Yesterday was amazing: The market plummeted. My net worth went up in smoke. I was depressed. Then it all came back. By the end of the day I was up. Go figure.
Amazing volatility. I wish I could market it as a weight loss program.
The real estate business is amazing. A fund I’m in is buying a building for $16,500,00. The last time the building sold was in 2006. The price then was $56,700,000. I don’t make these numbers up.
It’s not a “bargain” at $16.5 million. It’s what it’s now worth — given today’s lower rents, higher vacancies, more conservative loan-to-value borrowing and lower irrational exuberance. More about what’s happened in commercial real estate on Monday.
It’s been a fun morning. Our neighbor in the country had a fire, tried to put it out with a cushion, put the smouldering cushion on his porch, thought the fire was out and then nearly burned his entire house down. Ten minutes after the fire was out, an insurance adjuster called me and wanted to know if we needed his services.There are ambulance chasers and there are fire chasers.
Last night I dropped a bottle of pickles on the floor in New York. The bottle shattered glass everywhere. And the pickle juice… Well, suffice, Susan won’t be happy.
I made a list of stocks I wanted to investigate for possible purchase but various other dramas cut into my time. Here’s my list. See if you can find some nuggets here:
+ FB. Is it too late? I think there’s momentum here.
+ GILD. Buy some more?
+ SBUX. My favorite drink is a bottle drink they make called Frappuccino. Starbucks CEO was impressive on BubbleVision today. They seem to be firing on all cylinders.
+ CELG
+ SODA
+ XBI
+ AMZN. The company is investing for dominance, and getting it. I like the idea of building warehouses near major popular centers — better, faster service for people like me in New York City. And one day, same-day fresh produce and grocery deliveries. What’s there not to like? Should I add to my position?
Is Stevie Cohen of SAC going to swing? It doesn’t look good. But, make your own mind up. Read the 41-page indictment. Click here.
A really neat printer from Hewlett-Packard. I have three HP black and white laser printers. They’re each over 12 years old and working perfectly. Hence I don’t need a new printer. But David Pogue, the New York Times technology writer did and he bought this one – a Hewlett-Packard Pro P1606dn, which he loves. It’ prints nicely — even two-sided. It’s quiet. And it’s cheap. What is there not like?
For David Pogue’s review, click here. To buy the printer at Amazon for a miserly $159.90, click here.
Harry Newton who loves the sights and sounds of New York City in the summer:
Bicycle messenger. Note the cellphone.
Shopping crowd at Uniglo, 53rd and Fifth. Totally exhausted. Prices can easily be one-fifth of what they pay for worse stuff in Europe. The place is a babble of languages, none of which are English.
Uniglo is my favorite clothing store in the entire world. I go there to reward myself for a deed well done. Yesterday I bought four shirts, one down vest and one pink linen jacket (which Susan will hate). The bill came to $199.40. They’re expanding like crazy. They’re from Japan. I wonder if they’re public.
Fast Retailing is public – http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ir/
TSE : 9983
oopsie, here is the link.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=223068
Harry, take a look at this post by Karl Denninger on Amazon.
My first thank you for your blog, I really enjoy it!
Chris
Commercial Real Estate…I own 4 condos in Sun City, AZ. Bought them around 2005. They nearly doubled in value…then the big drop to less than half what I had paid for them. The rents stayed constant so no loss of revenue. Zillow reported last week they are now valued at what I paid for them originally.
Lucky man. The lesson is not to be too heavily margined. If you had borrowed too much, you would, by now, probably have lost the properties. The bank would own them. And you’d be screwed. Hence, my dislike for borrowing, or borrowing heavily.
Thanks Harry…I paid cash…and Richard, the only thing I do full time is eat lobsters and drink wine…Zillow is of course only a guideline, but I believe, you will find most real estate people and banks use Zillow estimates as a guideline. On site appraisals are the bottom line.
I hope you don’t do real estate full time if you are basing the value of your properties on Zillow.
Apple stock up again today, on a down day for the market. Hairy, that egg on your face just gets bigger! Don’t short solid companies that’ve already dropped big!
I covered long ago. Lost very little.
If you had just BOUGHT Apple instead of shorting you’d have MADE some nice money. Don’t short; look for blood in the water and buy.
Look at the article on Zerohedge regarding Amazon before buying