In Search of the Perfect Investment

Cramer did a piece on FLEX last night. He’s right. Year to date:

Wait till this afternoon. It will probably get cheaper.

Wells Fargo (WFC) has become the classic cockroach stock. There’s yet another story on them in today’s New York Times.

 In Wells Fargo’s Bogus Accounts, Echoes of Foreclosure Abuses

John Stumpf, the chairman and chief executive of Wells Fargo, won a dubious achievement award from one of his interrogators during Tuesday’s scorching hearings on Capitol Hill. The bank’s yearslong practice of opening bogus accounts for customers and charging fees to do so, said Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, had united the Senate Banking Committee on a major topic for the first time in a decade. “And not in a good way,” he added.

But this was not the first time problematic and pervasive activities at Wells Fargo succeeded in uniting a disparate group. After observing years of abusive mortgage loan servicing practices at the bank, an increasing number of judges hearing foreclosure cases after the financial crisis grew to understand that banks could not always be trusted in their pleadings.

This was a major shift: For decades, the nation’s courts had been largely pro-bank when hearing foreclosure cases, accepting what big financial institutions produced in documentation and amounts owed by borrowers.

“Wells didn’t intentionally educate judges. They didn’t raise their hand and say, `Judge, we’re sorry,'” said O. Max Gardner III, a prominent foreclosure defense lawyer who teaches consumer counsel how to represent troubled borrowers. “It was people really digging in and having the resources and the time to ask the right questions about what they were doing with the money.” Those practices included levying improper fees and incorrectly foreclosing on homes.

Tom Goyda, a Wells Fargo spokesman, said: “The housing downturn was a challenging time for our nation, and Wells Fargo has acknowledged that we made mistakes in the handling of mortgage foreclosures along the way. Lenders, investors, along with policy makers and regulators – all sides – learned foreclosure processes had to be addressed, and Wells Fargo made significant improvements to the way we work with customers when they fall behind in their payments and during the foreclosure process.”

You can read the full article here.

What Donald Trump taught me:

Mr. Trump is reputed to stiff his contractors for the last payment due on a construction contract.

He also stiffed contractors and subcontractors through his four casino bankruptcies, which he profited handsomely on.

I believe stories of Trump’s dishonesties are sneaking to American business, which has usually been pretty honest (notwithstanding Wells Fargo).

Which brings to mind, Diogenes of Sinope, a Greek philosopher:

Wikipedia recounts: He used to stroll about in full daylight with a lamp; when asked what he was doing, he would answer, “I am just looking for an honest man.”^[21] Diogenes looked for a human being but reputedly found nothing but rascals and scoundrels.^[22]

Here’s my story: I recently used a plumber. He screwed up on multiple occasions — I mean really horribly —  causing me to lose over a month’s rent. I negotiated his second (and last) payment down. I didn’t get my $6,000 rent back but I got a chunk back. Thank you Donald.

My Australian friend loves Greyhound, the bus company.

He sits up front, eyeing the scenery — “It’a great way to see the country” — while he enjoys his leather seat, free power plug, free WiFi and dollar savings — “It’s much cheaper than planes and Greyhound is always on time,” he tells me.

To its credit Greyhound has upgraded its buses — they’re much more comfortable than flying economy.

Nice leather seats — two abreast. The two front ones (the ones with the best views) are reserved for invalids and  A.K.s (alta kakas — you and me):

Whoever designed and wrote Greyhound’s web site did a brilliant job. Here’s them explaining benefits:

Each bus has a bathroom.

My friend is using Greyhound today to go from New York City to Ithaca, New York.  He’ll be there in five hours — which, at $58, is cheaper and faster than flying.

Greyhound does demand pricing.. Its prices vary by time of day and day of the week.

For Greyhound’s excellent web site, click here.

Dating advice for Bread Pitt.

Now you know what reporters do when they have too much time on their hands. Click here.

Why we miss Rodney Dangerfield

+  I get no respect. I asked my father, “How can I get my kite in the air?” He told me to run off a cliff.

+ My wife only has sex with me for a purpose. Last night she used me to time an egg.

+ Last night my wife met me at the front door. She was wearing a sexy negligee. The only trouble was, she was coming home.

+ A girl phoned me and said, ‘Come on over. There’s nobody home.’ I went over. Nobody was home!

+ A hooker once told me she had a headache.

+ If it weren’t for pickpockets, I’d have no sex life at all.

+ I knew a girl so ugly… They use her in prisons to cure sex offenders.

+ My wife is such a bad cook, if we leave dental floss in the kitchen the roaches hang themselves. (Ponder that one for a moment.)

+ I know I’m not sexy. When I put my underwear on I can hear the Fruit-of-the-Loom guys giggling.

And my favorite…

+ I’m so ugly, I once worked in a pet shop. People kept asking how big I’d get.

Harry Newton who is in awe at how Google continues to improve its search engine. You can ask it the most detailed questions. For example, “Which fuse on my Subaru Outback 2002 controls the cigarette lighter?” It found the right answer instantly.And I ordered some spare fuses from Amazon, which climbed over $800 today. Thank you, Lord.