What to Buy:JC Penney;Amazon;Throwback Tech

CNBC host Jim Cramer has been handing out JC Penney gift cards to his coworkers.You can get a lot of really high quality merchandise at JC Penney-a shirt and tie combo,Cramer says.The stores look great.Give me JC Penney.Memorial Day,JC Penney's gonna be crowded.*
I like throwback tech.I like Cisco and I like Apple.I just think Apple is an inexpensive stock.*
The trade is,when the economy is slowing,you buy the consumer packaged goods,because they're not gonna miss the quarter;but people have to be very careful with that kind of trading,because the market's heading down right now.I find that things aren't as great as I'd like,but that's not the material of a recession.The 18-35s are still living at home with their parents at a record level,and that's something people forget about.*
Amazon has invested 20 million in China's food delivery site YUMMY77.They're learning from the hard lessons they learned in the past about competing in China with Amazon China,adds analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray.They're struggling in China.This seems to be striking the right balance.Let Amazon in Seattle do what they do best:focus on Western Europe and the US.I think its a phenomenal stock to own with a five year perspective.*
Microsoft can get things right,Cramer continued;there's no law written that Microsoft must get things wrong.Microsoft makes Xbox,the most popular gaming system.*
Google is the top global brand,according to a new study.They have pulled away from everyone.My charitable trust owns it,though it's been a tough stock to own the past couple of months.*
As for McDonald's,people want to buy things that are down with a good yield.The Europeans are fleeing their bond market and coming here.What's going on is global,the author and master investor Jim Cramer pointed out.
JC Penney(JCP),Amazon(AMZN),Microsoft(MSFT),Google(GOOG),Cisco(CSCO)

Voices and Trends in Global Business,July 2013

Apple has been slowing iPhone production,said Brian Blair,a senior research analyst at Wedge Partners.We believe there's been a 20% haircut to iPhone production.Most of the component suppliers will stay the same,despite the cuts. Apple's been cutting because they've been watching market leader Samsung,which hasn't been selling as many smart phones as they thought they would.The market for high end smart phones is slowing,and Apple's been responding to that. The IMF has cut its annualised global growth forecast from 3.3% in April to 3.1% in July.Their forecasts for commodity prices,as well as Russian,Brazilian and Spanish growth,were also lowered.The cause of the revision is the downturn in emerging markets and the lengthy Euro-zone recession. Hong Kong property agents marched against government price curbs over the weekend.Up to 5500 agents demonstrated,appalled at the fact that Q2 real estate transactions were at a two decade low because of new taxes and marketing restrictions.About a third of estate agents stand to lose their jobs in consequence. The government measures are making things worse,according to Michael Kilbaner of Jones Lang Lasalle.The rise in property prices both reflects and impacts the strength of the economy.A lot of the movement is really in tier one and upper echelon tier two property.A two bedroom flat in Hong Kong goes for a half million US dollars,with a similar price in Beijing.

Apple Versus Samsung:Tech Heavyweights Slug It Out In Court

A San Jose,California court room has been the stage for an epic legal drama acted out by two bitter rivals of the tech universe,Apple Computer and Samsung.Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court Northern District of California told the two sides it's time for peace on Wednesday,urging Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-Sung to at least talk on the phone before the case goes to the jury-probably next Wednesday.
The trial is now in its third week,with both sides calling witnesses to support their cases.
Apple seeks 2.5 billion dollars in damages,plus an injunction to halt sales of what it deems are the offending Samsung devices,saying the products were slavishly copied from its own iPhone and iPad.For its part,Samsung denies the allegations and insists Apple was in fact infringing Samsung patents.
The two CEOs had met before the trial began on a court order to seek to resolve the conflict,but were unsuccessful.Legal experts expressed scepticism that,having gone so far,the sides will be willing to turn away from the legal process at this late stage.Their lawyers told Judge Koh,however,that the two men would comply with her last ditch request that they communicate again.
In the course of presenting its case,the normally secretive Apple has revealed both source code and design methodology.Their integration and execution are just a lot better,according to Erin-Michael Gill,Managing Director and Chief Intellectual Property Officer at MBD Capital Group.I don't think it's just a little old man behind the curtain.The execution and ideas generated are universally accepted as being pretty innovative.
In every large company,when you're developing innovation,it takes a lot of confidence to allow design to lead.It's pretty clear that it does at Apple.When you look at Apple,it doesn't look and feel like other consumer electronics companies.It's more like a drug company,with a couple of core inventions that are critical.There are core elements in their process and products they are gonna defend fiercely,Mr.Gill explained.

Meeting the Future:Apple CEO Emphasizes China's Importance

Apple CEO Tim Cook has emphasized just how critical he considers China's importance to his company's growth is by visiting Beijing and meeting with the Vice Premier,Li Keqiang on Wednesday.Mr.Li said that China will strengthen intellectual property rights protection-a key Apple concern-and continue its economic transformation.
To be more open to the outside is a condition for China to transform its economic development,expand domestic demands and conduct technological innovation,Mr.Li continued.
For his part,Tim Cook promised that Apple will strengthen comprehensive cooperation with the Chinese side and conduct business in a law-abiding and honest manner.
Cheap Chinese knock-offs of Apple products have been a long-standing irritant to the tech giant.China,with its vast population still largely unconnected to the Internet,is a major prospect in Apple's future,the company has made clear.One of the company's major outsourcers,FoxConn,assembles countless Apple products in China.
Apple currently operates five retail outlets in China.The potential for expanding that side of the business alone is truly significant.It is estimated that 60% of China's population is unconnected to the cybernetic realm.
Apple is a massively successful company and stock,and it could be more successful,according to David Kirkpatrick,author of "The Facebook Effect."Its price to earnings ratio is not high for the industry,such as Amazon's.If for some reason this extraordinary growth should slow,they might want to make a strategic acquisition such as Twitter or Adobe,Mr.Kirkpatrick speculated.
With the untapped hordes of the upwardly mobile Chinese before them,that doesn't seem too likely in the near future,however.
Apple Computer,Inc.(AAPL)

Author and Consultant:Riding the Sawtooth Market

We're in a slow growth,maybe no growth economy,and this could go on for years,observes Al Angrisani,former Assistant Secretary of Labor and Chief of Staff for President Ronald Reagan from 1980-84,whom he helped to create 16 million new jobs.Investors are picking winners and losers.If the price is down,I'll make a bet on those.
You're looking at IBM,Apple,Siemens.Those are good long-term plays.We're in a sawtooth pattern,but the trend is down.You're picking companies.You get numb from the ups and downs of this sawtooth pattern,and then perhaps you get whammed by China with its uncertainty.
Mr.Angrisani has worked as a turnaround expert,restoring value to shareholders as founder of Angrisani Turnarounds,LLC,a leading consultancy for failing publicly traded companies.He sets out his approach in his book "Win One for the Shareholders!"
Siemens(SI),International Business Machines(IBM),Apple(AAPL)

Chinese Workers Get Raise

Workers at the huge Fox Conn electronics factory in mainland China will reportedly be getting a 30% salary increase.The factory has been troubled by a cluster of worker suicides lately.There have been 12 attempts at suicide,10 of them successful.Terry Gou,Taiwan's wealthiest man,owns Fox Conn,which does work for tech titans Apple,Hewlett Packard and Dell.
Asked why there were so many suicides at his plant,Mr.Gou replied that he didn't know why.Each individual had a different story.There are 300,000 workers in the vast factory.One of them said he works 12 hours a day,with two hours off for lunch.He described it as a boring job and said some workers have romantic problems,but he didn't think that was enough to cause suicides.One victim's family has been protesting outside the factory for more than three months,determined to continue until they are satisfied.
Mr.Gou bowed in a public apology for the tragic events at his enterprise.He spoke in a humble tone of voice,seeming genuinely concerned.Fox Conn has been criticized as being a sweat shop,and workers at a Honda plant have been complaining about poor wages.
Mental health has been much in the news in China in recent months.In addition to the worker suicides,there have been a series of brutal attacks on children,resulting in many deaths.