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8:30 AM Tuesday, August 2, 2005: Spent yesterday checking new ideas. Nothing of note. Got to kiss a lot of frogs in this game.

Diversification or concentration? It's the age-old question. Point one: All great fortunes were made with concentrated investments. Point two: Diversification spreads risk, improving safety. This discussion started when I bemoaned not having bet the ranch on Whole Foods (WFMI), which I felt strongly about.

Reader Herb Soroca writes:

If one is young and investing to get rich then concentration, even leverage, is appropriate.
Diversification is the only safeguard when you have a considerable amount of assets. No matter how much you know, or think you know, stuff happens. Think of all the poor bastards who had their retirement monies in Enron or WorldCom. The fact is that your investment strategy, certainly with respect to risk, must change over time to reflect both the size of the asset pool and the time left to make up for any mistakes.

The best add-on software for Outlook is Lookout: You pick up Lookout for free from here. Lookout adds a lightning fast search engine to Outlook. It must index itself regularly. I have it index at 3 AM when I am, hopefully, not using Outlook.



An orderly transition: King Fahd of Saudi Arabia died Monday, and the reins of power were quickly turned over to his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, who has effectively ruled the world's top-oil producing country since King Fahd fell ill almost a decade ago. "He is an absolute monarch," said Khalid Al Dakhil, a political analyst at King Saud University in Riyadh. His appointment will not affect Saudi's export of the most radical form of Islam and higher oil prices (they hit $62 yesterday) provides the funds for that export. Good news: my friends just sold their Cadillac Escalade (12 miles to a gallon) and bought a new Lexus SUV hybrid which does 30 miles to a gallon.

These four easy steps if taken in the next 30 days could TRIPLE your wealth: Please don't fall for any offers Louis Navallier sends you. He's a great promoter, but a totally lousy stockpicker. He's occasionally good for comic relief. For example, stocks he believes are headed for a "meltdown" include: ANHEUSER-BUSCH COS. INC. , BROADCOM, CHIRON, COCA-COLA CO., COLGATE-PALMOLIVE, DEERE & CO. ECHOSTAR, DOW JONES& CO. ELI LILLY & CO. ,
FIRST HORIZON NATIONAL CORP. ,GENERAL MOTORS CORP. , INTEL CORP., MERCK & CO., NORTEL NETWORKS CORP., PFIZER, IMS HEALTH, CHARLES SCHWAB, SIEBEL SYSTEMS, TEXAS INSTRUMENTS and VIACOM. "If you ACT NOW...within the next 20 to 30 days...I can virtually guarantee that you'll be 20% richer. But you have to act immediately."

The archetypal New York blonde joke:
A young BLONDE woman in New York was so depressed that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into the ocean.

She went down to the docks and was about to leap into the frigid water, when a handsome young sailor saw her tottering on the edge of the pier, crying.

He took pity on her and said, "Look, you have so much to live for. I'm off to Europe in the morning, and if you like, I can stow you away on my ship. I'll take good care of you, and bring you food every day."

Moving closer, he slipped his arm around her shoulder and added, "I'll keep you happy, and you'll keep me happy."

The girl nodded yes. After all, what did she have to lose? Perhaps a fresh start in Europe would give her life new meaning.

That night, the sailor brought her aboard and hid her in a lifeboat. From then on, every night he brought her three sandwiches and a piece of fruit, and they made passionate love until dawn.

Three weeks later, during a routine inspection, she was discovered by the captain. "What are you doing here?" the captain asked.

She replied, "I have an arrangement with one of the sailors. I get food and a trip to Europe, and he's screwing me."

"He certainly is," the captain said. "This is the Staten Island Ferry."

Recent column highlights:
+ Manhattan Pharmaceuticals: Click here.
+ NovaDel Biosciences appeals. Click here.
+ Hana Biosciences appeals. Click here.
+ All turned on by biotech. Click here.
+ Steve Jobs Commencement Address. The text is available: Click here. The full audio is available. Click here.
+ The March of the Penguins, an exquisite movie. Click here.
+ When to sell your stocks. Click here.

Harry Newton

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. That money will help pay Claire's law school tuition. Read more about Google AdSense, click here and here.
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