In Search of the Perfect Investment

First, the iPhone and Apple bounced to $103. The speculators thought the iWatch would propel it to $110. It didn’t.

None of what Apple introed yesterday are Steve Jobs breakthrough-products. But they’re all handsome, well thought-out products that will sell. My reactions:

I love iPhone 6 Plus. To me, the best part is its incredible screen. Apple has managed to compress into one little phone what I need an entire 22″ Samsung monitor to accomplish.

iPhone 6 — 1334 x 750 pixels
iPhone 6 Plus — 1920 x 1080 pixels
ASUS 15.6″monitor 1920 x 1080 pixels (that’s the portable $207  USB monitor I’ve been raving about)
Samsung 22 inch monitor — 1920 x 1080 pixels (I have three of them in front of me).

 Theoretically, with the big screen you can run a detailed spreadsheet on the iPhone 6 Plus. The phone has a powerful 64 bit processor and comes with as much as 128 gigabytes of memory. That makes it far more powerful than most of the Windows/Intel ultrabooks being peddled today. Some of apps running on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in coming years will blow your mind.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have much better cameras. You’ll be able to make a HD movie of your kids. You’ll be able to play the movie back on your giant TV. The results should be mind-blowing — but only if your kids and grandkids are as gorgeous as mine. (That’s an objective opinion.)

I do like the idea of  Apple Pay. It uses a technology called NFC — Near Field Communications — another wireless system that resembles the RFID that you car uses to pay for tolls — except that it works to only two-tenths of a meter. It’s hard to listen in on — compared to WiFi at airports and Starbucks, which are easy to snope on. I’m guessing people would rather wave their iPhone in front of a NFC/card reader device than have to fumble around finding their credit card and forking it over and then giving security codes and their zip code and their IQ and what else they ask for. The whole NFC Apple Pay thing should cut down on credit card fraud. I don’t have the full details yet. Apple Pay won’t start till next month. NFC bill paying works already in many places overseas. Wikipedia has a picture of a ticket dispenser for the Austrian Federal Railways which takes NFC and sends you a receipt for your train ticket via SMS messaging. Neat.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have other nice features, including a bigger battery and an upgraded operating system called iOS 8, which improves messaging.

I want an iPhone 6 Plus.

I’m ambivalent about the iWatch. Since it won’t be out until next year, I don’t have to make that decision. The millennial generation is obsessed with their health — the iWatch will keep track of our movements, our heart rate, etc.  We see healthy living obsession also in WhiteWave Foods (WWAV), which is up 49.5%  in my portfolio and in the General Mills acquisition of Annie’s at a enormous 37% premium. Cramer thinks the next healthy acquisition will be Boulder Brands (BDBD), leading maker of gluten-free food. Of course, there’s also Hain Celestial (HAIN).

The lesson with Apple is simple: It belongs in your portfolio. I hope it drops a little more. I’ll pick up a little more.

There is talk (by the Fed) of increased interest rates. That talk happened during the Apple press conference yesterday and it caused this:

Some friends are heavily in cash, figuring stocks will slide further. Some of us are hoping they will slide further and we can pick up some “bargains.”

Have you been watching Mobileye, an Israeli crash-collision avoidance system maker? Neat technology. This chart shows what it’s done since it went public last month.

Tips:

+ When you update Adobe Flash Player make sure you uncheck the McAfee security software it also wants to burden you with. Ditto for any software “updates,” make sure you don’t allow extraneous downloads of software you don’t want.

+ Never ever give your phone number to your favorite political candidate. They’ll give your name to every level of their cursed party — local, county, state, national — and every candidate from here to Kingdom Come. Your phone calls will never stop.

+ Don’t ever put your laptop into hibernation. But do put it to sleep. If it won’t come back cleanly from sleep, put it to sleep again. Then un-sleep it. A couple of re-sleeps should repair the problem. This saves you losing your precious work.

Start with a little bottle. Long-time readers know how I’m obsessed with little bottles selling for large amounts of money (at least on an per ounce basis). New Skin and Goo Gone are two of my favorites. They’re the perfect investment. Start with a little bottle:

Then line extend. That’s what it’s called in marketing. I found these neatly lined up on a shelf in our local supermarket.

You’re an EXTREME redneck when… (these are wonderfully tasteless)

+ You let your 14-year-old daughter smoke at the dinner table in front of her kids.

+ You’ve been married three times and still have the same in-laws.

+ You wonder how service stations keep their rest-rooms so clean.

+  Someone in your family died right after saying, ‘Hey, guys, watch this.’

+ Your wife’s hairdo was once ruined by a ceiling fan.

+ Your junior prom offered day care.

+ The Halloween pumpkin on your porch has more teeth than you do.

+ You think loading the dishwasher means getting your wife drunk.

Harry Newton who watched yesterday’s drop from the tennis court. Best place. Beautiful weather. Azure blue skies and warm 70 degree weather in Columbia County, midstate New York. Nice place.