Oh wonderful Coachella Valley, California. You are magical. Imagine awaking each morning to the smell of the ripening lemon and orange trees.
Less magical is what we’re all facing:
and daily trips to the dog run:
Replete with fake plastic fireplugs and an incredible view the dogs don’t appreciate, but I do.
And while I poke fun at California living and the vehicles they drive, like this Honda Goldwing:
With its myriad dials, switches, radios, GPS, etc. etc.
With my favorite feature, the seat and grip heaters (on a motorcycle, no less)..
Would I rather be vacationing somewhere “exotic” — like Syria, and and one of its newly-destroyed cities:
Meanwhile the US stockmarket keeps doing its magical thing. I don’t quite know why. Half my friends are depressed by sequestration and the insanity of Washington. They are on the sidelines , hoarding their cash. They hope interest rates will rise soon and their sidelined-cash money will eventually pay them something, anything.
And then there are my friends who excitedly hand me lists of “new” industries, like
+ 3D printing. DDD is a favorite of old engineers who remember how much time and agony they used to spend on molds. Now we just “print” in minutes what took them months. They want their careers over again. They now see what they could really have accomplished.
+ Or how Netflix is totally changing the way we watch TV, with its Internet movies and shows. It killed Blockbuster. And it will kill the DVD sections of Walmart, Best Buy, etc.
+ My engineers speak of LED, OLED, solar, wind and biotech — with their recent favorite, IRWD:
+And everyone is talking about the smartphone / mobile explosion and how Qualcomm is so beautifully positioned with its new chips and new software to take advantage.
I was taught several things:
+ The market reflects what will happen in the economy nine months hence. Hence the economy is going to be good in nine months — though parts of it are doing pretty well now. As reflected in HD, STWD, WEN, GOOG, HON and V — stocks I’ve mentioned before.
+ You can’t predict it. So you’d better be in it, but always protect yourself with stop losses — if it suddenly turns awry.
The good news is that I don’t see a crazy asset bubble — like in housing, or dot-com stocks. Netflix, Amazon and Google are richly priced. I do have one finger on the sell button. But Berkshire Hathaway? The more Warren says he hates his performance last year, the more he motivates himself to do better and me to buy more BRKA.
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A Sumatran tiger plays with a pig before killing it at the Sumatra Tiger Rescue Centre compound, inside the Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation near Bandar Lampung, the southern tip of Sumatra island, Indonesia.
The eight critically endangered tigers currently in the care of the rescue center reportedly eat a total of 80 live pigs every month. All this according to The Week Magazine.
Harry Newton, who daily gives thanks he lives here — not there, like Europe, Russia or China.
My Slingbox works wonders from California — even on a horrible DSL line. It allows me to watch all the TV channels they don’t get here — like The Tennis Channel — and all the programs I’ve recorded, like Jon Stewart’s Daily Show.Indian Wells Tennis starts officially tomorrow. The qualifiers are on today. Admission is free, if you’re here.
Sir,
I am interested in that image of the men walking through that destroyed town in Syria. I am writing a book on Syria and looking fir a cover image. That one is very striking. Would you be kind enough to tell me who I need contact? I would be enormously grateful. Regards. Bruce McLaren
I am curious if the Fiscal Cliff/Sequestration, National Debt, nearly every city budget crisis all stems from the housing crisis and the subsequent bailouts?