Post by Dave on Dec 27, 2022 2:24:30 GMT -8
Good morning and welcome to the last week of trading for 2022. This morning we have a green pre-market at +0.64% at this moment.
Apple Japan hit with $98 million in back taxes- Nikkei
What a Weakening U.S. Dollar Means for Large-Cap Tech Stocks
Apple Japan hit with $98 million in back taxes- Nikkei
TOKYO (Reuters) -Apple Inc's Japan unit is being charged 13 billion yen ($98 million) in additional taxes for bulk sales of iPhones and other Apple devices to foreign tourists that were incorrectly exempted from the consumption tax, the Nikkei newspaper said.
Citing unidentified sources, the Nikkei reported on Tuesday that bulk purchases of iPhones by foreign shoppers were discovered at some Apple stores with at least one transaction involving an individual buying hundreds of handsets at once.
Japan allows tourists staying less than six months to buy items without paying the 10% consumption tax, but the exemption does not apply to purchases for the purpose of resale.
Apple Japan is believed to have filed an amended tax return, according to Nikkei.
In response to a Reuters' request for comment, the company only said in an emailed message that tax-exempt purchases were currently unavailable at its stores. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau declined to comment.
The iPhone maker's Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook visited Japan earlier this month and announced that the company had invested more than $100 billion in its Japanese supply network over the last five years.
Citing unidentified sources, the Nikkei reported on Tuesday that bulk purchases of iPhones by foreign shoppers were discovered at some Apple stores with at least one transaction involving an individual buying hundreds of handsets at once.
Japan allows tourists staying less than six months to buy items without paying the 10% consumption tax, but the exemption does not apply to purchases for the purpose of resale.
Apple Japan is believed to have filed an amended tax return, according to Nikkei.
In response to a Reuters' request for comment, the company only said in an emailed message that tax-exempt purchases were currently unavailable at its stores. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau declined to comment.
The iPhone maker's Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook visited Japan earlier this month and announced that the company had invested more than $100 billion in its Japanese supply network over the last five years.
What a Weakening U.S. Dollar Means for Large-Cap Tech Stocks
Conclusion
As this was written on Dec. 26, 2022, I noticed JC Parents, a good technician out of New York who runs “All-Star Charts,” put out an article on the dollar.
JC’s thesis is that the US dollar is a “wrecking ball,” thus being the catalyst for the Nasdaq selloff and the market stock market weakness, and I’m not sure I agree with JC’s level of influence the dollar exercises.
Rather than being a cause of the above, I think the dollar’s strength is more “effect,” meaning – at least this year – the tech weakness and higher Treasury yields are resulting in strength in the dollar as non-US capital flows into the buck, particularly as non-US equity investments like international and emerging markets remain very weak.
In evaluating sector and market fundamentals, there is no question the dollar’s strength is playing a role, particularly in the tech sector’s financial results. Still, a weaker dollar in and of itself probably isn’t helping Google’s advertising or Meta’s shift to the metaverse or sell more hybrid cloud for IBM.
Technology demand is still the most important driver for the sector. The dollar and “compares” help at the margin and might influence an enterprise-wide purchase (the dollar, that is), but ultimately, the product is the product that drives demand and revenue growth.
That being said, the headwinds, like tough compares and the dollar, are aggravating an already weaker tech sector, and as these two influences ebb, the tech sector should look better in terms of year-over-year growth.
Q4 ’22 and Q1 ’23 are still tough “comps” for technology, but as this Christmas Eve blog post detailed, the S&P 500 EPS estimates for Q3 ’23 and Q3 ’24 – at least for the last six months – are starting to reflect an improvement in S&P 500 EPS. Is it dollar-related? Possibly. Is it “easier comps” related? Possibly. It could also be about faster growth and eliminating the pandemic and post-pandemic yoyo we’ve been on since March 2020.
Again, let’s see what happens in early ’23. It’s still all about the Fed and inflation, but if the market senses the Fed will stop raising rates, and if bond yields start to fall, the S&P 500 should find a bottom, and that likely means a relatively weaker dollar, and all this spells “good news” for a beaten and battered tech sector.
Bottom-line, the dollar matters, but maybe not to the full extent that the mainstream financial media will squawk about, and it probably matters a little more to the technology sector today than it did 10 – 20 years ago.
Take everything you read here with great skepticism, and note that past performance is no guarantee of future results. Capital markets can change quickly, positively and negatively, so assess your risk and appetite for volatility.
As this was written on Dec. 26, 2022, I noticed JC Parents, a good technician out of New York who runs “All-Star Charts,” put out an article on the dollar.
JC’s thesis is that the US dollar is a “wrecking ball,” thus being the catalyst for the Nasdaq selloff and the market stock market weakness, and I’m not sure I agree with JC’s level of influence the dollar exercises.
Rather than being a cause of the above, I think the dollar’s strength is more “effect,” meaning – at least this year – the tech weakness and higher Treasury yields are resulting in strength in the dollar as non-US capital flows into the buck, particularly as non-US equity investments like international and emerging markets remain very weak.
In evaluating sector and market fundamentals, there is no question the dollar’s strength is playing a role, particularly in the tech sector’s financial results. Still, a weaker dollar in and of itself probably isn’t helping Google’s advertising or Meta’s shift to the metaverse or sell more hybrid cloud for IBM.
Technology demand is still the most important driver for the sector. The dollar and “compares” help at the margin and might influence an enterprise-wide purchase (the dollar, that is), but ultimately, the product is the product that drives demand and revenue growth.
That being said, the headwinds, like tough compares and the dollar, are aggravating an already weaker tech sector, and as these two influences ebb, the tech sector should look better in terms of year-over-year growth.
Q4 ’22 and Q1 ’23 are still tough “comps” for technology, but as this Christmas Eve blog post detailed, the S&P 500 EPS estimates for Q3 ’23 and Q3 ’24 – at least for the last six months – are starting to reflect an improvement in S&P 500 EPS. Is it dollar-related? Possibly. Is it “easier comps” related? Possibly. It could also be about faster growth and eliminating the pandemic and post-pandemic yoyo we’ve been on since March 2020.
Again, let’s see what happens in early ’23. It’s still all about the Fed and inflation, but if the market senses the Fed will stop raising rates, and if bond yields start to fall, the S&P 500 should find a bottom, and that likely means a relatively weaker dollar, and all this spells “good news” for a beaten and battered tech sector.
Bottom-line, the dollar matters, but maybe not to the full extent that the mainstream financial media will squawk about, and it probably matters a little more to the technology sector today than it did 10 – 20 years ago.
Take everything you read here with great skepticism, and note that past performance is no guarantee of future results. Capital markets can change quickly, positively and negatively, so assess your risk and appetite for volatility.