Tim Cook's "MappleGate Mea Culpa" And Other Quotes Of The Week - Forbes

Did you ever think you would see a week in which:

-A budget proposal from Spain would trump U.S. economic data in driving the U.S equity markets?

-Tim Cook had to apologize to new iPhone5 purchasers?

-Tiger Woods and the U.S. team find a way to lose an insurmountable lead at home in the Ryder Cup matches?

-RIMM stock rockets higher?

-A Fed official openly condemns FOMC action to failure?

Well, none of these were expected this week but all occurred nonetheless, although we will give Tiger a bit of a break as he ran into several extremely impressive performances by hot European players.

The trading week was largely driven by the news coming out of Europe, with the post-Fed rally continuing to pause over European uncertainty, some continuing poor global economic data, lowered earnings expectations, and perhaps some pure old-fashioned profit-taking into the end of the 3^rd Quarter.

For the week, the SPX was down 1.3%, the Dow -1.0%, and the NASD -2.0%, but all three ended the quarter impressively, up +5.8%, +4.3%, and +6.2% respectively.

So let’s get down to some of the stories and quotes of the week.

“At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”  â€"Apple CEO Tim Cook’s online letter to customers. (Apple website)

What is a bit more surprising was Cook’s overt suggestion that Apple users might want to check out the competition:

“While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.”

And as CNET points out, Apple’s website has backtracked on prior map superiority claims, taking down from the site the statement, “Designed by Apple from the ground up, Maps give you turn-by-turn spoken directions, interactive 3D views, and the stunning Flyover feature. All of which may just make this app the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever.”

The WSJ said Friday, Google has not been shy about “pouncing on Apple’s map problems….publishing a blog post explaining how consumers can still use Google Maps on the iPhone through the Web browser and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt  saying, ‘In my opinion, it would have been better to retain our maps.’”

But there were just a few other stories besides AAPL (which did lose close to $33 or -4.7% on the week).

“This is a crisis budget designed to get out of this crisis.”  â€"Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saez de Santamaria. As Forbes reported, however, “Spain is still in trouble….(but) this will allow Spain to set in motion the bailout of its banks, and then actually figure out, along with the ECB, the IMF, and the EU (the Troika) how to stop the bleeding and stabilize its finances. “

Bloomberg was reporting further development over the weekend:

“Spain plans to borrow 207.2 billion euros ($266.5 billion) next year, the Budget Ministry said today, as pressure builds for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to tap the European rescue fund instead of financial markets.”

The protests in Spain over economic condition, unemployment and austerity measure led to a resurfacing of an older story on “Spain’s elephant-hunting King Juan Carlos”, who lost his honorary Presidency of The World Wildlife Fund’s branch in Spain this summer. (MSNBC/AP).  Business Insider was reporting that the protests, although about austerity, also reflect, “the feeling that people have no power over government, that the government favors elites, and that the country is losing sovereignty that drive people mad.”