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8:30 AM Friday, July 22, 2005: Continuing nice earnings news: Microsoft's net jumped 38%. Google quadrupled. SAP rose 16%. Caterpillar 34%. Coca-Cola 9%. Nokia 15%. Ericsson 16%.

UPS reported a 21% rise in profit and said it sees no sign that the economy is weakening. It should know. It's the world's largest package deliverer. It brings lucky people 14.1 million packages a day.

I'm psyched about the stockmarket's potential for the rest of the year. It should do much better than floaters, my strange measure.

TriPath Imaging (TPTH) is bouncing back. It announces earnings and has an 11 AM conference call on Thursday, August 4.

Dumb me: I should have seen eBay coming. Seems eBay is the only place to shop these days. eBay routinely saves me 40%. What's neat is the number of people it's put into business. If your friends are looking for work, tell to become an eBay seller.

I bought and sold Caterpillar: Cramer pushed it. It rose. It announced good earnings, as he predicted. But then it started dropping. I sold it. A reader writes how depressed he is that I have become a Cramer groupie. My reply: Cramer is entertaining. He does move the market. He has plenty of ideas. And occasionally one of them is interesting. Last night, after the latest London bombings, he pushed security stocks. No interest to me. I made a few hundred bucks on the Caterpillar trade.

There are nice real estate opportunities around: They're increasingly in places the BIG developers have ignored. I heard a pitch yesterday for 200-apartment development in the Albany area of upstate New York. Albany is New York's state capital. That gives it a solid base, like Washington, D.C.. Better, Albany and surrounds are emerging as the country's nanotech capital. GE has a big R&D plant up there, also. Dig this: $63 a square foot on construction costs, to yield apartments that easily rent between between $850 and $1,200 a month. Build it, rent it fully and then sell it. You're looking at a 25% annual return on your money, conservatively. I'm skeptical about the $63 a square foot (which includes the land). But I'm assured it's possible. I'm building a new house, about 45 minutes from Albany. Cost will be $260 a square foot.

Ink jet paper has a short shelf life. When it's "old," it produces awful orange prints. Personally, I don't bother making prints. YorkPhoto.com makes a beautiful 4 x 6 glossy print for a dime. I can't do better than that.

Keep the mosquitos and bugs away: West Nile virus kills. It is born by mosquitos. DEET keeps the mosquitos away. DEET comes in various strengths. The more DEET, the longer the protection. OFF! Deep Woods has 23.8% DEET and will keep mosquitoes away for at least five hours. Other insect repellents that contain new ingredients (i.e. not DEET) recently recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention include Cutter Advanced (active ingredient picaridin), Repel Lemon Eucalyptus (p-menthane-3.8 diol) and Off Botanicals (p-menthane-3.8 diol).

OFF! Deep Woods has the most DEET. I hate being bitten by anything.

Reverse Logic:
All good humor involves reverse logic. It's my favorite form. Samples:

"Susan, please close the window. It's cold outside."
"Harry, if I close the window, will it get warm outside?"

"Rabbi, why are you searching for your wallet here when you lost your wallet over here?"
"There's light here. It's dark over there.

Dad: "I'm worried about your being at the bottom of the class."
Son: "Don't worry, Dad. They teach the same stuff at both ends."

A plump lady walks into the bakery and buys a cherry pie.
"Would you like it cut into four pieces or eight pieces?" the salesgirl asked.
"Better make that four pieces," the lady replied, "I'm on a diet."

Two tourists are in Central Park. A bird shits on one.
"Shouldn't you go for a Kleenex?"
"No. By the time I get back with the Kleenex, the bird will be miles away."

A farmer is holding a pig up to tree while the pig eats acorns on the tree.
The visiting city slicker says "There's a better way. A way to save time." He shakes the tree. The acorns fall to the ground.
The farmer replies, "What's time to a pig?"

A man hits a bicyclist.
The mangled bicyclist says, "What's the matter with you? Are you blind?"
Car driver: "Blind? No. I hit you, didn't I?"

Recent column highlights:
+ 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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