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8:30 AM EST, Thursday, June 14: San Diego, California: So many great ideas. So much energy. So little time to do due diligence. Every opportunity closes "now." The speed makes your head swirl. I saw a $20 million purchase offer come in at 6 PM with a "close" of midnight that night! I kid you not.

The issue is figuring honesty and competence. That's for tomorrow's column. I have a 6:45 AM appointment. Working is hard work.

Quotes of the day:
"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration."

"If I'm on the course and lightning starts, I get inside fast. If God wants to play through, let him." -- Bob Hope

Gas prices to stay high. Californians tell me they've recently paid $4 a gallon and $100 to fill up their SUV. None seemed concerned. They seem more amused by my riding a bicycle around New York. That was quaint, maybe interesting. Alternative energies -- biodiesel, oil sands, windmills and solar -- are now genuinely viable. But payoffs often are long. And these alternative energies are not a no-brainer, yet. There is huge research and invention everywhere out here. But I don't see the huge breakthroughs. The good news is that everyone is convinced oil will stay up in price. The reasons are threefold:

1. Political turmoil in oil producing countries Nigeria, Venezuela and others.

2. Peak oil . Saudi and others are running out of oil.

3. Demand by China and India. It won't stop.

The BIG opportunities are NOT in alternative energy, but in new drilling will new technology in new and old places, especially the United States. Big Oil ignores places where small Oil can make a handsome living. All this means you need to find oil explorers and drillers. Oil-time one man bands. Yes, these oil patch entrepreneurs still exist among the shadows, hidden safely from Big Oil.

The 95-year old Grandmother
A 5 year old boy went to visit his 95-year old grandmother one day.

He was playing with his toys in her bedroom while Grandma was dusting, he looked up and said, "Grandma, how come you don't have a boyfriend?"

Grandma replied, "Honey, my TV is my boyfriend. I can sit in my bedroom and watch it all day long. The TV evangelists keep me company and make me feel so good. The comedies make me laugh. I'm really happy with the TV as my boyfriend."

Grandma then turned on the TV and the reception was just terrible. She started adjusting the knobs, trying to get the picture in focus. Frustrated, she finally started hitting the backside of the TV, hoping to fix the problem.

The little boy heard the doorbell ring, so he hurried to open the door, and there stood a man.

The man said, "Hello, son, is your grandma home?"

The little boy replied, "Yeah, but she's in the bedroom banging her boyfriend "

Grandma's minister fainted.

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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