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Harry Newton's In Search of The Perfect Investment
Technology Investor.
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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
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in choosing the Google ads on this site. Thus I cannot endorse, though some
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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.
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