I don't recall Robert Rubin ever saying that nor according to his bio was he a US finance minister probably because such a position doesn't exists. You have a source for that comment cause I'm coming up empty on google.
It was in german magazine "going public", and they referred to a speech he held in London at around that time, I think he held it in the London School of Economics. Don't quite remember his exact position, but they cited him saying that he was scared about the cheerleading that took place regarding Greenspan. He said that he was regarded as a similar kind of pop star, culminating in the term "Rubin hausse".
I agree with you completely: "It is easier to spot a bubble in the financial markets, than to predict the date it finally bursts" (Keynes or Greenspan I think)
AAPL is a damn good company that took a beating for at least 10 years and managed to stay alive somehow. Now they got back up on their feet and found their "niche". That tells you something about the quality of the ones running the firm. Technically you might wait for a pullback to get a better price, but it is a good one for long term. Period.
LOL. I recall Steve Jobs appearing on CNBC (right around when their new iMac's were hitting the market) wanting to solely talk about the new iMac while she wanted answers about their shortfall in earnings. I was thinking, this company thrives on gimmicks.
If this next quarterly earnings report shows that they've done even better than the "Christmas" quarter, wouldn't that send this stock soaring? I just don't see how this can be seen as a bubble when their stores are jammed with people, even on weekdays. They cannot keep those little white moneymakers on the shelf. Wait till Wall*Mart starts carrying iPods in their stores. I also understand that they have absolutely ZERO debt, and money in the bank, with interest rates rising. Does anyone know if this is true? I'll bet they could start an Apple logo clothing line right now and give Abecrombie & Fitch a run for their money.
Here are a few quotes from him from early february of 2000: http://www.cornerstoneri.com/notable/advice.htm
Microsoft and Sony are idiotic not to come out with it's own iPOD version. AAPL has the monopoly and will trade as such until its busted.
Most likely a reaction to a "new" ipod design. I don't think this has anything to do with the price though. The stock is off its high and buyers are still interested. I still think 90 is the magic number. If reached, supported and then coupled with a strong market, AAPL could go into the hundred's easy. Mike