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9:00 AM EST, Tuesday, August 26, 2008: We have not reached bottom in the market. Cash remains king. Keep it in multiple banks. There's something seriously comforting from receiving my first month's bank statement. I deposite $95,000. It's now $95,187.55. That's not in Buffett's league. But, heh, I've still got the money. It's in the bank (this time JPMorgan Chase) and backed 100% by the U.S. Government.

Shorting financials remains the key way to make money in this awful market. If shorting's not for you, silver and gold have eased back to where they look interesting.

Another bank goes: Columbian Bank & Trust became the ninth bank to fail so far in 2008. Some people believe as many as 100 will collapse this year. There remain plenty of regional banks to short, e.g. Sovereign Bancorp. Financials remain this year's classic cockroach stocks. Every second day another "cockroach" -- more bad news -- appears. I'm surprised by how far Lehman Brothers has fallen this month. I shorted it, made money, but covered it way above where it is now.

How bad is it for the financials? This morning Bloomberg reports that Citigroup is banning off-site employee meetings and cutting back on color photocopying. Financials globally, says Bloomberg, have eliminated 101,250 jobs since the beginning of the credit crunch. Deutsche Bank requires dealmakers to get their managers' approval for taxi journeys in advance, and business meals must not exceed $92 per person. Citigroup is cutting external training. Purchases of computer hardware and software must also be pre-approved under the new rules, as must all non-client travel. "`We will be conducting a review of our Blackberry usage,'' Citigroup said. ``In the interim, all new Blackberries will require pre-approval.''

As Buffett said yesterday, this stuff is rippling through the economy. Few are immune.

Most useful tip ever: And one I bet you never forget. You can open any zippered suitcase by simply inserting a ballpoint pen into the zipper and pushing. The zipper will spring open. You won't have broken the zipper. These days they're all "self-healing." Open and close it a couple of times. Hence, you shouldn't bother locking zippered suitcases. I won't bore you with the entire story of the suitcase I opened and why.

Second useful tip. Cameras assume everything is 18% grey -- the density of sky or grass. Sometimes you have to compensate by pointing the camera at something dark, holding the shutter button half way down and then shooting what you want. This is Bruge, also called the Venice of the north. With Photoshop and lots of time, you could make a perfect picture.

The Convention versus the Tennis last night: I opted for the tennis.

US Open 2008 Tennis TV Schedule
 USA  Tuesday, August 26
 2:00 am - 4:00 am
 Match of the Day (taped)
 USA  Tuesday, August 26
 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
 Opening Round
 USA  Tuesday, August 26
 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 Opening Round
 USA  Wednesday, August 27
 2:00 am - 4:00 am
 Match of the Day (taped)
 USA  Wednesday, August 27
 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
 Men's Opening / Women's 2nd
 USA  Wednesday, August 27
 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 Men's Opening / Women's 2nd
 USA  Thursday, August 28
 2:00 am - 4:00 am
 Match of the Day (taped)
 USA  Thursday, August 28
 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
 2nd Round
 USA  Thursday, August 28
 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 2nd Round
 USA  Friday, August 29
 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
 Men's 2nd / Women's 3rd
 USA  Friday, August 29
 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 Men's 2nd / Women's 3rd
 CBS  Saturday, August 30
 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
 3rd Round
 USA  Saturday, August 30
 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 3rd Round
 CBS  Sunday, August 31
 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
 Men's 3rd / Women's 4th
 USA  Sunday, August 31
 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 Men's 3rd / Women's 4th
 CBS  Monday, September 1
 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
 4th Round
 USA  Monday, September 1
 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
 4th Round
 CBS  Monday, September 1
 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 4th Round
 USA  Tuesday, September 2
 2:00 am - 4:00 am
 Match of the Day (taped)
 USA  Tuesday, September 2
 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
 Men's 4th / Women's QF
 USA  Tuesday, September 2
 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 Men's 4th / Women's QF
 USA  Wednesday, September 3
 2:00 am - 4:00 am
 Match of the Day (taped)
 USA  Wednesday, September 3
 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
 Quarterfinals
 USA  Wednesday, September 3
 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 Quarterfinals
 USA  Thursday, September 4
 2:00 am - 4:00 am
 Match of the Day (taped)
 USA  Thursday, September 4
 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
 Men's QF / Mixed Doubles Final
 USA  Thursday, September 4
 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
 Men's QF / Women's Doubles SF
 CBS  Friday, September 5
 12:30 pm - 6:00 pm
 Men's Doubles Final / Women's SF
 CBS  Saturday, September 6
 12:00 noon - 6:00 pm
 Men's SF
 CBS  Saturday, September 6
 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
 Women's Final
 USA  Sunday, September 7
 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
 Women's Doubles Final
 CBS  Sunday, September 7
 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
 Men's Final

Ascending
As the graveside service ended, there was thunder, lightning and more thunder.

The little old man looked at the pastor and said, 'Well, she's there. She's God's problem now."


This column is about my personal search for the perfect investment. I don't give investment advice. For that you have to be registered with regulatory authorities, which I am not. I am a reporter and an investor. I make my daily column -- Monday through Friday -- freely available for three reasons: Writing is good for sorting things out in my brain. Second, the column is research for a book I'm writing called "In Search of the Perfect Investment." Third, I encourage my readers to send me their ideas, concerns and experiences. That way we can all learn together. My email address is . You can't click on my email address. You have to re-type it . This protects me from software scanning the Internet for email addresses to spam. I have no role in choosing the Google ads on this site. Thus I cannot endorse, though some look interesting. If you click on a link, Google may send me money. Please note I'm not suggesting you do. That money, if there is any, may help pay Michael's business school tuition. Read more about Google AdSense, click here and here.