Apple’s annual meeting starts at noon EST.Maybe they’ll split the stock. Give away some of the $137 billion they have in cash. Or announce a bigger iPhone 6? Or do something to get investors’ juices flowing again? If only Steve were alive.
Sequestration is approaching. I suspect the super intelligent officials we elected will do something — anything — and the market will get a boost. So I’m staying relatively well invested. This is a “feeling,” however. Washington’s financial incompetence knows no bounds. It will be marginally “interesting” to see how this plays out. I have my fingers crossed. Diversification (and a little gold) remain the only useful strategy.
Interesting is one of those words that means nothing. Except when I was young and went on dates. And they told me I was “interesting.” Right then, I knew they weren’t interested and I wasn’t interesting.
Harry does JCP. I went shopping at JCPenney. I loved the New York Penn Station store. I liked the clothes. The prices were right. I bought three things, including a $30 pair of bright blue Izod trousers.
I also bought a pair of $28 grey Dockers shorts that had a special pocket for a cell phone. Good idea.
My skeptical wife asked this morning “if I was trying to keep JCPenney afloat all my myself?”
Not nice.
Stock is improving, slowly. Very slowly.
AXIH is a spec for the long-haul. From its web site:
AXION is Greening Tomorrow’s Infrastructure
AXION International is changing the world in which we live. Our ECOTRAXr Composite Railroad Ties and STRUXUREr Composite Infrastructure Products are made from 100% recycled materials. Using our patented formula, our products keep literally tons of plastic bottles and waste from ending up in oceans and landfills. Economically and environmentally savvy, AXION products can be found in bridge and railway infrastructure projects around the world. They install quickly, using traditional methods, and are virtually impervious to the elements. They will not rust, splinter, crumble, rot, absorb moisture or leach toxic chemicals into the environment. AXION products are completely impervious to infestation by insects, marine borers and other marine parasites. Requiring virtually no maintenance, they yield a dramatically lower total lifetime cost. Not only is AXION International committed to changing the world in which we live, but we intend to leave it a cleaner and greener world than it is today.
The labor of replacing railroad ties is the big expense, not the cost of buying new ones.
Axion’s financials suck, though they’re improving. They’re still losing money, but less and less of it. The stock has bounced back a little. Buy a handful for the grandkids:
The 10 most miserable U.S. cities. From Forbes Magazine (I cannot get these columns to line up.)
1. Detroit, Michigan
2. Flint, Michigan
3. Rockford, Illinois
4. Chicago, Illinois
5. Modesto, California
6. Vallejo, California
7. Warren, Michigan
8. Stockton, California
9. Lake County, Illinois
10. New York, New York
Dogs Welcome. But owners?
A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he planned to visit on his vacation. “I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well behaved. Would you permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?”
The hotel owner replied,
SIR: I’ve been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I’ve never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or pictures off the walls. I’ve never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And I’ve never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Your dog is welcome at my hotel. And, if your dog will vouch for you, you’re welcome to stay here, also.
Harry Newton, who tried to switch over to a new, faster laptop this morning — from a Lenovo X220 to an X230. He forgot the ancient, wise adage: “If it works, don’t mess with it.” He’ll probably go back today to the X220. Newer is often not better. Dumb!
Don’t know if you heard this afternoon but JCP earnings completely tanked and stock thru the floor. The Harry Newton curse strikes again.
I’m assuming – and hoping – that the Republicans and a few intelligent Democrats will hold and allow the sequester to take place. Any and all cuts in government spending are good, and far better than just adding to the debt for our kids and grandkids, while severely punishing retired middle class folks. While adding to the wealth of our politicians. Maybe our great leader will take a break from playing golf and create a real budget with his Senate friends (my MAC tried to make that “fiends”). And if the stock market gets hammered – good! (It won’t.) The Warren Buffett’s and his Wall Street friends deserve what they’ve voted for.
yeah, if only Steve was alive… amen to that!
Who’s the next Steve and the next Bill? Steve made a giant thing, the computer, smaller and personal. Bill put that thing in every office and every home. He replaced every file cabinet with a file system, and every typewriter with a printer- and he got IBM to do it for him. Maybe someone can make the giant power plants into something smaller and personal, and then someone can put that into every office building and home. I wonder if they are out there somewhere.
Harry, you are a JCP fan so when will you look at JCP debt? The yields are actually worth putting in taxable accounts.