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Searching for bargains for now, and kids stocks for the long-haul.

These two have faltered: Hard to believe it’s all over for them. Their P/Es are high, though. MA is 28 and V is 25.

MAMax VisaMax

Nice bounce yesterday in the S&P500. Harder and harder to pick “bargains.” But good reason to own S&P500 index ETFs.

WFM looks like it’s bottomed.

WFMBottomoing

My friends who know tell me it’s critical to feed only organic food to babies and kids up to three years of age. Those are their formative years. And they don’t need chemicals that you and I eat every day.

 Things are getting better, allegedly. From today’s New York Times:

Demand Up, U.S. Economy Shows Gains

The American economy is gaining renewed momentum, with data released on Tuesday suggesting strong demand by businesses for airplanes, machinery and other manufactured items, as well as rising confidence among consumers, despite a cooling in the housing market.

Overall orders for durable goods in July jumped by 22.6 percent, the biggest one-month increase since the Commerce Department began compiling this series of data in 1992.

That strength, though, was exaggerated by a huge surge in demand for airplanes made by Boeing.

Excluding the always-volatile transportation sector, core capital goods orders fell by 0.5 percent in July, but remain up more than 11 percent over the most recent three months on an annualized basis.

“The U.S. economy is on solid ground,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS. “Europe is struggling, Japan is struggling, but all of this suggests the U.S. is doing quite well.”

Europe has been hurt by the austerity policies in place across much of the Continent, he said, noting that growth essentially stalled in the second quarter. After a very weak first quarter, Mr. Behravesh estimates the United States economy will grow at a rate of roughly 3 percent over the remainder of 2014.

Latest telephone scam:
Magazine subscription “services” start with “I’m calling about your XYZ Magazine subscription. Are you receiving it OK?”

If you answer NO, they’ll hang up on you. If you answer yes, they’ll try to renew you. It’s a scam to get your credit card.

Apple annoyance.
I run Microsoft Outlook on a Lenovo X230 Windows machine, which I actually like. When I transfer Outlook over, iTunes doesn’t transfer the notes on Calendar — like a boarding pass. (I’m flying to see Sophie today.) Really dumb and most annoying.

Ah, The Drive of Progress.
“Högertrafikomläggningen” – the day Sweden switched from driving on the left to driving on the right (1967). Must have been fun.

SwedenSwitches

The Audit and The Rabbi.
Myron Greenberg, a wealthy L.A. businessman received a letter of Audit from the IRS. It really upsets him and he called his accountant, Saul Meyers.

Myron (pleading): “Saul, what are they doing to me? Why are they doing this to me?”

Saul (calming): “Myron, don’t worry about it. I’ve got all the receipts, the account is up to date, it’s no problem. But let me give you a bit of advice. When you go to the Audit, make a bad impression. Wear the crummiest, dirtiest clothes you’ve got. Have holes in your shoes, ripped pants and look shabby. I mean really look terrible, because if they have a little sympathy, they’ll go easy on you.”

Then Myron called his Lawyer, Charlie Steinberg.

His Lawyer said: “Myron, it’s no problem, I’m sure they got the receipts, I’m sure everything is up to date, you’ve got a great accountant, don’t worry about it. Let me give you a tip. When you go to the Audit, it’s very important that you make a good impression. Wear your best suit, and your shirt with a silk tie and cuff links and shine your shoes, look like somebody. Because if you look like a somebody they respect you and will go easy on you.”

Now he’s torn. That night he bumped into his Rabbi at the Deli. He tells the Rabbi of hjis problem of what to wear.

Rabbi:  “Myron, it reminds me of sometimes when I perform a wedding. The bride’s father will tell his daughter that on her wedding night to wear a nightgown with a high collar and long sleeves and a full-length robe…cover up, you know, be a little demure. And the mother says, ‘Don’t be silly. Wear a low cut “negligee” with the cleavage sticking out — look a little sexy’… and, Myron, I will say to you just like I say to the bride on her wedding night, it makes no difference what you wear, you’re gonna’ get fucked.”

HarryNewton
Harry Newton who presents: Here’s Sophie in her first Photoshopped photo:

Sophie

She actually looks like this, despite Photoshop. She’s cute. She’s two days old. Time for her Gmail account, her iPhone, her Facebook and  Twitter accounts, her passport,  her known traveler number and her social security number. Poor kid, I wonder if she has any idea of what awaits her?

Time to buy her one share of Kid Favorite” stocks — Nike, Disney, Facebook, Apple,  JNJ (for the bandaids she’ll use). What else? Anyone got some suggestions? We need to put together a GrandParents Dozen. A portfolio of 13 kids stocks for the long-haul.

5 Comments

  1. Mark Galvin says:

    Harry, Get her a Health Savings Account and a Electronic Medical Record!
    So this is where you’re hiding!

  2. Lucky says:

    Suggest stock in Gerber Baby Foods and Products…I believe it is a subsidiary of Nestle…hopefully they have some that are organic and made in the USA… Have a great trip to see Sophie Gramps…

  3. Ronald_Reagan says:

    Harry…..from the NY Times: “Things are getting better, allegedly.” Now lets just for one moment imagine if we had a Republican as president. Do you believe for a nano-second that the Times would have this type of article running. If you do please meet me in lower Manhattan I’v got a bridge to sell you….cheap too.
    How anyone can continue to read one of the leading propaganda sources in this country is beyond me.

    • bruuno says:

      NYTimes has always been part of the Establishment, especially when it comes to substantive alternative news. Republican/ Democrat reality check: Eisenhower today would have to run as a liberal Democrat. Most Democrats today would have fit in with Moderate Republicans, who no longer exist. The political establishment has moved significantly to the right, as everyone except Rip Van Winkle knows. Most Americans are at heart progressive but you would not know it because real democracy has been stifled, mostly because the center of gravity when it comes to money and power has shifted. Just ask the Obamas or the Clintons.. Or Nader and maybe Ron Paul if you really want the truth. Enjoy the ride while you can if you call yourself conservative, this is your time.

  4. drdebt says:

    how ’bout 1 share of BRKA?