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8:30 AM EST, Wednesday, April 4: How much of my net worth do I give my best hedge fund manager? I met with him last night. He has clients with 20% of their net worth with him and clients with under 5%. I like him because the bulk of his own investible funds are in his own fund. He has many times invested in his own fund than what I have invested. This is good. I like him because he's conservative and doesn't use leverage -- he doesn't borrow money from the bank and therefore he's not subject to margin calls, like Amaranth (the hedge fund that went bust as a result of a leveraged natural gas bet.)

Could he steal all the money and flee the country? Yes. Is he likely to? No. He points out, "hedge fund managers who steal money typically don't have money in their fund. Moreover, why would I steal my own money?"

His hedge fund's net returns:

Hedge funds differ from mutual funds in one BIG way: typically the hedge fund manager has his own assets in his fund. His goal is to perform for himself. You go along for the rise. The name of the game for a mutual fund manager or a traditional money manager is to gather other people's assets.

How to say NO. It's the hardest word in the English language. But you have to learn to say it. And say it often. If you say Yes and don't deliver, you'll be pariah. When you say No, don't give a detailed explanation. If you do, the person will argue with your "logic." If you get into a discussion, your reasons will appear vacuous and you'll look like an idiot. The real reason might be as simple as "I don't trust you." But why hurt someone's feelings? Learn to say NO and shut up.

Watch your time again: Last weekend was daylight savings time -- in years past. Check your computers and "automatic" clocks again. I bet they added another hour. Mine all did. This is insane.

Making lemonade out of bad lemons: Advertising is moving away from print to the Internet -- viz. Google's success. Hence, the magazine business is collapsing. The newspaper business is hanging on, barely.

InfoWorld was one of my favorite magazines. Here's the cover of their last issue. It was 36 pages, plus cover. I remember when it used to be hundreds of pages. It has 10 pages of advertising. In my days, the rule was 50% editorial, 50% advertising. Their latest ratio 75% editorial, 25% advertising -- a guaranteed way to lose money.

InfoWorld published for 29 years and 1,384 issues.

According to a Pew Internet study, in April 1998 n April 1998 nearly half of all Americans surveyed in the study said they had read a newspaper the day before, while 29 percent said they had read a magazine. By May 2006 those figures had dropped to 40 percent and 24 percent, respectively. During the same period, people who said they’d gone online for information more than doubled, from 25 percent to 53 percent.

Many of my friends have dropped all their paper subscriptions -- newspaper and magazines.

The joys of self-love
Sister Candice: "If you keep playing with yourself Johnnie, you're going to go blind."

Johnnie: "Can I keep doing it until I need glasses?

The joys of loving someone else
Sister Josephine: "When you're tempted by fate, ask yourself one question. "Is an hour of pleasure worth a lifetime of shame?"

Harry: asks: "Sister, how do you make it last for an hour?"

This column is about my personal search for the perfect investment. I don't give investment advice. For that you have to be registered with regulatory authorities, which I am not. I am a reporter and an investor. I make my daily column -- Monday through Friday -- freely available for three reasons: Writing is good for sorting things out in my brain. Second, the column is research for a book I'm writing called "In Search of the Perfect Investment." Third, I encourage my readers to send me their ideas, concerns and experiences. That way we can all learn together. My email address is . You can't click on my email address. You have to re-type it . This protects me from software scanning the Internet for email addresses to spam. I have no role in choosing the Google ads. Thus I cannot endorse any, though some look mighty interesting. If you click on a link, Google may send me money. Please note I'm not suggesting you do. That money, if there is any, may help pay Claire's law school tuition. Read more about Google AdSense, click here and here.
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