In Search of the Perfect Investment

Surprise. Surprise. Russia raised its bank rate to 8%. So? Russia is reeling under all the sanctions the U.S. and Europe are inflicting. One day Russia helpstheir guys shoot down an innocent plane. The next day they’re shooting artillery shells across the border from Russia into Ukraine. Putin doesn’t want war with us. He just wants to grab more territory. He wants to restore Russian “grandeur.” He gets it. We don’t.

Either we let him have Eastern Ukraine or we supply the Ukrainians with arms. Shouldn’t be bad for U.S. stockmarkets. Does 3M, Pfizer or GE have a plant in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Luhansk, Mariupol, Kryvyi, Rih Makiivka — the major cities of Eastern Ukraine. Can you even pronounce them? Do you care?

Amazon. Great to buy from. Not so great to invest in. The company “lost” more money. And the stock went down. Dah! Read my lips, says Bezos. “We’re investing for long-term growth, not short-term profits. So why are you surprised?” I get delivery of my Amazon stuff faster than from any other online store. That tells me Bezos’s infrastructure investments are working. I’d rather buy from them than own their stock.

There’s a lesson here somewhere: Peter Lynch used to say “buy the stock of the companies whose products you like and you like to deal with.” It doesn’t always work that way any longer.

Everyone suddenly has back problems. The lower back is weak. No engineer would design a bridge without the support the back lacks. MRIs and x-rays may or may not find anything. One study showed little correlation between bad X-rays and bad pain. Often “normal” backs had abnormal pain. And abnormal ones didn’t hurt at all. My solution is simple: don’t stress the back with weight, stupid work (like weeding), lack of rest or mental stress. Get 20 minute naps, lying on your back. Use your arms and shoulders to get you in and out of chairs. Do exercise to keep your juices flowing. Don’t over-stress your back with overweight. A big tummy messes up the mechanics on how your back and your body are meant to work.

How to start a new business. Lots of my readers have heard my call for independence, and now own their own business. The primary entry point is via the vines, also called the Tarzan Theory. Swing from what you’re doing today to the opportunity of tomorrow. “What the world needs is…” Fill in the blank and start your own business.

It’s never been cheaper or easier to start your own business. You can start an online store from your kitchen table. The cloud offers immense power in penny increments. China will make anything your mind can create. There’s money around to finance your startup — from Kickstarter to your relatives to your friends to VCs to angels to boutique investment banks. There’s Apple’s App Store. It has over 1,200,000 apps available for downloading anywhere — even your local Starbucks. That’s a lot of people’s dreams. There’s room for yours. Fun thing: Even the stupidest ones get funded. Download Yo. Seriously stupid.

Perseverance or obsession? There’s a fine line between the two. I’m persevering to be a better tennis player. I’m obsessed with beating Skip.

Personally I value obsession in CEOs. It’s what makes great companies. If they tell you that you’re obsessed, take it as a compliment. Which it is.

The banks and many institutions are selling their “junk” real estate. Often at reasonable prices. Worth checking. Lots of good stuff is becoming available.

Fidelity has upgraded their Active Trade Pro software. It’s now version 10.2 and a few new features, including Trade Armor which gives a snapshot of a stock:

Stock ideas this morning: My friend likes SODA, though I’m not big on catching falling knives. Cramer instanced three broken stocks — Qualcomm (QCOM), Celgene (CELG) and Boeing (BA). But they’re not “broken companies.” I agree with his assessment. I own QCOM and BA and will continue to own them.

Best article on what’s happening.

To read the entire New Republic, click here.

Summer idiocy continued. I send an overnight envelope to New York. Guaranteed delivery noon. I pay $19.95. It’s delivered, according to the Internet:

The package is really delivered at 1:09 PM. Over an hour late.

Now, that’s creative use of the Internet — and by the Post Office, no less.

Harry Newton, who’s obsessed with finishing the 28th edition. Writing a book on technology gives you a real feeling. A local artist just upgraded his Internet line to 45 megs upload. That will allow  him to send images of his art quickly to fat-walleted buyers all over the world. Museums are hungry. Too many have been built. There’s too little good art to fill them. My friend makes it by the bucketload. He has a whole staff of minions to help with the selling, packing, shipping and installing.