{"id":21472,"date":"2013-08-09T09:12:24","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T13:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=21472"},"modified":"2013-08-09T09:15:10","modified_gmt":"2013-08-09T13:15:10","slug":"you-are-your-own-worst-enemy-sprouts-is-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=21472","title":{"rendered":"You are your own worst enemy. Sprouts is good?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"yass_top_edge_dummy\" style=\"width: 1px; height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: -11px 0px 0px; border-width: 0px; display: block; text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yass_top_edge\" style=\"background-image: url('chrome:\/\/yass\/content\/edgebgtop.png'); background-attachment: scroll; background-position: center bottom; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px -10px; border-width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; width: 1px; text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 10px; text-align: left;\">The most important lesson in business is<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\"><strong>You are your own worst enemy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Nobody, no competition, no nothing will hurt you as much you will hurt yourself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The youth jobless rate in Greece has just reached a mind-boggling 64.9%<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Europe did austerity. The U.S. did monetary expansion. Look at the different results:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/EuropeversusUSunemployment.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21474\" alt=\"EuropeversusUSunemployment\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/EuropeversusUSunemployment.png\" width=\"258\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/EuropeversusUSunemployment.png 258w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/EuropeversusUSunemployment-247x300.png 247w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 258px) 100vw, 258px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Back home, I&#8217;m warming to Sprouts Farmers Market, kinthe genre of Whole Foods Trader Joes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsMarket.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21477\" alt=\"SproutsMarket\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsMarket.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"582\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsMarket.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsMarket-231x300.jpg 231w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">They&#8217;re a new IPO. I&#8217;ve been reading their S1 &#8212; Click <a title=\"Sprouts S-1\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/1575515\/000119312513211357\/d530104ds1.htm\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>here.<\/strong><\/a> Here are two charts from the S-1:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsCurrentStoreLocations.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21478\" alt=\"SproutsCurrentStoreLocations\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsCurrentStoreLocations.jpg\" width=\"316\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsCurrentStoreLocations.jpg 316w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsCurrentStoreLocations-300x217.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 316px) 100vw, 316px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsStorePotential.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21479\" alt=\"SproutsStorePotential\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsStorePotential.jpg\" width=\"288\" height=\"213\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The stock came at $18. It&#8217;s now $39 and change. Will it get any cheaper? I hope so. But I doubt it. Look at the chart. There seems to be a floor just below where it is now:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsSharePrice.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21482\" alt=\"SproutsSharePrice\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsSharePrice.jpg\" width=\"636\" height=\"276\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsSharePrice.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SproutsSharePrice-300x130.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I owuld have loved to get some stock on the IPO. But it was a Goldman Sachs deal. And those guys have told me in no uncertain terms that I will <strong>never <\/strong>be allocated even one share of one of their IPOs because they reserve them for clients (I&#8217;m a Goldman client), who do more business with them and don&#8217;t write nasty things about them on the Internet &#8212; like I occasionally do. Essentially this means Goldman did their institutional clients a huge favor by selling them stock one day at $18, which they could sell the following day at $40. In doing so, of course, they screwed Sprouts, the company, out of many millions of dollars they could have used for expansion. But who&#8217;s complaining &#8212; just me.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Suffice, I&#8217;m still interested in Sprouts, the stock. What I don&#8217;t know is what their stores are like. They&#8217;re all in the west. I haven&#8217;t been in one. Hence I&#8217;m asking my observant readers to go shop at Sprouts this weekend and tell us all if Sprouts is going to be the next Whole Foods.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>My teeth suck.<\/strong> <\/span>I play &#8220;Where&#8217;s the only live tooth in my mouth?&#8221; It&#8217;s a variation of Where&#8217;s Waldo?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8220;Are my teeth are disaster?&#8221; I ask my dentist?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">He ponders and answers, &#8220;No Harry, they&#8217;re an annuity..&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For him and his children&#8217;s education.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I&#8217;m obsessed with teeth and gums.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Men&#8217;s Journal <\/em>is another of the men&#8217;s magazines (like <em>Men&#8217;s Fitness<\/em>),<em> <\/em>which I love. They just did a big six part piece on gums. It begins:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/GumDisease.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21488\" alt=\"GumDisease\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/GumDisease.jpg\" width=\"612\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/GumDisease.jpg 612w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/GumDisease-300x202.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">You can and should read the rest of the piece. Click <a title=\"Men's Journal on Gum Disease\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mensjournal.com\/expert-advice\/six-ways-to-protect-your-gums-20130806\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Notice my nice white plastic teeth.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HarryNewton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21218\" alt=\"HarryNewton\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HarryNewton.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HarryNewton.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HarryNewton-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nHarry Newton has a friend who sends him 37 gloom and doom emails each day. Most have to do with how Obama is driving us to rack and ruin. This morning I emailed him, &#8220;Please send some positive, happy articles, for a change. It&#8217;s raining and grey where I am.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">He sent me this &#8212; a happy face on a drone armed with Hellfire missiles. Such joy.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Drone.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21491\" alt=\"Drone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Drone.png\" width=\"676\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Drone.png 676w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Drone-300x213.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The photo was photoshopped, I hope. We couldn&#8217;t be <strong>that<\/strong> tasteless. Could we?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>A friend is ancient. This is what he says he&#8217;s learned <\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8212; to ponder this weekend.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">2. My wild oats are mostly enjoyed with prunes and all-bran.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">3. I finally got my head together, and now my body is falling apart.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">4. Funny, I don&#8217;t remember being absent-minded.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">5. Funny, I don&#8217;t remember being absent-minded.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">6. If all is not lost, then,where the heck is it ?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">7. It was a whole lot easier to get older, than to get wiser.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">8. Some days, you&#8217;re the top dog; some days you&#8217;re the hydrant.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">9. I wish the buck really did stop here; I sure could use a few of them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">10. The world only beats a path to your door when you&#8217;re in the bathroom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Enjoy the weekend. I hope the weather is better where you are.<\/p>\n<div id=\"yass_bottom_edge\" style=\"background-image: url('chrome:\/\/yass\/content\/edgebgbot.png'); background-position: 0px 0px; position: absolute; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; top: 0px; width: 100%; display: block;\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The most important lesson in business is You are your own worst enemy. Nobody, no competition, no nothing will hurt you as much you will hurt yourself. The youth jobless rate in Greece has just reached a mind-boggling 64.9% Europe did austerity. The U.S. did monetary expansion. Look at the different results: Back home, I&#8217;m [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}