Apple vs. Amazon: The Ground Is Shifting

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- I've written often about Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) over the past few months. It hasn't been fashionable to be bullish about Apple and bearish on Amazon. However, after watching enough companies like Baidu (BIDU) and Crocs (CROX), I have learned to stick to my guns.

Stocks fall into and out of favor at times, forcing the price to move along with the herd, and I, for one, am glad. Money couldn't be made if stocks weren't mispriced. Actually, it's probably more true that stocks stumble into "fair value" on occasion.

I know what you're going to say: "Fair value" is subjective, and that subjectiveness induces emotional decisions. Once we include emotion in the selection process, logic is, by definition, no longer the master compass.

I'm not surprised that Apple was up strongly Monday on a rather weak day for the market. The S&P 500 ETF SPY (SPY) gapped lower on news about an economy that is smaller than Apple in terms of economic importance.

Are rumors of an increase in its dividend driving the price higher? Maybe, but if it weren't for rumors, it would be something else. The simple fact is that the media has whipped and kicked this dead horse for all it's worth, and now has moved on. Those who wanted to downgrade the stock have (often a bullish signal in itself), and the naysayers have found the next cool thing to bash.

Has Apple turned into a "value" stock from a growth story? Maybe, but you can call Apple a value stock all you want, and the numbers still demonstrate growth. It wasn't lost on some of us that Apple just reported its best quarter ever.

In addition, Apple sports a 2.4% dividend yield in what may be the safest dividend in the entire solar system. Apple has a payout ratio of about 10% and enough cash to keep the dividend checks coming long after I put in my last trade.

1 2 Next › Last »