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On being a great salesperson. Weekend reading.

I closed my American Express “savings” account.It was paying 0.896%. That means for every $100,000 I had in the account I would receive $896 a year in interest.

To get my money back out of them will take me 10 days. During that time they will have the use of money for free.

Or don’t they already?

Of course, if they tied the account to my American Express Platinum card and gave me some travel benefits, I might leave the money with them. But since when has a bank ever figured that simple marketing trick? I guess they’d rather gamble on derivatives.

Interesting articles to read this weekend:

+ Apps Aim to Detect Skin Cancer from the Wall Street Journal. A friend died of skin cancer he didn’t attend to in time. Melanoma is among the most aggressive of all cancers. Excerpt:

In a traditional exam, physicians check the shape, color and edges of a mole. Melanoma signs include a mole that is asymmetrical, has changed shape, has jagged edges or has darkened. Lab tests confirm diagnoses.

“If patients are using one of these [apps] to say ‘melanoma’ or ‘not melanoma,’ they’re going to get in trouble,” said Ken Beer, a West Palm Beach, Fla., dermatologist who wasn’t involved in the study. “This can’t be a person’s only dermatologist.”

To read the piece, click here.

+ Is the Cure for Cancer Inside You? from the New York Times Magazine. A long piece headed “How one scientists losing battle against hie own cancer might save the rest of us.”

To read the piece, click here.

+ Aaron Swartz obiturary. Aaron Swartz, computer programmer and activist, committed suicide on January 11th, aged 26. From the Economist:

His aim was to download as many pages as possible from an archive of academic journals called JSTOR, which was available by paid subscription only to libraries and institutions. That was morally wrong, he thought; the knowledge contained in it (often obtained with public funding, after all) had to be made available, free, to everyone. And it was absurdly simple to do that. He already had access to the library network; no need to hack into the system. He just ran a script, called keepgrabbing.py, which liberated 4.8m articles at almost dangerous speed. MIT tried to block him, but time after time he outwitted them; and then, as a last resort, he plugged in the laptop in the cupboard.

+ I Went After Guns. Obama Can, Too by JOHN HOWARD, prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. Excerpt:

IT is for Americans and their elected representatives to determine the right response to President Obama’s proposals on gun control. I wouldn’t presume to lecture Americans on the subject. I can, however, describe what I, as prime minister of Australia, did to curb gun violence following a horrific massacre 17 years ago in the hope that it will contribute constructively to the debate in the United States.

To read the piece, click here.

 +  The Tasmanian Devil by Richard Flanagan, latest New Yorker. A master gambler and his high-stakes museum. Excerpt:

He built a private art museum in Tasmania dedicated to sex and death. The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) opened in January, 2011, and was immediately welcomed by some as a new beginning for museums and derided by others as the end of art. Walsh wanted an anti-museum that challenged every shibboleth. MONA is a theatre of strange enchantments: from a wall of a hundred and fifty-one sculptures of women’s vaginas to racks of rotting cow carcasses; the remains of a suicide bomber cast in chocolate; a lavatory in which you can view your own anus; a library of blank books. At MONA’s center is the largest modernist work ever made in Australia, the near Olympic-pool-size “Snake,” painted by Sidney Nolan in the early nineteen-seventies. In less than two years, the museum has become Tasmania’s foremost tourist attraction and a significant driver of its languishing economy.

To read the piece, click here.

+ Bad Dreams All Around from this weekend’s Economist.

NEARLY a decade ago All Nippon Airways (ANA) brushed aside doubts about Boeing’s as-yet unbuilt 787 “Dreamliner” and placed the biggest launch order for a new jet in the planemaker’s history: 50 aircraft. Today, Japan is the world’s largest market for the 787. ANA and its domestic rival Japan Airlines (JAL) between them fly half of the 49 Dreamliners in service. As they have now discovered, that makes them the guinea-pigs in a complex aviation experiment.

The decisions this week by regulators in Japan, America and elsewhere to ground the 787 follows a string of safety problems, including two fuel leaks and an electrical fire aboard a domestic flight that required an emergency landing. There is particular worry about the potential for the plane’s lithium-ion batteries to catch fire. The news hit Boeing’s shares and ANA’s. But their executives will not be the only ones losing sleep.

To read the piece, click here.

+ Matt Taibbi’s review of the movie Zero Dark Thirty from Rolling Stone:

I went to see Zero Dark Thirty this weekend with great anticipation. I’ve always loved Kathryn Bigelow’s movies – I’m a fan to an almost embarrassing degree. Like most people I liked the Busey-Keanu surf-and-bromance film Point Break, but I also loved the The Weight of Water, as well as Strange Days, The Widowmaker. Bigelow’s movies are visually engrossing, innovative and smart, and I couldn’t wait to see what she did with a real-life subject matter that had the potential to be both the greatest detective story and the greatest action-movie plot of all time.

So I went to see the movie and like most people I know who watched it, I was blown away. On a pure whodunit level, the bulk of the film was an unbelievably compelling thriller, and purely on the level of action cinematography, the final scene – with all its real-world drama and consequence, plus the unique fact the movie revealed secrets about one of the shadowiest, most highly-classified operations ever – was about as pulse-pounding and exciting as movies get.

To read the review, click here.

My best real estate agent: I just rented a vacation house from her for two weeks in March.

Bev Howard sells and leases home in California’s Coachella Valley. I asked her for five tips on becoming a successful realtor. I got twelve. What’s impressive is that she responded quickly and with thought. I’ve made this request to dozens of salespeople and no one has ever come through. There’s real thought in this small list. I wish they’d teach this stuff in schools. I wish they’d teach it to some of my contractors.

1. Agency, A definition: Your client has entrusted you to act on their behalf. Take this as a compliment and represent them with your knowledge, honesty and integrity.

2. Follow Through (When you say you are going to do something, DO IT and always keep your client in the loop)

3. Return phone calls/texts and emails. (Failure to return calls is the biggest complaint heard in the sales industry.) I could go on and on about this one, but bottom line, you return your clients calls and watch your business grow. Validate  and respect our client.

4. Client Confidentiality (DO NOT make your clients an “over cocktails” conversation.)

5. Listen (Listen to their needs and help them achieve their goals. It will come back to you ten times over.)

6. Go the extra mile (Trust me on this, your client will remember and tell all their friends about the part  you played in making their transaction go smoothly;  you will reap the rewards)

7. Follow-up (At least 2x’s a year, follow up with clients you have closed a transaction with. Let them know how important they are to you and how much you appreciated their business,

8. Love what you do Begin your day with a smile, optimism and enthusiasm. For me, being a Realtor is not a job, it is a lifestyle. I love what I do.   On my way to the office, I think about what new adventure is about to happen today.

9. Network: Use your data base, Farm your territory. Make 5 new phone calls a day. The rewards are immeasurable. If you don’t do it, the agent around the corner will get the listing or the sale!

10. Be appreciative of your clients, management team, your co-workers and the company that you work for.

11. Become Involved. Lend a hand to the community in which you live.  MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

12. A Mistake! God forbid if we should make one, but if you do, don’t try to cover it up. Apologize, fix it and move forward.

The Australian Tennis Open is on. The previous day’s matches  are on The Tennis Channel during the day. It’s playing live on ESPN2 beginning at 9 PM and going through the night. Australia is 16 hours ahead of EST in the U.S. and 13 hours ahead of the west coast.

I watch the tennis, then go on the court and try to do what they do. Sometimes it works. Not often.

Favorite recent New Yorker cartoon.


Harry Newton, who is mulling some Vanguard index funds for some of the money that’s been loosened up my several muni bonds being called. I’ve done so well with VWALX… Now I’m eyeing VTSMX and  VGTSX. But there are zillions of others. Your suggestions? Drop me a line, please.

Of course, I could buy Apple, or a typewriter company.

57 Comments

  1. KC Chuck says:

    VWALX= Vanguard High-Yield Tax-Exempt Adm

  2. cliff says:

    I have a lot of Vanguard funds but I go by names, not ticker. Give me the names of the funds you are looking at – Equity Income? Total bond? And I’ll render my opinion.

  3. Islandgirl says:

    good realtors ARE tough to find. I recently attended an open house and the realtor kept apologizing for the condition of the place. The condition could have been greatly improved had she picked up a broom and swept the filthy floors, or hired a cleaner and passed the cost to the owner or get reimbursed out of escrow. Yes realtors are ultimately in business to make money for themselves (good business practice!), but good realtors that are sensitive to their clients needs and go that extra step – frankly are keepers!

  4. cliff says:

    How many of you bears have missed the 119 percent run up in stocks since 2009? This is now one of the top nine bull markets of all time. Yet, Harry has fretted and worried throughout.

    Re: the Realtor post from today. I am convinced there is no such thing as a good Realtor. As minimum, they are as rare as good brokers. Don’t trust Realtors, they’re used car salesmen.

  5. Fderfler says:

    With Apple stock in particular there is a great disconnect between the loading dock (products) and the stock, but… that caveat aside… this Lenovo IdeaPad tablet is getting RAVE reviews and might become a significant thorn in Apple’s bubble. Anecdotal evidence shows iPad users in airport waiting lounges putting away their Apple products in humble shame when a few “Yogas” show up.
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 11.6″ IPS Touch Screen Ultrabook Tablet Computer, NVIDIA Tegra T30 1.7GHz, 2GB RAM, 64GB SSD, Windows 8 Home Premium 64-Bit

  6. laughnow says:

    That bit about Australian gun control is a joke. there are as many articles lamenting it as for it, and assaults have gone up since guns are gone. Below is a moderate article that claims the homicides are down but violent crime is up in Australia since guns were controlled.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323777204578195470446855466.html

    But of course never mention use of psychotropic drugs were involved in almost all mass killings along with guns in the US. The MSM will never discuss that.

    But then again, you never said you were fair and balanced. Of course the MSM never was, only a liberal mouthpiece spouting lies.

    • Fderfler says:

      There are many MANY articles full of statistics showing the failure of gun control in Australia to control crime. Be that as it may, there are far too many weapons in the US to exert meaningful control. There is already a significant market for “coffins”… buried storage facilities for weapons. In Florida alone we have over 1 million folks with active concealed carry permits. There might well be 100 times that number of weapons in private hands in this state alone. The “Executive Orders” executed by he-who-shall-remain-nameless are a farce and show. The only things they do are: 1. Expand control by the Federal Government using healthcare as a weapon 2. Take away focus from the stinky financial situation 3. Send a big middle finger message to the South and Middle West from the Eastern Liberal Elite.

      • Scooter says:

        Some, not many realize that the government doesn’t care a whiff about our safety or our kids safety, If they really did, then this would be down the list things to deal with as there are plenty of other issues that need to be addressed first.

        Someday, when Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance and welfare, etc. run out of money, they don’t want people shooting back.

        Transform America. Yes we can!

  7. Michael says:

    So, you closed the AMEX savings account. I have one of those accounts as well. Where are you going to put the money? Any suggestions for higher interest rates than .896%? Thanks.