David Friedman <ddfr@daviddfriedman.nopsam.com> wrote:

> > > In terms of cash, about 40% wealthier, comparing Google in March to
> > > Apple currently. I'm not sure if that's what you mean by a wide margin.
> >
> > 40% in terms of a football game or baseball score is a wide margin. for
> > a loan, it's the difference of yes or no.
>
> Except that both companies have more cash than anyone is likely to pay
> for what is going to be up for auction. So the real question isn't how
> much they have but how much they are willing to offer.

true...

> And that's aside from the fact that they can go out on the capital
> market and borrow more. The difference between their cash holdings, as
> of the figures I quoted, is something like two percent of the market cap
> of either firm, so negligable compared to what they could raise if they
> wished.

and also true...

> ...
>
> > > > Banks don't look kindly on such ".com" bubbles, so Google is in a much
> > > > weaker position than Apple to bid on the upcoming spectrum sale.
> > >
> > > The price of Google's stock provides evidence of their ability to raise
> > > capital--they could, after all, issue some more of it.
> >
> > yes, but banks will also look at Yahoo, Excite, pets.com, eToys.com,
> > etc. there is far more risk with Google than Apple since Google isn't
> > anything more than a web site, Apple actually builds products, sells
> > them and has a much more loyal following.
>
> I'm not sure how long you have been following Apple's stock, but
> building products and selling them has its own quite substantial risks,
> as its history will demonstrate.

i've followed it since 1980, so the entire time. apple does well with
steve at the helm, not so when he is gone. apple had a couple rough
years in the mid-90's, but that was because of steve being gone and poor
management. nothing relating to apple in general.