In Search of the Perfect Investment

Employment is surging. The U.S. economy grew 3% in the fourth quarter, faster than originally reported —  mainly because of better commercial construction and consumer spending and lower imports. It was the fastest increase in a year and a half.

Apple closed at $535.41 last night and is bid much higher again this morning. The iPad 3 will be announced on March 7. I didn’t get an invite, which shows where I stand.  The iPad 3 will have a better screen, take 4G/LTE and be thinner.

The worst investing mistake: LOVE. The best part of today’s economy are the startups. They’re coming out of the woodwork. They’re software. They’re hardware. They’re clothing. There’s stuff that comes in a bottle. It’s thrilling meeting the entrepreneurs.

The good news is there’s plenty of money now around to finance them. The bad news is that most entrepreneurs are nuts. Wait, that’s not fair. They have their own agendas and  often it doesn’t include me or my i-banking friends that would like to invest.

Back to my worst investing mistake. Never fall in love with an idea, a business or a property. Love is for your family. It’s OK to get enthusiastic about someone else’s startup, but if it doesn’t work out, move on. And move on fast. When God closes a door, she always opens a window. And often within hours. And often the new window is better, brighter, has a better view.

My son recently lost one house he wanted to buy. Someone paid more. He quickly found a better one.  I meet with entrepreneurs. I usually love their ideas. My enthusiasm skyrockets. Then I do due diligence. Or they do their due diligence on me. They puke. I lose the deal. I used to get depressed. No more. Time to move on. Play tennis. Eye the next one.

The is the era where technology makes for unique and wonderful businesses. Items:

+ Spanx makes “shapewear.” The stuff was on grand display at the Oscars last Sunday night.

Even the men were wearing it:

Spanx is so good it eliminates “muffin top.” That’s what happens when your shapewear pushes your fat in, producing a bulge at the top. Sara Blakely, who founded Spanx, is now a zillionaire. You got to admit this woman has a way with words. “Expect more from your underwear.” It’s brilliant.

Buy your very own Spanx here.

+ Implus Footcare makes insoles. I bought these recently.

They’re remarkable. Replace your present insoles with these $25 ones and you’ll be on seventh heaven. I was replacing shoes, when I should have simply bought a pair or two of these. Dr Scholls are junk. These are the real thing. Click here.

+ Under Armour is Nike’s most aggressive competitor. Cramer pounded the table last night for UA. He talked about UA’s “relentless innovation.” He talked about incredible growth. He said it was taking share from Nike. He highlighted UA’s innovation, including:

– Compression apparel

– Coldblack technology

– Ccharged cotton  — dries five times faster than normal cotton.

– Waterproof stuff – including waterproof hoodies, oe of which he was wearing.

UA has done well:

P/E at 47.4 is much higher than Nike’s 23. But Under Armour is growing faster.

Warren Buffett is smart and entertaining. He was on CNBC for three hours yesterday. If you missed it, here’s a transcript: click here.

Email etiquette.

1. Never include more than one idea. No can handle more than one idea per email — especially if they’re meant to do something.

2. Never criticize someone in an email. You’ll always regret your words.

3. Send short kudos.Works much better than Starbucks coffee.

How to get rid of telemarketers. Always a challenge. Hanging up on them means they call back. Talking to them drives you nuts. But being clever always works (sometimes). Actual phone call yesterday:

Caller: May I please to the person in charge of th electricity bill?

Harry: We don’t use electricity.

Caller: Your landlord provides it?

Harry: No, we simply don’t use electricity. We get up with the sun and we go to bed when the sun goes down.

Caller: Pause. “Wow that is cool.”

The dog that snored:
A couple has a dog that snores. Annoyed because she can’t sleep, the wife goes to the vet to see if he can help.

The vet tells the woman to tie a ribbon around the dog’s testicles and he will stop snoring.

“Yeah, right!” she says.

A few minutes after going to bed, the dog begins snoring, as usual.

The wife tosses and turns, unable to sleep. Muttering to herself, she goes to the closet and grabs a piece of red ribbon and ties it carefully around the dog’s testicles.

Sure enough, the dog stops snoring! The woman is amazed.

Later that night, her husband returns home drunk from being out drinking with his buddies. He climbs into bed, falls asleep, and begins snoring loudly.

The woman thinks maybe the ribbon might work on him, so she goes to the closet again, grabs a piece of blue ribbon, and ties it around her husband’s testicles.

Amazingly, it also works on him! The woman sleeps soundly.

The husband wakes from his drunken stupor and stumbles into the bathroom. As he stands in front of the toilet, he glances in the mirror and sees a blue ribbon attached to his privates. He is very confused and as he walks back into the bedroom, he sees the red ribbon attached to his dog’s testicles.

He shakes his head and looks at the dog and whispers, “I don’t know where we were, or what we did, but, by God, we took first and second place!”

Harry Newton who worries that some of the links he includes on this blog often don’t work. If you find one that doesn’t work, email me, please. I’ll get it working and send you the working link. You’re also allowed to disagree with me. I really do like a bit of controversy. If I’m wrong, I’d prefer to be told why, rather than being told I’m an asshole or an idiot. My ego is not overly fragile, but it’s still fragile.

New WalMart sign (allegedly):

Our society is doomed.