In Search of the Perfect Investment

Apple remains an animal. Why own anything else?

It still sports a P/E of only 17.25, which is much lower than say Lululemon’s 68, or Chipotle’s 61.

Annaly dropped its quarterly dividend to 55 cents. Previous four dividends were 57 cents, 60 cents,  65 cents and 62 cents. The stock has dropped 14% from its high. It’s presently yielding 15%. The dividend has cushioned the stock fall. I can see it falling further, as its margins continue to tighten and management continues to play ultra-conservative with leverage. It could juice up its profits with more borrowings, but hasn’t.

It’s not a pretty chart. AGNC is holding up much better, and sporting a higher dividend yield, namely 18.6%. Annaly’s dividend will be paid to shareholders of record on March 30.

You (or your children) can get your startup funded. There is a huge amount of money available. And a huge number of wealthy investors looking for a place to put their money.

n short, you (or your children) can get money. That’s the good news. the bad news is that most startups do an absolutely awful job of writing themselves up. As a result investors, like me, trash their proposals after a cursory three minute read. Examples of stuff that will get your startup not funded:

+ Not telling us precisely what you do. Yes, I actually got one yesterday that I still have no idea what it actually does.

+ Telling us too little about yourself and too much about how big your potential market is.  I really don’t need to hear — again — that Facebook has 500 million subscribers, all eager to buy your service.

+ Give me a break with the flowery language, the purple prose. I know you have “breakthrough proprietary technology.” Everybody does. I know your product is “revolutionary.” Everybody’s is. And I know pour product is  “very unique.” Enough already.

Renting vacation homes is the way to go. You get a bigger house in a more interesting place at cheaper than a hotel. You can rent from:

1. A local broker, or

2. VRBO.com, as in Vacation Rentals By Owner, or

3. HotPads.com.

I just learned about HotPads. It’s the most creative, well put-together web site I’ve ever seen. Please visit it. Enjoy the pleasure of seeing great, creative software in action.

Foxwoods is fighting for its life. The story of what happens when the biggest casino in the country takes on too much debt. Fascinating cover story from last weekend’s New York Times Magazine. Click here. Worth reading also: What the author thinks about gambling. Hint: He thinks the only way to make money at gambling is blackjack. Click here.

The New York Times cuts its free articles per month to ten. Don’t despair. Business Insider has a piece, “7 Ways To Beat The New York Times Paywall.”  Click here. We subscribe to the print edition, so stealing is not necessary.

Thank you JP Morgan Chase. I have one money market savings account with those nice people. It has $1,373.78. For the entire year 2011, Chase paid me 12 cents interest. Such generous people.

Tell your friends overseas. They can now buy from U.S. web sites. Read yesterday’s New York Times piece, “U.S. Stores Learn How to Ship to Foreign Shoppers”. Click here.

Best Buy sucks big time. A manufacturer emailed me, “Buy my product at Best Buy.” I went to the local LA Quinta, CA Best Buy. The product wasn’t there. Nor were the three other products I was looking for.

In fact, the place was devoid of hot new products. It seemed to be selling only product that didn’t sell online. Failed, boring products sold by failed, bored, unknowledgeable,  staff. In contrast, the local Indian Wells Apple store was thronged, often with children buying iPads and Macs for their grandparents.

It’s tempting to sell Best Buy short:

But others have the same idea. 16% of Best Buy’s float is sold short. Hmmm, says he mulling. Most analysts rate the stock as “hold,” whatever that means.

TBT is still a lousy investment. Though it is edging up. I bought a little recently. I’m currently down the grand sum of $67.25. Maybe it will bounce a bit more.

Favorite recent New Yorker cartoons:

Harry Newton whose best (and most expensive vacation) ever was Africa eyeing gorgeous creatures, e.g.

Friends tell me a cheaper, but still great Africa is do-it-yourself in Namibia. Google Namibia. You’ll find lots of useful stuff.