I had to run down to Washington for a social event. I’m now on my way back. I’m bereft of brilliance. I do love Google’s results. Google is one of my bigger positions. And I do love the 7.8% 3rd quarter GDP growth in China. That place is not slowing down, which is good for us and really good for Australia.
That does not mean I’m buying miners like BHP or RIO. I’m off miners. Too easy to open new mines when prices rise. Too hard to close them down when prices plummet (as they always do).
Washington is thriving. Construction of new apartments seems to be exploding. Those big cranes are everywhere. Our taxidriver told us Washington added 34,000 new residences in 2012. Now there’s a reliable source for economic data. Probably where the Commerce Dept gets it employment numbers from. He was from Lahore, Pakistan. He likes Washington. Probably because he gets paid for sitting in traffic going nowhere. You just have to drive around the city for ten minutes to know why those people couldn’t organize a queue for an outhouse. The traffic light goes to green. We go one block. The traffic light changes to red. We wait. The meter runs and runs.
Washington may be dysfunctional, but it certainly is a strong employment machine — for itself.
Want the best table in your favorite Washington restaurant? Turn up in a black SUV. Get it from Uber.
If you didn’t watch CNBC’s interview with the Spanx lady, Sara Blakely, please do it NOW.
Click here.
My friend Ron Acher does the West.
From Ron: “This is Spider Rock, at the end of the South Rim Drive in the Canyon de Chelly National Monument on the Navajo Indian Reservation near Chinle, Arizona. A most spectacular (and under-popularized) view from a surface level overlook, looking down into the canyon. You can only go down into the canyon with a Navajo guide. I bet the view is pretty good looking up too. Taken with my $150 (last year) Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ7 Optical 10x Full HD 14-Megapixel pocket camera on full automatic.”
Harry Newton who has to run to catch the 10:00 AM Acela back to New York. Nice train. Much slower than the one we were on in Spain. But a big ad for Apple — which seems to have a monopoly on iPhones, iPads and Macs on the Acela.
I CELEBRATE GOOGLE! JUST CRACKED THE $1,000 PER SHARE MARK! I BOUGHT WHEN IT WAS 900 POINTS LOWER!
Harry, I’m just sorry you didn’t get in several years ago when I did. Oh, and look at that Facebook stock you warned readers not to buy at the IPO of $38 a year ago. THat dreadful, worthless stock is now at 54 and climbing.