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Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Premier League preview: Man United play well against big teams, but does that count Arsenal? - ESPN

4:10 AM ET

Everything you need to know about this weekend's Premier League action, all in one place.

The weekend's big questions

Can Liverpool really keep this up?

You would hesitate to call a team who have taken 82 from the last available 84 points lucky in any respect, but there was an element of fortune to Liverpool's win over Wolves at the weekend, even ignoring the intervention of VAR. They're brilliant, but there's a seat-of-the-pants element to Liverpool's play that a) makes games pretty exciting and not quite the inevitable processions that Pep Guardiola oversaw at Manchester City's peak last season, but also b) leaves you with the nagging feeling that it might all go wrong soon.

If it's going to go wrong against anyone, it might be Sheffield United, Chris Wilder's insanely well-drilled and dynamic side that have stunned many big teams this season. And they nearly did that to Liverpool in October too; that game only ended in victory for the league leaders after a calamitous error by Blades keeper Dean Henderson. So with all of that in mind, it won't be the most colossal shock if the Blades got something from this game.

Will Saints pose a significant threat to Spurs?

Now this is a tricky game to call. The nine places separating the teams in the table would suggest only one result, but Southampton have looked revitalised in recent weeks. Their past three results -- wins at Aston Villa and Chelsea, a solid point against Crystal Palace -- suggest a team that have turned a corner. And then there's Tottenham, not entirely convincing against Brighton and not in the least convincing against Norwich, performances disjointed and defence uncertain.

On form, you would probably be better putting your money on Saints, which feels like an odd thing to write given the deep problems their team have suffered this season. And if Spurs lose, one wonders if that will a) cause some deep introspection from Jose Mourinho and b) change any of their plans going into the January transfer window.

Will Ancelotti turn his gravitas into a big win for Everton?

Who knows whether Carlo Ancelotti is what Everton need in the long run, but his immediate impact has been clear: they look much better, and what's more they look like a team managed by a grown-up. But now for a real test of how much better they are under him: a trip to Manchester City, who might not be the impregnable force we thought they were last season, but they're still a significant foe. Everton are now managed by someone with real gravitas, but that's all ephemeral until he converts that into real points and performances. And what better way to prove that than by beating City and Guardiola.

Man to watch

David Moyes

The thought process behind bringing manager David Moyes back to West Ham is an interesting one. He did a good job in keeping them in the Premier League in 2017-18, was justified in thinking he deserved a longer contract than the six months he was initially awarded, and in ultimately walking away when no such contract materialised. So is this a mea culpa from West Ham, a recognition that they got things wrong in allowing Moyes to go? Did they actually get it wrong, or was it just the identity of the replacement that was the error?

And how will Moyes approach this? One of the reasons they went elsewhere 18 months ago was his style of play, with games at the London Stadium grim affairs, which was possibly because they had to be in the circumstances, but they were unenjoyable all the same. Will he change that, or will he simply view them returning, cap in hand, as a sign that he was right all along?

David Moyes says he hopes to pick up where he left off with West Ham.

The game you're not planning to watch, but should

West Ham vs. Bournemouth

Quite apart from the Moyes factor, this is a game between two floundering teams who are desperate for a result, who are both very much in the relegation scrap. That might be enough to hold your interest on its own, but it will also be interesting to see what changes about both sides: Moyes will obviously have a different approach than Manuel Pellegrini, and Bournemouth's results and performances recently surely mean that Eddie Howe will have to alter something. Tune in -- this one could be grimly fascinating.

Stats of the weekend

- Chelsea have won all nine of their league meetings with Brighton -- the best such record in English football league history.

- Leicester have won 42 points from their opening 20 Premier League games this season (W13 D3 L4) -- two more than they had after 20 games in 2015-16, when they won the league.

- Tottenham haven't lost their first league game of a calendar year since 2009 (0-1 at Wigan), winning eight and drawing two since then. They have also won their last six Premier League matches played on New Year's Day.

- Carlo Ancelotti is looking to become only the second Everton manager to win each of his first three Premier League games in charge of the club, after Joe Royle in 1994.

- No team has won more Premier League games on New Year's Day than Arsenal (9). The Gunners are unbeaten in their past three Premier League meetings against Man Utd (W1 D2) -- they've not gone four without defeat against them since February 1999 (W3 D1).

The team that needs a bit of luck

Arsenal

For 30 minutes against Chelsea, we saw sparks of what this Arsenal could be. Then of course they collapsed in entirely predictable fashion and we remembered what they actually are, and have been for a while. The trick for Mikel Arteta is to imbue his team with more of the former and less of the latter, which is obviously easier said than done and will take time. But a useful shortcut would be victory over Manchester United, by any means necessary, and outright fortune very much counts. That would boost confidence, and if there's anyone in the Gunners' dressing room doubting Arteta, then victory here might solve that.

One thing that will definitely happen

Man United are playing a big team, so they will play well

This game will be an interesting test of Manchester United's odd habit of playing well against the big teams but struggling more often than they should against the strugglers. Which are Arsenal? Technically a big team, but one in 12th place, closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League places and who have won only one in their past 12 league games. What is it that United seem to respond to: the actual quality of their opposition or the occasion? On a more tangible level, victory in this one could take United within a point of the top four, which is pretty decent going for a team who haven't actually looked any good for most of the season.

Predictions

Brighton 0-2 Chelsea
Burnley 1-0 Aston Villa
Newcastle United 1-3 Leicester City
Southampton 2-1 Tottenham
Watford 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Norwich City 1-1 Crystal Palace
West Ham United 0-0 Bournemouth
Manchester City 3-2 Everton
Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United
Liverpool 3-1 Sheffield United

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This decade saw Warren Buffett finally turn his back on IBM and jump big time into Apple - CNBC

As we get ready to say goodbye to the 2010s, CNBC.com is taking a look back at the key players, events and transformations from Wall Street to Silicon Valley to corporate America to the White House that shaped a "Decade of Disruption." In the lead-up to New Year's Day 2020, CNBC's online journalists will be exploring the moments that defined the past 10 years for your money and set the table for the next decade and beyond.

One of Warren Buffett's biggest investment mistakes, IBM, played out over an agonizing seven-year stretch this decade, which saw the stock plummet along with the company's fortunes. However, the Berkshire Hathaway chief was undaunted by his misstep in technology, a sector he generally avoided as a self-admitted Luddite. While fully exiting IBM in the early part of 2018, Buffett simultaneously revealed to CNBC that Berkshire Hathaway amassed an even bigger stake in Apple, which by late 2019 would become his most valuable holding.

Berkshire's transition out of IBM and in to Apple marked a changing of the guard in technology. IBM and Apple, rival computer-makers in the 1980s, took very different paths over the years, with IBM struggling to capitalize on its focus on enterprise and Apple emerging and thriving as a dominant force in consumer electronics with the iPhone.

Berkshire started buying IBM shares in 2011

Buffett's IBM debacle began in November 2011 when he said on "Squawk Box" that Berkshire Hathaway bought 64 million shares at an average price of $170 each, valuing the stake at the time at $10.7 billion. Buffett said he went against his no-tech-company-rule because he'd been "hit between the eyes" by how IBM finds and keeps clients. "It's a company that helps IT departments do their job better," he added. "There is a lot of continuity to it."

However, by the time he told CNBC's Becky Quick in May 2018 that Berkshire Hathaway no longer owned any IBM stock, the tech company had suffered nearly six years of declining revenue and a share price sinking into the mid-$140 range.

Wasting no time licking his wounds, Buffett said, in that same May 2018 CNBC interview, that Berkshire Hathaway bought 75 million more Apple shares, adding to its already huge stake at the time of 165.3 million shares.

In a statement to CNBC then, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is "thrilled to have Warren and Berkshire Hathaway as a major investor." Cook added, "On a personal level, I've always greatly admired Warren and have always been grateful for his insight and advice."

Berkshire buys small Apple stake in 2016, then goes big

Berkshire Hathaway, through one of Buffett's lieutenants, bought its first 10 million Apple shares in May 2016. In February 2017, Buffett, who didn't even personally own an iPhone, told CNBC that Berkshire added almost 76 million Apple shares to its holdings the prior month. "Apple strikes me as having quite a sticky product, and an enormously useful product to people that use it," Buffett told CNBC.

Buffett also said in February 2017 that he was more certain about Apple's future than that of IBM. Five months later, he said he lost confidence in IBM. "When it got above $180 we actually sold a reasonable amount of stock," he said at the time. About a year later, he was out of IBM completely.

Apple is Berkshire's most valuable holding at $72 billion

As of Sept. 30, 2019, Berkshire Hathaway held nearly 249 million shares of Apple. Based on Apple's $291.52 closing share price Monday, Berkshire's Apple stake was worth more than $72 billion. Apple stock hit an all-time, intraday high of $293.97 on Friday. On a closing basis in 2019, Apple is up a stunning 85% as of Monday, far and away the best performing component this year of the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Berkshire owns all or parts of over 60 companies including Geico auto insurance, Nebraska Furniture Mart, running-shoe maker Brooks and NetJets. It also buys stocks in blue chip companies and tends to hold them over a number of years.

After Apple, rounding out Berkshire's top five holdings by market value are Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo and American Express. Berkshire also has major stakes in dozens of other household names such as Kraft Heinz, J.P. Morgan Chase, General Motors and Amazon.

Buffett said in the past that he admired what Jeff Bezos did with Amazon but was too late to the buy stock. Earlier this year, however, one of his lieutenants started buying Amazon, building up a stake worth nearly $1 billion based on Amazon's $1,846.89 close on Monday. (Buffett's Berkshire, Bezos' Amazon, and J.P. Morgan, run by Jamie Dimon, all work together in a joint venture called Haven, which aims to figure out how to reduce health-care costs.)

How Buffett become one of the richest in the world

Buffett, who bought his first stock at age 11, has become one of the most successful and celebrated investors of all time and earned the nickname The Oracle of Omaha. He built Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway into an investment powerhouse. Berkshire's annual shareholders meeting, which has been called the Woodstock of Capitalism, draws tens of thousands of the Buffett-faithful to Omaha every year.

As of Monday, according to Forbes, Buffett is the third richest person in the world, with a net worth of nearly $90 billion. He has promised to give nearly all of his fortune away to charity. He started The Giving Pledge with Bill and Melinda Gates in 2010, which gets other billionaires to commit to giving a majority their money away to "address some of society's most pressing problems." More than 200 of the world's wealthiest people have made the pledge.

While a wildly successful investor and a generous philanthropist, Buffett is also known for his frugality. He likes eating at McDonald's and drinking Coke. He still lives in the same house he bought in 1958.

With Berkshire's 2019 annual meeting in the books, users can revisit the highlights in CNBC's Warren Buffett Archive, which houses searchable video from 25 full annual meetings, going back to 1994, synchronized to 2,600 pages of transcripts. The Warren Buffett Archive also includes 500 shorter-form videos arranged by topic, CNBC interviews, a Buffett Timeline and a Berkshire Portfolio Tracker.