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8:30 AM EST Monday, June 12, 2006: It was a glorious weekend. The kids came in for a super birthday. Lots of good time and catching up. Then the French Open. Nadal won the mens. Henin-Hardenne won the women's. Then getting ready for my Australia trip. By the end of it all, little sleep, not much investing inspiration.

As I leave today my father-in-law's 90th birthday in Perth -- about the farthest you can go (excluding the Antartica) -- I feel comfortable with my portfolio's broad diversification.

I have a few investment meetings set up in Sydney.

Australia is loaded in minerals. It's doing really well. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index of share prices gained 7.7 percent in the first quarter. The S&P/ASX 200 materials index, which tracks shares of Australia's major resource companies, rose 17 percent.

I like this quote from Peter Johnston, CEO of Perth-based Minara Resources Ltd., Australia's second-biggest nickel producer. "The surprising thing is that there's hardly any commodity that's not in strong demand. It's not just iron ore -- it's nickel, it's copper, it's coal. That's unusual.''

China buys more than 40% of its iron ore and coal from Australia.

My next column will be Friday, June 30 -- the day after the next FOMC meeting, which I'm betting will give us another quarter point interest hike.

Stay well.

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. 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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