an outsized regional role? The UAE’s rise is linked to its ability to capitalise on successive regional crises, beginning with the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, accelerating with the Arab Spring, and gaining strength amid Washington’s declining engagement in the Middle East.” He ends the article with “Ultimately, the principal constraint on the Emirati model is structural. The UAE possesses immense financial resources and an extensive network of international partnerships, but it remains a small state with a limited citizen population and little strategic depth – making it difficult to sustain prolonged regional crises, or to confront larger powers directly.”

I get what he write and there is logic in this, but I also see what the UAE has achieved and whilst I was never there, YouTube has been very vocal (it’s YouTube creators) to show us all what the UAE has achieved. In support of my way of thinking is the Reuters article that gives us ‘UAE non-oil growth hits four-month high in July, PMI shows’ (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uae-non-oil-growth-hits-four-month-high-july-pmi-shows-2026-08-05/) where we see: “The United Arab Emirates’ non-oil private sector grew at its fastest pace in four months in July as new orders climbed to a ‌five-month high and export business rose, a business survey showed on Wednesday.” As I see it, the non-oil part is essential here. We see the growing tourism and service settings. We see additional maritime growth and that is merely the beginning. The UAE has a lot to gain in all this, which is why I have ‘issues’ with the setting of Ahmed Mawlana. He might be correct, but the term “meteoric rise reached its limit” can be explained in a few ways. One of them is that the stellar growth might be gone. I don’t think so, especially as tourism can still grow a lot more, but that is possible. Still as we see Real Estate and tourism grow, there is still the difference between strong growth and meteoric rise, so whilst the second has reached its peak the first one is still within the grasp of the UAE. Personally I think it is becoming time to make Iran extinct. A shameful thought to have, nut they did that to themselves and I created 4-5 military IP’s to make something according to that need happen (I am more of a surgical instrument) why kill when you can destroy their abilities and commodities so they destroy themselves. I am at times that simple.

So whilst we get the setting that Reuters gives (just a few) 

  • Firms linked this to easing regional tensions and stronger activity across the Gulf.
  • Employment returned to growth after June’s steep drop.
  • Business confidence weakened for a third straight month to its lowest since March.
  • Backlogs of work rose at the strongest rate in four months, reflecting firmer demand and freight congestion.
  • Input cost inflation edged closer to April’s recent peak.
  • Firms raised selling prices again, but only mildly.

Which is also slightly debatable. For instance we see “Business confidence weakened for a third straight month to its lowest since March”, which I accept as one of the given facts, but at this point I wonder how that confidence level is when compared to the US economy setting of the United States? This question is formed as Al Jazeera gives us ‘Why did the US economy slow down?’ (at https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/8/4/why-did-the-us-economy-slow-down) where we see “The US economy slowed more than expected, but it’s not because Americans stopped spending. So what really happened? The answer lies in how economic growth is measured, and America’s massive investment in artificial intelligence”, yet the other (not given fact) is that players like Deloitte give us “While broad corporate spending is skyrocketing, tangible financial returns often take two to four years to materialize instead of the usual 7 to 12 months for standard tech” and I have a problem with that. Some sources give us “Studies indicate that up to 95% of early generative AI pilots struggle to show a clear positive financial return because tools are deployed without changing underlying workflow” and I see the class actions forming and that is messing with the RoI (Return on Investment) as well. All this is making the US Economy not a volleyball but a paintball at best and anyone who gets hit by its paint is heading for stormy weathers (not the girl), although the effect are the same, but not as pleasurable. In all this, there is optionally a cause for not seeing meteoric rise but strong growth is still on the table, no matter how muddy the United States administration makes some ‘facts’ look. And in all this, I till see plenty of options for the UAE, I merely think that they need to go of the AI horse. The AI is lousy and all AI is Fake AI (as I personally see it), so why bury yourself in 3-8 years of turnaround (I definitely disagree with the Deloitte numbers. I reckon that the UAE has a better setting throwing themselves on actual programming and creating stuff that has the turnaround time of 7-12 months. Let bit tech break their teeth on tech that is over a decade away. They might survive, others will not and I do not trust the settings that the United States are throwing out there. Too much of it is not validated and as I perceive it not verified in any way. The UAE has actual issues to face (that terrorist state Iran) and holding their coffers in a 3 to 8 years wait state is no solution. 

Perhaps I am seeing this wrong, these fake AI have real options, ML and DL are great tools (I use the term DML as they are combining the two) and I have seen great solutions, but that setting in a 3-7 years setting is not a real solution. Consider the issues that some are reconsidering idea that are out there ‘How Commonwealth Bank and Microsoft are reimagining the future of customer service’, which I see as nothing more that the setting that NICE and CX One already have. So whilst that is happening. I wrote ‘Two paths to similar stages’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/03/30/two-paths-to-similar-stages/) in March 3022, so it is not a last minute idea. There was more, and in light of the Tourism settings in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the idea started to form to have a Muslim solution (I meant Arabic) that industry is exploding to a larger degree whilst they are all pushing American solutions which are not 100% covering Islamic rules and ideas. That should stop and I saw an opening for the UAE and Saudi Arabia to get one solution in the field that would fuel both nations, optionally Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan and a few other places. So whilst Microsoft had this inflated idea with “CBA will work with Microsoft to drive greater customer benefits through wider adoption of generative AI (Gen AI) and ongoing cyber security initiatives” I saw this idea 4 years earlier whilst not using AI, because it would be decades before we are there. 

Just thinking out loud. Have a great day today

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June 25, 2026 · 15:40

Expect bubbles

That is what I was introduced to (really early) this morning and I saw a few articles, but one gave me an interesting option. So lets take a look. (At https://stocksdownunder.com/ai-bubble-chip-stocks-crash/) we are given ‘Is the AI Bubble Bursting? Why Nvidia, Micron and Chip Stocks Are Crashing’ it holds a lot of record, but I was taken with this setting ‘Is the AI Bubble Bursting or Just a Healthy Reset?’ With the text “Here is the honest answer: it could be either, and the truth is probably somewhere in between. The bear case is simple. Micron has more than tripled in value this year, and a run like that leaves very little room for disappointment. The bull case is that demand for AI memory and data centres is still strong, and analysts note the selling looked more like a rush for the exits than a real change in the companies’ earnings. We lean towards this being a crowded trade getting stress-tested, not the end of the AI story. But if the selling spreads well beyond chip stocks, that view needs to change quickly” (and at this point I learned that whoever was working on this is a noob and an idiot for his CSS settings as they are all over the place) But that is matter for another day. The “It could be either” and a third setting was the one I referred to a few days ago when simply Wall Street put out an unsigned piece that Palantir could be overvalued for well over 20%, as such this market has some people in it that would like to short stock as that is where their dollars come flying. And as we see in the article “Investors simply pay less for today for profits that may not arrive for years.” And as I see it, some investors are not beyond shorting stock if it fuels their profits, so a third reason is found. I am still on the side of the AI bubble shorting, but n that case a healthy reset of trillions is not out of the scope of things and the marshmallow field of fictive unicorns is rearing its ugly head that comes with the “late arrival of profits” and now that the investors are wondering what they got into, some will see that they are fueling a stock market that cannot survive delay upon delay and with AI not yet existing that is where it is all heading. So it is time to get another view and we see this in Clean Technica (at https://cleantechnica.com/2026/06/24/trillion-dollar-ai-bubble-on-verge-of-popping/) where we see ‘Trillion-Dollar AI Bubble On Verge Of Popping?’ And I am not adding it, because this is in part the view I have, what we see is “Yann LeCun, one of the “Godfathers of AI,” is one of the notable people who think the industry has been far too overhyped and misunderstood. He’s been pointing out that AI costs could be much higher than the amount of money customers are willing to pay for it.” It comes (also) with “Labs like OpenAI and Anthropic are going to have to increase prices, they’re going to have to cut costs, or there’s going to be a big bubble explosion,” and ““In their pursuit to boost productivity, become less reliant on human labor, and reassure investors that they’re riding the cutting edge of tech, some nagging issues are cropping up,” Futurism adds, and “over-relying on AI can prove disastrous for organizational knowledge, the critical business insights companies need to make strategic decisions.”” This is the setting that is actually fueling both the bubble burst as well as a healthy reset all at the same time and I reckon that for OpenAI, Anthropic, Grok and Microsoft that will most likely happen in the least interesting time and they will all ‘suffer’ for it, so consider when this bubble loses $4,000,000,000,000 – $5,000,000,000,000 (writing the word trillion makes it trivial) because that is likely to happen and the market is figuring out what I saw over 1-2 years ago, when you realise that all AI is fake, it is easy and let there be no mistake, all AI is fake. You see, what we are seeing is Deeper Machine Learning and Large Language Models and these are great tools and they will create markets for themself, but the people are expecting AI and that is just not true. So as AP News gives us “The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 110.40 points, or 0.4%, to 25,476.64. A 2.3% drop in Microsoft was the heaviest weight on the market. Oracle slumped 4.6%. Many large tech companies have been behind Wall Street’s record-setting run throughout the year, but analysts have warned their valuations may have become stretched.” I personally reckon that someone is likely playing a stock short game with both Oracle and Palantir. You see, no matter how you slice it, the proper Data needs for DML/LLM solutions require data technology and these two are refined into the core of that and optionally there is Snowflake as well, but it might not yet be large enough to get the attention of the stock shorting DoDo’s (lets call them that).

Jawlah, a prominent Arabic digital media platform and news organization focused on venture capital (VC), startups, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Saudi Arabia and the broader MENA region (Middle East/ North Africa) gives us (at https://jawlah.co/en/59212) where we see ‘Fears of an AI bubble burst after a sharp tech stock sell-off’, which I reckon is fair enough. But the interesting part is where we see “The decline followed a near-800% surge in Micron’s stock over the past year, driven largely by rising demand for memory chips needed to run AI globally — gains some analysts believe may have overestimated expected returns”, as well as “Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson, explains the volatility: “The market swings between a wave of optimism that AI will change everything and renewed skepticism that it is just an expensive bubble whose returns do not justify the current spending.”.” And I am here in opposition, it is not “renewed skepticism”, it is the mere setting that those willing to hand out trillions should never have been so optimistic without proper case files and validation, so whilst they might get their cash back in 2045 when actual AI comes into play, the rest until then will be massively overvalued.  As I, as a non-believer, see it, someone listened to a sales person with the mindset of a second hand car salesman that stated “Look, we have AI” and the rest followed like crazy to get those coins rolling their way and now we are optionally seeing the start of an AI bubble. I am trodding carefully because there is disagreement whether it is an actual bubble popping. I reckon it requires an actual econometrist to call that for real and I ain’t one of those actuary types (nowhere near).

What we see is that we are given “it has erased approximately $2.7 trillion in market value across AI-linked companies”, all whilst the reasoning is “massive debt-funded data center expansions, mounting hardware costs, and growing investor scrutiny over artificial intelligence’s actual return on investment” which (as I personally see it) is only partially true. As I see it, the data sovereignty in Europe and the Commonwealth is setting the drain on the Return on Investments (ROI) towards these massive debt-funded data center expansions and that will hit business in the United States a lot harder than anywhere else. You see the United States has over 4,000 data centers. So how many are still under debt? And when a response group of over 700 million people walk away from that, with an additional optional population of up to 2.7 billion people (that is the complete Commonwealth), so it will not be that much, but I reckon at least 50%, that is 4,000 centers that will now lose close to 2 billion people (or 2,000 million), so where is that unused potential going? That is what I saw almost a year ago (actually a lot earlier, but until President Trump come, most people let the states quo continue) and that has now changed. So as others players (like DayOne) and there is someone in Sweden who saw this coming a few years ago and put his money where his thoughts were. I forgot that players name, but they are likely to make massive gains. All out off the hands of the United States. That part is not represented in any of these articles, but it is a factor in all of this.

So, we are expecting bubbles and I reckon a few other setting will rear its ugly heads, but the markets will all attribute this towards bubbles, because some is massively unhappy to attribute the other losses towards an US Administration that should have known better, but that is merely me looking at other factors in all this. The larger issue in all this is that some solutions are likely to be rather good and I hope that they are allowed to continue, because investors and speculators will want their returns at whatever expense they can get and some will suffer because of that greed driven taint in all this. But I might be the next village idiot in all this. Just like that seer in the 3rd century that saw large walls of stone with thousands of people and it was written off as a lying loon (he saw the Altiero Spinelli building in Brussels) but that is a story for another day.

So whatever you do, don’t rush into or out of anything without clearly seeing the ramifications. Have a great day today.

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February 7, 2026 · 09:59

One topples the other

That is at times the setting. It is basically defined under ‘the cost of doing business’ and at times companies big and small go under from that overset risk. It is of course due to the pussies overhang nations that they made all this ‘tax deductible’ and as such governments and its citizens  pay the price in the end. So as we see seeking Alpha giving us ‘Microsoft: An OpenAI Problem’ (at https://seekingalpha.com/article/4867091-microsoft-an-openai-problem-rating-upgrade) a few settings with in the first place “First, given that 45% of RPO comes from OpenAI, MSFT stock is now a beta around the pessimism that surrounds this startup, especially in the last week”, as well as “the market is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Microsoft is part of the software infrastructure industry, which is dragging down tech” which all seems to make sense, but in that same setting what does set the matter separate is “I don’t think Microsoft will write down its RPO due to OpenAI not being able to pay in the future, but I’m mindful shares could remain under pressure in the near term” and here I am considering the larger stage of “due to OpenAI not being able to pay in the future”. A setting that too many are overlooking. The ‘AI’ baby of all greed driven entities are not looking at what is holding up this figment value. It lost against Google’s Gemini and I understand and I also herald the setting that a lost battle is not a lost war, but too many are ignoring this fact because they are seemingly going all in and bad news is seemingly being filtered away. And in the second we see Seeking Alpha giving us “I think Microsoft has two main problems right now. One of them is called OpenAI (OPENAI). The sentiment around Sam Altman’s firm is anything but positive, and in this piece, I will discuss the key issue that is pressuring the most important startup in the world. The other factor is the selloff in software. Microsoft is part of the software infrastructure industry, and the risk-off move among investors is way too strong.” And why do I think that?

Because these vultures are feeding Oracle to the wolf wannabe’s and to the turmoil of the greedy driven capitalist waves of whatever floats their boat, whilst Oracle is the one stage that is the most  stable at present. Now that the game is close to up for some, now we see that Microsoft is having a problem all whilst no one is clearly digging into the settings of OpenAI as well as the settings that processors and even energy cycles should be having. These facts are casually thrown aside and there is something massively wrong with the stage we see here.

And as we are given (by Seeking Alpha) that “Aside from one point. RPO was up 110%, totaling over half a trillion dollars ($625B to be precise). While any company would have jumped double digits following this announcement, the fact that 45% of that RPO is attributed to OpenAI makes the quality of the backlog questionable (in my modest view)” because what ROI is OpenAI actually giving its shareholders? Where is the profit? It is not there and it will not be there for at least 5 years (a number voiced by some). As such the equation doesn’t seem to hold, but the investors went all in on this and they are playing some kind of poker (where you increase the investment doubling again and again until the pay off comes, I am not into poker) and that is the problem. So what is RPO here? Remaining Performance Obligation or Recovery Point Objective and in the second question setting, we wonder where that the Remaining Performance at the Recovery Point exactly is? You see, at no point in this article we see ROI (Return on Investment) and why not? Is the story that this is 5 years pending too hard to sell?

So, as I see it, it is 2008 al over again but the impact will be much harder, the economy does not have the resilience to go through that again and the US Administration is throwing a dozen sabot’s in that engine, as such the impact will be a lot harder and I spoke of that almost 6 months ago (not sure where) and as we look into this we see no answers and isn’t that weird? The players who are all about ROI and revenue forgoing that setting? So where are Sam Altman, OpenAI and Return on Investment? Even Bloomberg is telling its readers that ‘Microsoft’s Deal With OpenAI Now Viewed as a Risk, Not Reward’, so where are all these Bloomberg wannabe’s? It seems that the stakeholders are filtering out what some need to know right of the bat and that seems not to be coming (at present). In addition to all this Seeking Alpha gives us “The pressure on margins due to the buildout should have been priced in since October 2023! I think it is pretty much mainstream (ask your cab driver next time, for real) that the hike in depreciation is a natural effect of the AI buildout. However, and this is the main risk to being bullish right now, I don’t think the market is willing to recognize this fact. I think the market wants to see a return on the AI data center buildout, and any deterioration in earnings (both revenue growth and margins) is used as an excuse to head for the exit. This remains the largest risk, as Q3 will see a deterioration in Q3 gross margins (per management guidance).” Personally I see that Microsoft should survive this, but to what extent? I want to be clear here, because I have given an anti-Microsoft view before (they deserved this), but here I am out of my depth because I do not have an economic degree. But the people at Seeking Alpha did (a speculative expectation) and the stage of “pressure on margins due to the buildout should have been priced in since October 2023” is something that we haven’t seen, did we? At least I never did (mainly because I do not care) but the people who did, did they see that?

The entire setting smells like yesterday’s diaper (see: Baby Herman) and no one seems to be catching on that something doesn’t feel right. So will the investors claim foul play when they lose their investment? Will the stakeholders be held against the light? All valid questions and I am certain that no answer will follow by anyone who has the valid jurisprudence title and now that the Federal Reserve is no longer hands of Jerome Powell, it will be anyones guess what comes from that corner.

Have a great day today.

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May 2, 2019 · 11:55

Epee and quarterstaff

It is an old riddle that goes back to the renaissance: ‘What do the Epee and quarterstaff have in common?’ The answer is that they extent reach. The lesson is that everything has its reach and the power remains when you do not exceed the 90% of it until you are either forced, or if you have a 100% certainty of causing a fatal hit. Making the mistake in those days meant certain death. Those days were not about points, it was not about bragging on besting a person, it was kill or be killed, plain and simple. A lesson that is 500 years old and Apple apparently never learned it. So in the Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/30/apple-iphone-sales-first-quarter-earnings) we see ‘Apple’s iPhone sales fall 17% in first quarter as flagship product struggles‘, what was interesting was: “The company made a profit of $11.6bn – ahead of expectations. But this quarter marked another quarterly decline in profit and revenue as the company struggled to move beyond the iPhone“, even as Apple is in a buyback phase to regain its heralded one trillion dollar company, there are still clouds in the background. It starts with the iPhone, an iPhone Xr 128GB is $1299, the not most powerful version of the iPhone Xs is $2049. Yet the competing Androids are $1499 (Google Pixel 3), $1599 (Huawei P30 pro) and $1699 (Samsung S10), those are all on the same, or in some regards on a more superior level; if we are concerned consumers and we are willing to step down a little we can get decently competitive phones for $449, that is what Apple is up against, you can shout all you want on how refined, elitist and top range your phone is, but the amount of people with that kind of cash available is dwindling down and Apple is realising that buying back stock and take control of the smacking they are about to get is indeed a wise choice, but so far my prediction remains that Apple is heading towards a 30% decline of net value is not unrealistic at all. Then there are the issues on the computer side of apple too. What Digital Trends called ‘Flexgate’ last January is still on the mind of many, and as they gave us the quote: “the stage light effect is caused by flaws with a cabling system that Apple uses to attach each MacBook display to the internals of the laptop. In MacBook models from 2016 and newer, Apple switched to a new flexible and thin ribbon cable, which over a long period of time can face fatigue and eventually tear as the lid is repeatedly opened and closed on the laptop” with additional information (at https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/flexgate-issue-plaguing-some-macbook-pro-owners/) we see that Apple has played the ‘presentation innovation’ card slightly too visible, so now there is a backlash. Then there is bendgate (iPad Pro bending), then we get in addition the May 2018 class-action lawsuit that alleges that Apple has “failed and continues to fail to disclose” problems with its butterfly keyboard. It says Apple’s actions are violating several competition and regulatory laws, including California’s Unfair Competition Law and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. The lawsuit is seeking damages for the class, as well as an acknowledgement by Apple that there’s a problem with its keyboard design. This case is not over and done with, because it will be a global problem soon enough, so the steps that Apple has to take will take a massive chunk on their value and profit reporting within the coming year. Al these actions whilst they have plenty more issues coming their way. Now in their defence, the entire Flexgate could have happened to anyone, but proper testing does give light to these dangers, it is interesting to note that IKEA might have a better quality testing department than Apple does, which shows that Scandinavians optionally have a better idea towards exceeding customer service and keeping proper tabs on quality. This all before you realise that Tech Insider reported ‘Apple is squirrelling away money to pay for lawsuits related to its iPhone ‘batterygate’ throttling scandal‘ (at https://www.businessinsider.com.au/iphone-batterygate-lawsuits-cause-apple-to-set-aside-money-2019-2) an issue that is still not done with and might not be done with until 2020. So when you see that list costing them optional billions, do you think that my view was unrealistic?

As they give us: “previous class-action suits have resulted in $US450 million judgments against the iPhone maker“, I feel certain that this will not get it done in this case and if they are really really lucky, it might only cost them $45 billion, you forget that the Euro courts are snapping at the heels of Apple as well, 27 nations all with a score of angry customers, we realise that there is always a cost to doing business and there is premium to pay when the limelight is set on what might call ‘intentional deceptive conduct’ and ‘batterygate’ fits that bill and then some. This is not the end; there is also indirect damage to come. This was given by Apple Insider with ‘Latest Facebook-related security breach finds millions of records exposed on Amazon servers‘, there we see (at https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/04/03/latest-facebook-related-security-breach-finds-millions-of-records-exposed-on-amazon-servers) that Apple was connected: “These include data sharing deals with companies like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Sony, plus people being able to look up strangers based on phone numbers submitted for two-factor authentication“, so when we see data-sharing, we think it is only Facebook, but sharing goes in many directions and what did Apple share? the entire ‘people being able to look up strangers based on phone numbers submitted for two-factor authentication‘ implies that Apple optionally has a decent amount to answer for, or perhaps better stated, there is plenty of issues brought to light that the Apple legal teams need to ignore, deny or carefully phrase into another direction, there is only so many fines any company can live with before the larger population bails and if that happens before December 2019 than my prediction of 30% could end up being way too optimistic, but I keep a conservative view on the matters for now. Consider the steps that Apple has been making, their ‘new’ iMac Pro, it is a computer that starts at $7,299, whilst the normal new iMac, a computer that would satisfy 95% of all Apple users is a mere $2,799. Now, I am not opposed to an overpowered computer, but consider the cost of creating it, redesigning parts and making it look more expensive, do the amount of buyers rectify for that? Is the ROI curve not massively overstated and when we realise that, is a company where its marketing is insisting on annual innovation not out of control? What is the price tag of that you reckon? It becomes even more laughable when we consider a review (at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YwYZvmYecI) where we see the MacRumors channel giving us at 5:30 that the iMac Pro (2017 model) exports 4K video in 2:44, whilst the normal iMac (2019 model) does the same thing in 2:31, it seems trivial, yet remember that there is a $7,299 versus $2,799 in play and within 2 years the value of $4,500 was lost to the user, as such the life time value of an iMac has pretty much gone into the basement taking out customer loyalty overnight. the last time I looked, looking cool for a year at the price of $4,500 was decently overrated for most people, and it makes for a business case that the iMac pro could be regarded as wasted investment for its consumers soon thereafter (in some places they refer to that as: ‘warranty until you exit the premises‘.

These are some of the issues that Apple is facing and there are a lot more issues (yet most of those are actually trivial). It is there that we return to the Guardian with: ‘the company struggled to move beyond the iPhone‘, that and the 2018 iPad Pro Bendgate issue does not help any and that is where we see that quality assessment has failed miserably. The need to look innovative, lighter and thinner means that testing becomes more and more important. So when the consumer was treated to ‘Apple releases an official statement on reports that some iPad Pros have come bent right out of the box’ on January 2019 with: “Relative to the issue you referenced regarding the new iPad Pro, its unibody design meets or exceeds all of Apple’s high quality standards of design and precision manufacturing.”, and as such the consumer feels duped to say the least. One source also gives us: “Apple claims that the bending can’t exceed more than 400 micron–“the width of fewer than four sheets of paper at most,” which is a “tighter specification for flatness than previous generations,” the note says.

The tech note further states that the antenna splits “may make subtle deviations in flatness more visible only from certain viewing angles that are imperceptible during normal use.”“, whilst the image from MacRumors (at https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ipad-pro-2018-bending-issue/) shows a bending issue close to 1,000% of what they claim, making the issue rise to the surface and also gives a much larger light of additional class actions that might be filed later this year if Apple does not change policy immediately, so is my 30% drop still off? I already gave some visibility to that (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2019/02/24/future-through-the-sub-line/) almost 3 months ago, and I have not noticed any clear loud actions by Apple Marketing to counter the damage that this issue was bringing.

It is not what Apple claims to do, it is the failing on a few levels, the marketing on several product lines and the neglect of services that shows that not only is it struggling to move beyond the iPhone, at present they have very few options left to them in any of the product lines to set any stage of ‘moving beyond’ and that too will suppress growth to a much larger degree, and optionally for a much longer time. All that whilst they should have known when they started the Pro and high priced iPhone series that they are selling to people who demand perfection and high end quality especially at the prices that they are selling it at, at that point your QA department is the most important department you have, not your marketing department.

It is the direct visibility when you extent beyond your reach, you get hammered down and you get hammered down hard, in the renaissance that apple individual would not be defeated, that person would merely be dead and forgotten, I hope that this is the lessons that apple takes to heart because the treasures of 5G are looming and Apple might be out in the cold soon enough. I reckon that the $4.5 billion payment to Qualcomm is making that obvious and clear to all, which is news that was released only hours ago with: “As pointed out by Axios, Qualcomm will record $4.5 to $4.7 billion in revenue from the Apple settlement, which includes a “cash payment from Apple and the release of related liabilities.”” (Source: MacRumors).

Apple still has a long way to go to get back on top, I wonder if they ever will.

 

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July 11, 2013 · 22:24

Boosting Pensions

Would you like to lose your pension? This is more than just a simple question. If you live anywhere in Europe, then the danger to your pension is a lot more realistic and will have a larger impact then you thought there would be.

Let’s take a look at a few countries.

Netherlands.
This was already under review, however, at present there are discussions going on to get a handle on accessing pensions for all kinds of reasons. The image in part is that the Dutch government needs this treasure vault to deal with more immediate issues as well as well as the application of spending to start an economy. As reported yesterday by the NOS, the issue at present is that the government thinks it is getting access to billions a year extra. The ABP comes to the conclusion that the changes will in the end cost billions, not save them. This comes as the government is presently trying to cut almost 3 billion Euro in retirement funding. The cut back was based on the fact that businesses and employees will save-up less per year, which might save 1000 euro, which would suit the government, as this gives them a taxation windfall of 2.3 billion. In the new system it is stated that not only do people lose the 1000 euro advantage, they will have to pay more. So there would be zero advantage, even worse, considering the amount of government jobs the treasury would be down a billion, so in the end no savings at all for the poor poor coffer, only additional losses to deal with. At a time when 6 billion in cut-backs are needed, this is not the bad news they want to hear. All this has a few more hooks. Especially when we consider the questions by Hachchi (D66) in regards pension premium raises that the ABP added in January 2012. The costs were raised by 300 million euro, as documented in  2012Z01310 (source: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/bestanden/documenten-en-publicaties/kamerstukken/2012/03/06/antwoorden-inzake-de-verhoging-van-de-pensioenpremie-door-het-abp/antwoorden-inzake-de-verhoging-van-de-pensioenpremie-door-het-abp.pdf)

It is interesting that a similar issue is now appearing only one year later. There is more!

In one view we read that the ABP in 2010 was set at 105% coverage (which means that if 100% pension is paid out, 5% remains for growth). It is however interesting to read from the NRC (at: http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2011/12/01/abp-verhoogt-pensioenen-niet/) we read that in December 2011 the coverage was only 94%, so in one year they went down to some degree. The same can be read at http://www.pensioenbelangen.nl/label/abp/ , more interesting, the numbers state that per September 2012 is was only at 101%. So if we recall the blog I wrote a week ago “The Age of ‘no retirement left’ is coming“, it is interesting that in that case the government is stating so much wealth. As the ABP is considered to be the largest one, we should wonder whether the Dutch politicians have any clue on what they are doing. More important, is this about short sighted cutting avoidance, or is it about more. Do not worry, they are not alone, we will have some fun looking at the UK situation next.

Is there actual evidence to support my theories? Well, the sources above clearly show that the ABP is only marginally above 100%, yet they had remained below 98% for a decent amount of time, so there is a valid amount of concern. In addition, when we consider the questions as stated in

2012Z01310, then certain issues in the recovery measures of pensions were not known, yet the initial billing would have been there, so this again is a piece of evidence that reflects 11th hour budgeting. The fact that this was never completely properly addressed remains a worry and not a reflective concern considering that in part the same issues are now again in the news.

The issues are only part of the entire picture. The fact that the Dutch pension administrator PGGM, has stated that there are issues with Walmart, could have some serious repercussions. Reuters quotes that “PGGM held 2.76 million shares of Wal-Mart as of March 31” (at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dutch-pension-group-halts-wal-211416613.html) this was only last week. Should the PGGM pull out then there would be concerns on both isles of the Atlantic river. Those shares represent well over 200 million, which means that Wal-mart might get some renewed problems down the line. Whether this would be due to PGGM is not a given, the fact that questions from a shareholder holding almost 3 million shares are not answered is certainly matter for concern. If we consider the economic downturn the Dutch have faced over the last 2 years, considering the issues the IMF reported in 2011 on Dutch pension funds. In that time, people entering their retirement saw their funds cut and a support capital of 50 billion was needed. So when we read less than 2 years later that those finds are so rich and that they should be opened for additional means, whilst a week later we read on some of the alleged dangers, it seems to me that playing politics with pensions is a very bad and not too bright idea. The 2011 article can be found at http://www.europeanpensions.net/ep/imf-team-recommends-adjustments-to-dutch-second-pillar-system.php

United Kingdom.

So, let’s take a look at Australia’s baby brother UK (as UK is only 3% of the size of Australia). The UK is in dangers no less immediate. The Guardian reported last November that issues would impact greatest on savers and pensioners. Yet, the story behind several issues is not brought here. For that we should look at what is happening now. Part of that is set here as http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/capital-markets-climate-change-pension-funds. Is that even a fair assessment? If we read the quote “The way pension funds invest will determine the future, which means that to thrive they’ll need to wake up to climate change” I will wonder whether this is wishful thinking of whichever politician or investor whispered to the author. When we looked at the Netherlands and other places, these nations are all looking at sustainability solutions. Yet at present the ROI of these options are not up to scrap, so WHY use pensions there. These are fields that have been ignored be several administrations. If it is SO lucrative, then why not invest in it yourself (me asking governments)? Yes, it will be the future, but at present too expensive, so getting articles out there for pension funds to invest in the future might read nice, but as ROI reports falter it will not hold a candle up to the coming rage. This view is shared by James Cameron, chairman of cleantech investor Climate Change Capital. I know that the next part sounds dodgy as hell, but when we consider the quote “Future pensioners are going to have to bear more of the investment risk themselves“. In that case Pension funds are much better of owning parts of Raytheon and Northrop-Grumman. It seems that governments all over the world are seemingly ready at the drop of any hat to buy missile technologies, and as such the ROI for pension funds are much better off going to those places. I agree that the statement is less appealing to read, but why should pensions now be put under more and more pressure whilst, those behind the scenes refused to budge when they should have done so. The investment risk reads like a joke considering the article published in May at http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/may/22/one-five-poverty-line-state-pension where it states that  20% of those retiring this year will fall below the poverty line. This is in my mind the consequence of a housing issue never properly dealt with for over 27 years, whilst pensions were left alone. Taking both in the balance, then pensions might cover 80%-100% of the rent for this year, and those will come up short 2014 and later. So that is in the most positive case where people do not need to eat or drink ever. This is only for those not living in London, living there would almost amount to instant suicide. At least the Dutch can claim that their retirement issue had never been THAT bad. So, as there is a collective boost to raise the value of the RBS, that former bastion might be used to actually boost and increase value and strength of British pensions as they focus on getting back on the horse of profit (or at least try to get on that horse). Pensions are being cut in other ways too. That part can be read at: http://www.independent.co.uk/money/pensions/expats-call-for-fairer-pension-payouts-8659717.html. Some of these pensioners (almost 10%), saw the unaffordable future they saw coming their way and as such they moved to other areas. Some saw the light in time and bought a small place on Crete, some left for alternative Mediterranean locations and some went to the warmer regions of South Africa. These people saw the light, saw the non-linear growing costs and chose a better solution. It goes even further. What is less than possible in the UK becomes very affordable in India, where a week’s pension gets you a 2 bedroom secured apartment for a month, considering that rent is the most expensive part, three weeks of pension should keep a person well fed. So why not consider this? Instead of going on an exotic vacation, live in an exotic place, and of course, the Indians are all on average Cricket nut, so not the worst place to be during Cricket season. If these people are forced back because of pension issues, would the British government have the means to suddenly appoint housing to these people? They might not get an option in this as they froze pensions. In that regard, I do hope that the Exchequer George Osborne considered the consequence of even part of those 1.2 million pensioners returning to England and his 2 billion pound winter fuel allowance. That is only one post. On the other side, there is a genuine and acceptable concern of the people who are abusing that system. There had been earlier mention of the situation where UK men marrying Thai brides is a reason for the foreign pensions increase. If we voice the scenario where a pensioner marries a woman under 25 and she then gets the allowance after he is gone, then this would indeed be an unfair use of the system. We could argue that a marriage, not validated in the UK would not be seen as a marriage (I know, the legal nightmare behind this is so not nice). However, that those who never added to the British system, not being eligible for those funds would be slightly better phrased, yet the consequences for consulates to keep track of these people would be almost disastrous. Even though this would be spread over several countries, the fact that they could be required to deal with over 700,000 additional requests a year, is not likely to become a ‘relief’ to the system. Yet I must agree that something must be done. The dangers of cutting the transferred pension, if there was a marriage, could mean that these people might have a claim on humanitarian grounds to receive full Visa and transfers into the UK, which in the end might add up to be a lot more expensive. The only solution could be legislative, yet which of the ‘evils’ to choose from is not really for now. In my mind the options grows to make the pension only transferable if the marriage was longer then a certain period (5 years) or the spouse must have been a UK resident or lived, worked and paid taxes in the UK for no less than 10 years. I am just grasping the 5 years out of thin air, yet this would limit the dangers of UK pension abuse, it would also give a clear message to the valid pensioners that THEY are protected, yet that there are limits on passing over a basic state pension. In regards to those who are valid recipients of the basic state pension and their foreign setbacks there is more information at http://pensionjustice.org/.

 

Germany.

We should consider the German system, even though it is thought to be strong, secure and to some extent safe. They share the dangers those in the UK currently have. As reported by The Spiegel at http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germans-fear-poverty-in-retirement-even-after-life-of-work-a-855352.html, even though their economy is in a strong state, the lost investments, the futures of retirement are almost none existing. In fact, their pensions are a lot worse of then the UK ones. A person there would end up getting a mere 32% of their income. If we consider the Dutch system where 70% does not even foot the bill, the desperation of 32% is a lot less appealing. The question becomes important when we consider the required pension buffers these pension funds need to have. The interesting addition is that a report in 2012 from the labour ministry stated that “the Labour Ministry itself, which indicates about a third of current full-time employees could end up receiving social welfare unless the pension system is changed. Those who have spent 35 years working full time but earn less than 2,500 euros a month would also end up depending on welfare.”

So this is the third country playing politics for non-visible short gain and massive shortages in the long term. This gives serious concern for the bill the Germans adopted that as of January 2013 “for a reduction in the statutory pension contribution rates”. And that helps your citizens…..how?

So this is not just a national issue, this is a European issue on several levels. Unless some strong actions are taken, a large part of Europe will enter living conditions worse than that of several 3rd world countries, whilst comfortable living would be found for those moving to places like India and Argentina.

Go figure!

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