jobs no more?

So I wake up to steve jobs resigning as CEO of Apple (AAPL), and wondering now if this is it? is he gone for good? How much influence will he exert from the chairman position? And more importantly, what's this mean for the stock?

Market hasn't taken this well- AAPL is down $17 (or about 5% or so) in the aftermarket on the news. Stock trades at a very reasonable 13x earnings, they still got over $70billion in cash (or about 20% market cap), probably 30% growth rate over the next few years (measurable), and really controls the markets it competes in. The key is innovation going forward... you HAVE to believe that product pipeline for the next 18 months is set, and so the test will be beyond that. My thoughts:

-I will look to buy on the dip... at 357 or so, this is where I initially sold (~march) due to my want to take profit and wait and see what the situation with SJ would be. Now that the news is out, let the market shake out and make a quick trade for a bounce back up to 380 or so in the near term
- longer term this probably isn't an issue. Tim Cool is NOT John Sculley. Cook is an AAPL guy, and knows the company, culture, and product position and ethos. I think this is a long term stable (but can't say positive cuz u know, he's replacing STEVE!)
- valuations do give the stock some fundamental support... stock is priced mostly inline with the market and probably only slightly above it's peers.

Otherwise- probably look elsewhere at this point and may look to owning a nominal amount of AAPL just cuz i love the product and it feels good walking around as an 'owner' of the company :P

Other trades I'm looking at:
- Citi and/or Bank of America --> have gotten completely clobbered lately and while I think it's not undeserved, there is room to trade off the bottoms, as these bounce backs are giving 10% spreads on a trade!
- RIMM - I'm still an owner (at about 25.70), and still playing the wait and see for a takeout... Lots of momentum following GOOG's crazy buyout of Motorola Mobility, so let's see this thing get up to 40!!!!

I'm wondering how long the HK market going to stay at these depressed levels... market's bounced a bit this week, but when I see market giant HSBC languishing at 65, I think this might be a selectively good buying opportunity... Especially when I consider that longer term you might sit on Div yields of >5%?

my final thoughts- I think Obama has a growing probability of being a one term prez. I still find that amazing, and even more so, how a nation could be so dumb (for lack of a better word) to take this teabag party seriously... I mean they actually are sandbagging this country with their finger pointing and playing populist ideas that have no hope of actual consequence (yes, I'm still a registered republican). Anyway- it's a shame, and I'm certainly glad I'm not living in the US&A right now. It's a joke. So's my passport.

anyway - gonna be interesting to see how the broader market reacts to steve's news. In the meantime, pray for a RIMM takeout!!! :P


(Disclaimer: these thoughts are my own and represent nothing more than personal market ramblings. I do not purport to have full facts on my ramblings and on occasion will make egregious errors just because I can! Do not use the information here as recommendations and be sure to do your own research to make investment decisions. In short be entertained!)