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Caution

We’re in earnings seasons. Lots of surprises — up and down. Lots of hefty price movements — up and down. Hard.

I feel positive about housing improvements (hence HD) and pets. More than two thirds of American households now have pets. Hence CENT and HSIC.

I love Facebook (FB). All my friends extol the virtues of advertising on FB. They get better results than on Google. Cheaper too.

Verizon now owns a near-complete set of Internet relics, including AOL and  Yahoo. Verizon paid a ridiculous $4.83 billion for Yahoo’s “core” assets including email service, news and financial websites and advertising tools. Verizon wants to use the AOL/Yahoo combination to compete against Google and Facebook for Internet advertising dollars. From looking at their pictures, everyone on Verizon’s board seems to be between 60 and death. Lowell C. McAdam, chairman and CEO is 62. Mark Zuckerberg  of Facebook is 32. Good luck with that battle.

I wish Verizon would spent the money to improve my cellphone service, which is miserable and has been so for 30 years, especially up in Columbia County, mid-New York State.

I’m fearful for Apple. I don’t sense any excitement with the iPhone 7, now due out in September.

Pokemon Go is a gigantic time waster. You don’t need it. It is the Apple Store’s biggest download.

WAZE and Wi-Fi calling remain the two biggest reasons to own an iPhone. Make sure your Wi-Fi calling is turned out. Settings/Phone/Wi-Fi calling. Make sure you keep WAZE updated.

Good advice from Bottom Line Health, an excellent monthly newsletter:

HeartburnDanger

 I gave up Prilosec a few months ago. I use TUMS, which actually works.

Web sites will give you 15% off, if you sign for their emails.

This is good, especially if you actually want to buy something. But signing up means endless emails. Hence, Harry’s strategy:

1. You need one email address you don’t care about, e.g. HarryIdiot@gmail.com. You can happily kill this email address anytime and you won’t lose anything.

2. You need one real email address for receiving emails you actually want, e.g. HarryWant@gmail.com.

3. You need one for the family and friends (if you have any) that shouldn’t change, e,g. HarryPermanent@gmail.com.

Don’t buy anything on the Internet — unless you get 15% off. If they won’t give it to you, call the operator and ask for a coupon number.

In Search of the Perfect Hearing Aid:

Ear2

Six things I know about hearing:

1. Cover your ears when there are loud noises, which actually wear your ear out.

2. Get the wax cleaned out of your ears regularly by a real ear doctor using a metal scoop.

3. Buy Sennheiser wireless earphones for each of your TVs. Now your wife won’t complain that you have the volume up too high.

4. “Professional” hearing aids work for people with big hearing loss. But for folks like me with limited hearing loss, professional hearing aids are irksome: They amplify noise. They don’t work in crowded noisy places. And they’re ridiculously expensive – many times more than an iPhone which has far more technology.

5. Always use hearing devices in theaters and movie houses.

6. Cupping your hand around your ear works.

There is no such animal as the perfect hearing aid.

Conventions work. The best sleep aid ever.

Prostitute

Historical Fact

Who says building a wall won’t work?

greatWall

The Chinese built one 2,000 years ago, and they still don’t have any Mexicans.

HarryNewton
Harry Newton, who actually believes that daily exercise works. I have too many friends whose 50 years of inactivity is finally catching up to them — with falls and twisted ankles and broken ribs. Yuch. Please start moving. Even a little walking.

It’s hard to write a column every day in the summer.