In Search of the Perfect Investment

What is wrong with marketing? I have bought Lenovo ThinkPad X200, X201 and X220 laptops from Lenovo. You’d think they could figure out I’d be –in the market — for a new X230? But no, they never bothered telling me they’re introduced the X230. Anyho, I read the reviews and it’s a pretty nice and slightly faster machine, and I should buy it.

Should I also buy Lenovo’s stock? They’re doing well. Look at the charts I clipped from the Wall Street Journal’s site:

But then I looked at Lenovo’s share price and I felt sick… well, maybe not.

At 79 cents, it’s yielding 11.03% — not bad for a successful computer maker (and China’s largest). And one growing more successful year by year. Check out their latest quarterly financial PowerPoint presentation.

So, what’s going on? Why isn’t the stock higher?

It seems one reason is that the flatness in world PC demand is spooking the stock. But as the presentation points out, Lenovo’s market share and sales are exploding.

See what you think. I think Lenovo may be worth a small flier. Or there may be something here I don’t know about. I need to keep checking. You, too.

Latest scam to watch out for.

+ Penny auction sites. Quibids promises 90% off an iPod or a MacBook Pro. It’s nonsense. You’ll eat up all your savings in the money they charge you for bidding. In fact, you might even spend big bucks on bidding and never win anything. Other sites include BeeZid.com and Shorelt.com. Stay away from them.

Watch out what you post on the Internet. The New York Post would never have found this photo had it not been posted eons ago on MySpace and then forgotten about.

Rule of thumb: Everything you  post on the Internet will be remembered in perpetuity and, most likely, come back to haunt you.

Ask and you shall receive a discount. Or free trades. Or free shipping. Or a free upgrade. Or a cheaper job. Items:

+ A reader emails he received a 20% reduction ($700) off an investment service by simply asking. Nothing more sophisticated.

+ I received a 15% discount (about $90) on a purchase of tennis shoes by simply asking.

+ I received a 10% discount ($500) off some roadwork by simply asking, also.

+ DirectTV said they wanted me to pay $21.74 in shipping costs to return their busted box. I said No. They said “tough.” I asked if they had a promotion that month? They took $19.95 off my bill for several months.

+ Susan, my wife,  got a huge amount off an upcoming airfare by negotiating discounts and bundling miles and general sweetness.

Readers tell me asking for the discount may the best (and only?) thing they ever learned from my blog. There is nothing wrong with asking for the discount. If they get offended or upset, blame it on Harry. Susan says it’s demeaning begging for discounts and negotiating professional fees. It’s not. It’s business, and fun.

I’m not a clothes horse. But I do like this $650 suit. From the latest issue of Esquire:

Favorite older New Yorker cartoons.

Harry Newton who wonders how real the hesitation is. His Republican friends tell they’re not investing the cash they’ve accumulated on their corporate balance sheets because Obama hates them, is destroying business and will take all their new earnings in higher taxes. Much of this belief has to do with taxes. If Congress does nothing between now and the end of the year, everyone’s taxes will rise as the Bush-era tax cuts expire. Both Democrats and Republicans have promised to keep some (Democrats) or all (Republicans) of the tax cuts. Frankly, I’d like to have low taxes, too. But I have paid capital gains taxes at 40% and at 15%. What determined my business activities was not the tax rate at the time, but the opportunities at the time.

Now is a difficult time for opportunities. My friends (the few I still have) are sitting on cash, because they don’t see the opportunities out there. Some people argue that the reluctance to hire new workers is because of the likely huge cost of Obamacare insurance for the new workers. To my brain, not hiring new workers, but paying overtime to the existing workers is a function of the uncertainty and lack of opportunities. I look every day. It ain’t easy. I’m also sitting on cash.

One lockup on Facebook shares expires today. My Facebook short will pay off nicely.