In a tax-deferred account I am still holding a small position in Telephone from last year.  Some was put on in the low 30s and some in the high 20s.  All of it still shows a loss.  Over the last several weeks I have been considering doubling up. 

The strategic rationale is the belief that the Apple AT&T partnership is for the long term.  That whether or not the exclusivity ends next year, these two companies are going to work together for a long time to come.  The recent catalyst is the Verizon commercials.  I just cannot believe that Apple and Verizon are going to partner anytime soon.  Possible AT&T participation in the tablet or Apple TV play into it also.

When the iPhone was introduced the stock was in the mid 30s.  Today it is at 26 and change.  While waiting for appreciation one receives a yield or well over 6% at a time when cash is yielding just about zip.

Thoughts?

I’m starting this new topic to continue the discussion on AT&T.

Cool. I just merged two topics. 

I’m bullish on T as I stated here in late October.

I consider it an attractive play especially for tax-deferred accounts due to the high current yield as well as the prospect for price appreciation. It provides over a 6% tax-deferred yield in that scenario and I see upside based on the iPhone’s success.

Savitz suggests Verizon Cap-ex may be lower than forecast.  If true, this is one more nail in the coffin for the idea of iPhone on their network.

I like the idea of holding the T and adding VZ. That way you get paid when almost anyone makes a phone call (except those Skype pukes)

capablanca - 25 November 2009 02:13 AM

Savitz suggests Verizon Cap-ex may be lower than forecast.  If true, this is one more nail in the coffin for the idea of iPhone on their network.

I would think that the reduced cap-ex would affect the LTE roll-out.  If Apple builds a Iphone for Verizon in 2010 it will be a CDMA EVDO rev A.  LTE chipsets are too new to waste your time on in 2010.  Let the carriers do their network testing and buildout before you commit to a LTE design.  The current LTE spec does not even specify a method for doing voice so voice on Verizon will be CDMA in 2010.  My guess is Verizon will come but probably not earlier then 4th Qtr 2010/2011.  The baseband chipset will come from Qualcomm since this will give Apple the ability to play Qualcomm and Infineon against each other for pricing when they do switch to an LTE chipset for data.