In Search of the Perfect Investment

Remember the gurus?

Last night Jim Cramer couldn’t have been more bullish.

This morning I read  that Jim Paulsen has “5 Reasons Stocks May Fall 15%.” They are: less economic upside, falling financial liquidity, investor complacency, rising U.S. Treasury yields and inflationary pressures. Read the story here.

I don’t buy any of his reasons.

But I do buy that we need to look outside FAANG, which is why I own stocks like Avery Dennison, Becton Dickinson, Chubb, Central Garden and Pet (“Passionately caring for the Gardens and Pets we all love” are the words on their latest annual report), EZU (iShares Eurozone), Home Depot, General Electric (for the ultra-long-haul), Travelers, United Health, and Zoetis. There’s a full (revised and up-to-date list of what I own in the right hand column on my web site)

For now, I’m eyeing the list of Nasdaq-listed Israeli companies, which Nasdaq’s PR people kindly sent me. Another day.

I’m eyeing Cramer’s recommendations from last night:

I’m very pleased with the continuing healthy results at Central Garden and Pet (CENT). This chart is from CENT’s annual report, which I received yesterday. Pretty impressive?

Gardens and pets. What could not be more American?

Stuff happens

+ The real estate broker lost the keys.

+ The dog-walker tripped and broke her arm.

Replace your iPhone battery

Your iPhone is slow because your battery is old. Get a new one at Apple for a bargain $29.
Details, click here. 

By they way, the batteries on my new iPhone 8 plus and my Apple Watch last a lot longer. Amazingly longer.

Christmas gifts to billionaires

Trump billed himself as a populist. But he favored rich donors with lobbyists at the expense of our environment. Read this Washington Post piece, The Daily 202: Trump’s true priorities revealed in holiday news dumps. Click here.

Live longer, cont’d

+ Understand there’s a relationship between rest, sanity and wellness.

+ I’m off salt. Salt is easy. Sugar is hard. Sugar is poison.

+ Eat grapefuit. It’s really good for you.

+ Don’t take diet supplements. None has been tested for efficacy. Few are made in factories that are checked for cleanliness.

+  Above all, don’t go near Prevagen, “the biggest selling brain supplement” that comes from jelly fish. Recognize this clip from one of Prevagen’s ubiquitous ads? My brain doesn’t look like that. Neither does yours.

For fun, I googled and found:

Some of us remember Christine Keeler

She just died. She was gorgeous. She was at the center of the Profumo Scandal. She brought down a U.K. government.

There’s an obituary on her in the Economist. She was 75 — my generation. Click here.

New Year’s resolutions you can absolutely keep

+ Gain weight. At least 30 pounds.

+ Stop exercising. (It’s a big time waster.)

+ Read less. (Makes you think too much).

+ Procrastinate more. (Starting tomorrow).

+ Leave the toilet seat up. (That’s seriously unfriendly.)

+ Drink less water. (Think of what fish do in it.)

+ Wear the same jeans and shirt every day. (Saves

+ Respond to everything with, “Whatever.”

+ Go further into debt. (Buy bitcoin on margin.)

+ Let the cats do whatever they want.

+ Stop expecting anything good from politicians. (That’s an easy one.)

+ Wait around for opportunity to knock. (That’s Intel’s strategy. It’s shouldn’t be yours.)

+ Focus on the faults of others. (They like to hear their faults.)

+ Explain to people why they’re wrong.

Bingo, no more frustration ever again with missing New Year Resolutions.

Favorite recent New Yorker cartoons

Harry Newton, who’s feeling jovial after yesterday. Even the weather is cooperating. It’s getting a little warmer.

Give thanks you don’t live in Iran, Venezuela, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Zimbabwe. Those places used to be so nice, until the kleptocrats took over and curbed freedoms.