It’s a long weekend. Time to ponder recent lessons. To wit:
+ NO is the hardest word in the English language. But the most important.
+ When the door closes, a window opens. When you say NO, you feel pain for the missed opportunity — for about a nanosecond. Until that window opens. It always does. Trust me on this one.
+ There are oodles of great investment opportunities — but they’re not always in conventional places, like the stockmarket. Knowledge and study will find great opportunities. So keep looking. The best place is doing your own thing. If you can’t think of the next Facebook or Google, then buy a floundering business and fix it. All businesses can be fixed by selling harder, marketing smarter and listening to your customers.
+ Exercise is the fastest “feel good.” It’s only temporary. But it’s a great high. Keep it going and you won’t look like all those overweight, over-60 year olds who hobble around ungainly and whose knees, legs and hips are shot, or about to be.
+ Do something you enjoy. I actually like writing this daily blog. I hope you like, and profit by reading it.
I’m thoroughly disgusted by Veterans Affairs. Even more disgusted by Obama, who promised on many occasions that he would clean it up. Now comes news that some veterans have died because they waited so long for medical care at the VA. What could be more disgusting than to kill the people who put their lives on the line for our freedom? If you know a veteran in need of medical attention, send him to your own doctor and pay for it yourself. It’s the best charity you’ll ever give.
Good chart to compare your funds and ETFs against. This is IWN, Blackrock’s Shares Russell 2000 Value ETF, as of March 31, 2014.
For more, click here. I don’t own IWN.
Visiting my favorite city this weekend? Here are my five places to visit in Manhattan.
+ Eataly. Italian food court, featuring restaurants and takeout shops. Fifth and 23rd Street.
+ B&H Photo. Best photo shop in the entire world. They have everything, including uneblieveably knnowedgeable staff. My pleasure is watching the automation, as products fly around on the conveyor system. Ninth Avenue at 34th Street.
+ Uniqlo. Favorite retailer. Remarkable quality for remarkably low prices. 89,000 square feet of total clothing joy. Amazing what you can buy for very little. 53rd and Fifth.
+ MOMA, the museum. Still the best in the city. Just around the corner from Uniqlo. What could be better?
+ Central Park. Great for a run or a walk. Central Park is not run by the city, but by a charity that does a totally superb job cleaning and improving the park. Central Park is a joy. I’m in it every night — walking Rosie.
What to buy Dad for Father’s Day. Sara Blakely made herself a billionaire with Spanx for women. Now she’s trying for men. I haven’t tried her stuff, but the family undoubtedly says I could do with it.
Want to buy some for Dad? Just don’t tell him it was my idea. Click here.
Trust your husband. (Another tasteless, but funny story.)
There comes a time when a woman just has to trust her husband…
A wife comes home late at night, and quietly opens the door to her bedroom.
From under the blanket she sees four legs instead of two.
She reaches for a baseball bat and starts hitting the blanket as hard as she can.
Leaving the covered bodies groaning, she goes to the kitchen to have a drink.
As she enters, she sees her husband there, reading a magazine.
“Hi Darling”, he says, “Your parents have come to visit us, so I let them stay in our bedroom. Did you say “hello”?
Harry Newton, who notes that he updated his list of recommended stocks in the right hand column. Here’s the list in case you’re getting this by email:
Stocks We Own:
Changed May 22, 1014
Longs
AAPL Apple
AGNC American Capital Agency Corp.
ATK Alliant Techsystems
BA Boeing
BRKA Berkshire Hathaway
COST Costco Wholesale
DTV DirectTV
EOG EOG Resources
FMILX Fidelity New Millennium Fund
GILD Gilead Sciences
GOOGL Google
GPT Gramercy Property Trust
HAL Halliburton
HD Home Depot
HON Honeywell
HTGC Hercules Technology
HTWR HeartWare International
IP International Paper
JNJ Johnson and Johnson
LADR Ladder Capital
MA MasterCard
MMM 3M
NKE Nike
NLY Annaly Capital Management
PF Pinnacle Foods
PPG PPG Industries
QCOM Qualcomm
RIG Transocean
RWT Redwood Trust
SLB Schlumberger
SWAY Starwood Residential Trust
THST Truett Hurst
V Visa
UNH United Healthcare
WFM Whole Foods
WWAV WhiteWave Foods
XLV Health Care SPDR (ETF)
Harry,
Hi! I was always warned not to walk in Central Park after dark. How do you stay safe waking Rosie?
Best regards,
Bill
It’s not dangerous at present.
I feel perfectly safe there at night.
I am also thoroughly disgusted with the VA Hospital delays. You know what else disgusts me? Insurance companies. Just got word that my mother’s long term care insurance premium is going to increase 80 percent in one year. The company is called CNA Casualty and sells to clients all over the U.S. Big company. It is based in Minnesota. I immediately filed a complaint with the board of insurance, though I doubt it helps. The abuse of the elderly (long term care insurance rate hikes, paltry CD yields, rising medical costs, etc) continues unabated.
LTC is a ripoff-you pay forever and when you need it, the insurance company will find a way to increase the rate so you can’t afford to keep it. Its better to self insure with cash or stock to sell when you need it.