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<\/a><\/p>\nThe Aussie dollar is back up to $1.07. I’m earning slightly over 6% on my Westpac CDs and more as the Australian dollar edges up. Big Ausssie miner BHP is holding up and should rise a little more.<\/p>\n
Cramer loves Harley Davidson (symbol — HOG). I’m mulling that one. He calls it “the ultimate mid-life crisis play.” Which seems to be true. Lots of my friends, especially those divorced, have Harleys. And some of their young girlfriends do also.<\/p>\n
One skill your kids should learn<\/strong><\/span>. It’s called computer science. And they should, in my opinion, teach it at every<\/strong> grade level in school. The reason? Every new company startup\/oppotunity I’ve seen recently has involved some sophisticated computer system. There are data analytics companies which mine the data collected by retailer customer loyalty cards. They figure what the retailer should be peddling. If you suddenly stop buying birth control pills, should you sell the customer baby gear or pet gear?<\/p>\n There are logistics companies that track inventory, shipments,\u00a0 orders and figure what and how much to stock. There are the yield management systems used by the airlines, the trains, the cruise lines to figure what today’s price should be on tomorrow’s flight. There’s the automated payment system for public transportation. I no longer buy rides on the New York subway by standing in line or from a machine. I have a permanent MetroCard, which is filled from my credit card. It’s amazing technology. I can get off the subway and jump a bus. That transfer is free. How come? The card and the system know. It’s magic.<\/p>\n Restaurants now take reservations online. Far easier than sitting on hold for 15 minutes while they fiddle around. My name and phone number is now in several restaurants’ databases. I prefer those restaurants. Easier to deal wth.<\/p>\n There’s huge opportunites in data logistics, data analytics and online web sites that sell you stuff. Retail stores are dead — e.g. Best Buy, Radio Shack, Barnes & Noble. If buy a cartoon of tennis balls from Fromuth, I have them tomorrow — no extra charge. I prefer to deal with them.<\/p>\n Pester your broker for some Facebook shares. <\/strong>It’s a hot issue. What Wall street typically does with hot issues is to give all the shares to its institutional customers — from hedge funds to pension funds. And none to retail — you and me. This is Wall Street’s way of saying “Thank you” to its best customers. This hurts the company. Had Wall Street priced the shares at their real value, the company and its original shareholders would get more money and the institutions would make less profit. But that’s not the way it works. I’ve been promised eight shares in Facebook. I bet I won’t even get them. The Book of Mormon is great. <\/strong>I must be the last person in entire world to see it. <\/span>
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