![\"S&PThisYear\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/SPThisYear.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIPOs continue to come.<\/strong><\/span> Your and my chance of getting an allocation are slim to none. Not only do you need to be a client of the “left book lead” — the major underwriter. But you need to be a significant client. And it’s better that you be an institution. Even better, a significant institution. Getting an allocation is immensely complex. Begging rarely works. You might be getting stock in a hot new IPO because the last one you got went south. You might be a “syndicate player.” These are guys who buy every IPO — good or bad. Some sell the stock instantly. They’re called “wise guys.” Some guys hold it. They’re called investors. There are “strategies” in between.<\/p>\n I’ve been allocated tiny amounts of new issues in recent months. Never worth the time.<\/p>\n You can always buy them when they start trading. I bought some PF (Pinnacle Foods). It’s up 7% since I bought it on its debut in late March. Fairway is coming shortly. It may be worth a fling because of its cult following. Susan loves her local Fairway. Sadly it’s losing money.<\/p>\n Intel is a mess.<\/strong> <\/span>The new CEO insists on concentrating the firm’s efforts on faster X86 chips Once he had a huge communications division, which was making $2 billion or so. He shuttered it to concentrate on X86 chips.\u00a0 It’s the old story: When the founder leaves, sell the stock. Intel’s stock is going nowhere.<\/p>\n Gold is getting sillier and sillier.<\/strong><\/span> Yesterday I saw predictions of\u00a0 gold going to $800 an ounce and ones saying it was going to $1.600. It’s presently $1,384. The gold gurus still believe everybody should own some gold for when the world falls apart, as it will soon do. (I’m counting.)<\/p>\n Richard Russell, who’s been writing stockmarket newsletters for eons, has just written:<\/p>\n Gold<\/b> — The surest action in the market is the automatic recovery following a crash.<\/b> Yesterday gold did actually crash. I now expect gold to embark on a partial recovery of the ground lost during the crash. After the recovery, I expect to see gold settle back<\/b> to some extent. Gold should then start to build a base<\/b> for a further advance. The construction of the base will take weeks, possibly even months. If the gold bull market is still in force (and I think it is), I expect gold, once the base is completed, to make an irregular run for the highs of over 1900. …<\/p>\n Look, I was there <\/b>in 1974 when gold first hit $200\/oz. and subsequently proceeded to lose half its value. It took gold four long years to again reach $200, 4 years that were very hard on those who bought near the highs. I also remember quite vividly gold peaking at $850 early in 1980, and then starting its long, long decline, finally bottoming in 1999 around $250. Nineteen years of Chinese water torture for those of us convinced of gold\u2019s righteousness and that higher prices were just around the corner!<\/p>\n Admin is a bad password.<\/strong> <\/span>Please change it to something hard for a computer to guess — like sd$590&36Tan<\/strong>. The need to change passwords is urgent if you are running a server attached to the Internet. WordPress web sites are especially being targeted for computer attacks.<\/p>\n So beauty is in the describing?<\/strong><\/span> Everyone in the family is fascinated with this video. “You are more beautiful than you think<\/em>” is the video’s conclusion. I never had any doubts (except for my too-large nose.) Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0Saying NO is the hardest word in the English.<\/strong><\/span> But it’s important to learn to say it. And say it more often. I could write a book on all the reasons to say NO. Maybe I will.<\/p>\n