Seeking Alpha by Adding Beta

Since the movie "Ides of March" came, I was intrigued by word "Ides". This is when my son Yash explained meaning of Ides to me and what it meant in context of "Ides of March". In brief,  a  seer  had foreseen that Julius Caesar would be harmed not later than the Ides of March and he warned him about this as "beware the Ides of March". And as we know from history, this is when he got stabbed 23 times in Roman Senate by group of conspirators. So how does this fits in today's investing world? Since Oct, stock markets have been on a tear ignoring so much uncertainty and geo-political risks around world. Last week, Dow crossed 1300 twice (but failed to close above it), S&P is at 4 year high, Nasdaq is as 11 year high. This is happening despite following: European debt mess Tensions around Iran's nuclear program - this week's economist article details risks around this. Some are predicting around 50% chance that Israel would take pr...

This week Apple stock reached milestone price of $500 per share putting valuation of nearly $470 Billion to Apple. While Apple deserves every bit of this valuation, as investor one has to wonder how much more upside there is to Apple stock? I am sure you must have seen many articles on how Apple is still "cheap" at  $500. While on current valuation basis, I agree that it looks cheap, there are many potential dangers one has to worry if considering for long-term investment. Let's look at some of the past historical perspectives. Most valuable companies in recent past Microsoft in 1999 Cisco in 2000 (for few days) GE in 2000 Walmart (at some time in past one decade) GM - sometime in past 5 decades IBM - I don't know fact but I am sure it git this title at some time Exxon - Company which had this title for longest time in recent history Apple - current king of valuation Let's look at this differently: Current valuation of Apple ($470 Billion) is more than G...