{"id":31203,"date":"2015-06-26T10:41:47","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T14:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=31203"},"modified":"2015-06-26T10:41:47","modified_gmt":"2015-06-26T14:41:47","slug":"the-last-word-on-greece-nike-and-disney-do-nicely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=31203","title":{"rendered":"The last word on Greece. Nike and Disney do nicely."},"content":{"rendered":"

Disney and Nike. We’re picking well.<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"NikePops\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But Zoetis? That was great. And then. This one is weird.<\/p>\n

\"ZTS3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m guessing management is not interested in a takeover, which is understandable, since they just got spun off. I continue to like the company.<\/p>\n

Other picks on the right. Note: they range from ultra-speculative, small cap through S&P 500 index funds. Tread carefully. It’s all about allocation.<\/p>\n

I don’t know where this market is going. But I do know that it’s insane to borrow money to buy stocks. I\u00a0 hear that excess borrowing by individuals is causing huge problems in China’s stockmarket.<\/p>\n

Index funds look increasingly\u00a0 fine.<\/p>\n

Favorite words on Greece.<\/strong><\/span> From this week’s BusinessWeek:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Greece has underperformed since 146\u00a0B.C.E., when Corinth\u2014and eventually the rest of Hellas\u2014fell to the Romans. It\u2019s been in default on its sovereign debt for half the years since winning independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832. Its economy is stultified by statism and corruption. But it remains blessed with breathtaking scenery, treasures of antiquity, and a creative, industrious people who have enjoyed great success\u2014albeit more often outside Greece. Its potential is vast. If Greece can get its act together even a bit, this drama doesn\u2019t have to end in tragedy.<\/p>\n

This weekend is “sh*t or get off the pot”<\/em> time for Greece.<\/p>\n

Here are rioters marching in Buenos Aires in December 2001, courtesy today’s New York Times.<\/p>\n

\"ArgentinianRioters\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today’s story is called “In Argentina’s Footsteps, Greece stands to lose<\/em>.” Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

My friends tell me that ordinary Greeks in general and pensioners in particular are fearful that if Greece returns to the Drachma, no one will take it and they won’t be able to travel to, or buy anything from the rest of Europe. They’ll be Europe’s pariahs.<\/p>\n

Weekend reading:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

+ Calpers’s Disclosure on Fees Brings Surprise, and Scrutiny<\/em>. Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Useful stuff.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

+ The Apple Watch comes with an irritating passcode. You turn it off on your iPhone.<\/p>\n

+ Remember to turn your cell phone on after you leave the theater.<\/p>\n

+ Don’t ever turn your computer off without saving your work and closing every <\/strong>program.<\/p>\n

+ Run Microsoft’s “Save my Office Settings.<\/em>” Makes installing Office on your new machine so much easier.<\/p>\n

+ Hit the Save button every two or three minutes — and every time you get up. New horror: My laptop would stop working and shut down, to a black screen. Go to woe in less than one second. Turned out it needed a replacement motherboard. It took a while to figure out. Hence the need to hit the Save button regularly.<\/p>\n

+ When Gerry and I ran our publishing business, we had a rule to contact every potential customer (i.e. advertiser) four times a month — by email, by fax, by snail mail, by phone, by UPS (for a present). Whatever. The key was four times a month.<\/p>\n

+ My Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner is the greatest tool I’ve ever owned. Thank you Brendan for recommending it.<\/p>\n

\"ScanSnapiX500\"<\/p>\n

I have an older model. This newer one costs $420 and is worth every penny. Works wonderfully with Evernote. Get it here. <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Forbes’ annual is out.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"ForbesCover\"<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

They like lending to small businesses. Writes Forbes:<\/p>\n

Karen Gordon Mills, a Harvard Business School<\/a> Senior Fellow and former Small Business Administration head, concluded in a paper last year<\/a> that bank lending to small business is in a secular decline that started well before the Great Recession. Loans below $1 million now account for just 25% of banks\u2019 commercial lending, down from 40% in 2005 and 52% in 1995. Mills predicted online small business lenders, with their lower costs, speedier decisions and new algorithms for judging credit risk, would transform banking in the same way \u201cAmazon.com<\/a> AMZN<\/span> -0.16%<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span> changed retail and Square has changed the small business payments business.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more, read Forbes here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The most creative photos you’ll ever see.<\/strong><\/span> Check them out. Click Creatividad<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"hands\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The wet floor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Two police officers responding to a domestic disturbance with shots fired arrive on the scene.<\/p>\n

After discovering the wife had shot her husband for walking across her freshly mopped floor, they called their sergeant on his cell phone.<\/p>\n

“Hello Sarge.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

“It looks like we have a homicide here\u201d, the officer reported.<\/p>\n

“What happened?”, asked the Sergeant.<\/p>\n

\u201cA woman shot her husband for stepping on the floor she had just mopped.<\/p>\n

“The Sergeant asked, “Have you placed her under arrest?\u201d<\/p>\n

“No sir. The floor is still wet.”<\/p>\n

\"HarryNewton\"<\/a>
\nHarry Newton. The Supreme Court has ruled. Same sex marriage is legal. The states can’t forbid it. Weddings are one business that’s hard to outsource overseas.<\/p>\n

Look what they’re dong in France. The local taxidrivers are upset with new Uber competition.<\/p>\n

\"UberinParis\"<\/a><\/p>\n