There could be stocks to buy: Annaly, BX, AMZN, GOOG, CRM, AAPL, etc.
BUT if our moral-crazed, bit-between-his teeth President bombs Syria, they’ll all get cheaper.
I’m not sanguine. He’s itching for a fight.
Why? I have no idea. The military clearly doesn’t want it. The American public doesn’t want it.
I spent the weekend reading on Syria. I still find absolutely no justification for our being involved.
I do find a gigantic, and growing mess. Sad. But it’s not our mess and not in our power to stop, or, God forbid, spend the next 20 years cleaning it up.
To wit:
+ Over 100,000 dead and climbing — all from conventional weaponry. Another 1400 gassed. The only thing that will stop Assad from gassing his people is removing him from power. And our President has specifically said he doesn’t want to do that. Go figure.
+ Two million refugees and climbing — flooding neighboring countries — our allies — Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon.
+ More than 6.5 million Syrians have already fled their homes.
+ The country’s entire economy is destroyed. Factories, schools, offices, etc.
+ The rebels infiltrated with nutcases (also called “jihadists”) out for a good fight. I like tennis. They like fighting. This is simplistic, but pretty accurate.
Here’s a map of the mess (courtesy the Economist):
Biggest bargain in the history of the world: Every chairman’s letter from 1965-2012 including years not available on Berkshire’s web site:
As Amazon describes the book:
Warren E. Buffett first took control of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a small textile company, in April of 1965. A share changed hands for around $18 at the time. Forty-eight letters to shareholders later, the same share traded for $134,060, compounding investor capital at just under 21% per year — a multiplier of 7,448 times.
This book compiles the full, un-edited versions of every one of Warren Buffett’s letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. In addition to providing an astounding case study on Berkshire’s success, Buffett shows an incredible willingness to share his methods and act as a teacher to his many students.
The Kindle edition is only $2.99. Click here.
Weekend tips:
+ The car mat on your driver’s side is dangerous. It interferes with the accelerator. And you crash into things.
My friend recently messed up her car by going backwards into a big metal dumpster. Her car mat got stuck. Please check your car mat — especially after you get your car washed.
+ Limit each email to one thing. No one can act on more than one thing. We’re not bright enough.
+ Auto close drawers are the second best invention ever.
+ When something is screwing up, it’s the battery. Our wireless front door bell wouldn’t stop chiming — until I
changed the battery. It kept chiming, though its battery was dead. Go figure!
+ There’s an explosion of viruses in emails — from undelivered packages to “bonsai — out of this world.” Then there’s something wrong with your credit card. Rule: if you don’t recognize it, it’s a virus.
+ Do not underestimate the amount of time to fully recover from a cataract operation. I can see perfectly — except for occasional fast-moving tennis balls. I played early this morning and literally missed a bunch of balls because I had trouble seeing them.
The U.S. Tennis Open Men’s final is on CBS at 5:00 PM EST this afternoon. Joko is playing Nadal. It should be a great match.
Harry Newton who promises to follow up tomorrow with more on Google Fiber in Kansas City.
Harry, on the cataract operation you made a decision to have them set for playing with your PC and books, rather than for playing with your tennis pals. I suggest that may be why you’re taking awhile to adjust to fast tennis balls and glasses.
Harry, no pontification on US Open men’s final? Why would they be scheduled to play at 2pm Pacific time? Why at rush hour in New York when we cannot get home to see it or when ticket-holders will be constantly arriving and walking, during play, to their $1,000 seats for two sets? Come on Harry…there is a subject you can force some change on, not Syria
I bet it was CBS’s decision. Personally I would have preferred that they play the final on Sunday. But apparently, the players were screaming for a day of rest. Remember it used to be played on Sunday.
Thanks for the tip on the Buffet notes, been meaning to pick that up for a while.. going on vacation next week and nabbed the second to last copy on AMZN.
Also, MSFT could be interesting to track in the short-term.. its been v volatile lately and there is probably increased pressure from ValueAct and others regarding corporate activism (break-up, increased dividend, etc) Financial Analyst meeting is later this month…