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9:00 AM EST, Wednesday, June 3, 2009. On way to Boston for graduation. A very early Acela "high speed" train. Motivated businesspeople sit with their laptops open. Their laptops churn screensavers, while their owners lie fast asleep.

This morning's headlines trumpet happy news -- booming car sales (sort of) and rising savings rates. Increasingly, the investment newsletters talk of this stockmarket rise as "sticking" and gold as a necessary diversification. There is talk of hedge funds which were heavily out of the market for many months. Their managers are now being rebuked by their investors who don't see the 20%+ rise in their accounts -- that the general market has enjoyed since March 6. As this sidelined money moves back in we can expect further rises.

My friends are emailing: Don't be so wary, so conservative, so bearish. Stockmarkets recover way before the economy does. You know the rest of the argument.

There is clearly plenty of money around. My Boston bank startup has raised over $13 million and will probably open this Fall with two branches -- not the one it had planned.

I bought some EWA recently. It's an index fund which reflects the movements of Australia's largest companies. It's clearly bouncing back.

I like Australia's prospects as the commodities supplier to the world, especially China, which it's close to. The morning MarketWatch reported that Australia's economy grew 0.4% in first quarter, beating expectations (and beating us by a wide margin).

The easiest problem is getting out. Simply sell when it falls 15%. That's our inviolate 15% Stop Loss Rule. But getting back in? When? What about when it rises by 15%? Does this new rule make sense? Had we all followed this rule, we'd have done well this year.

The slimy local real estate "business." Think 17 times before you give a real estate broker an exclusive to sell your house or property. You must research the agent's local reputation for honesty and fair dealing. The exclusive broker controls what information the seller hears. The exclusive broker is motivated to find a buyer themselves -- and not to honor a deal brought by an outside broker, since that would involve splitting the commission. The exclusive seller is motivated to find a buyer who will develop the property and return the property to that broker for another sale, another commission -- one presumably much higher.

In short, the seller who grants an exclusive often -- not always -- get screwed. Local real estate is murky. I can detail specific cases. But you get the message.

New web site extensions are available: The newest one is ME If you do business on the Internet, you should protect yourself by owning as many websites as possible, including ORG, NET, TV, etc.

Two case studies. Parents of the graduates are being entertained with a discussion of two case studies -- which we had to bone up on last night. One case is on Dubai; the other on Saudi Arabia. Both have oil. Both know one day the oil will run out. Diversification is their only salvation. Dubai is much further along. In Saudi women still can't drive. But the Saudi family still rules -- a testimony to the family's pact with the devil -- the religious extremists. About 70% of Saudis are under 30. Most don't have jobs, can't get jobs and are annoyed. The ruling Saudi family is scared. The family's super-extravagant lifestyle don't endear them.

French Tennis Open 2009 TV Schedule

Wednesday, June 3 - QUARTERS
8:00 am - 12:00 PM: French Open Quarterfinals - TENNIS CHANNEL (HD) - LIVE
12:00 PM - 6:30 PM: French Open Men’s Quarterfinals - ESPN2 + ESPN2 HD - LIVE and tape
6:30 PM - 5:00 AM: French Open “Tonight” show - TENNIS CHANNEL (HD) - tape

Thursday, June 4 - SEMIS
5:00 am - 8:00 AM: French Open Men’s Doubles Semifinals - TENNIS CHANNEL (HD) - LIVE
8:00 am - 1:00 PM: French Open Women’s Semifinals - ESPN2 + ESPN2 HD - LIVE
1:00 PM - 6:30 PM: French Open Women’s Semifinals - TENNIS CHANNEL (HD) - tape
6:30 PM - 5:00 AM: French Open “Tonight” show - TENNIS CHANNEL (HD) - tape

Friday, June 5: - SEMIS
5:00 am - 10:00 AM: French Open Women’s Semifinals - TENNIS CHANNEL (HD) - tape
10:00 am - 1:00 PM: French Open Men’s Semifinals - NBC - LIVE
4:00 PM - 11:00 PM: French Open Men’s Semifinals - TENNIS CHANNEL (HD) - tape
11:00 PM - 6:00 AM: French Open Men’s Semifinals - TENNIS CHANNEL (HD) - tape

Saturday, June 6: - FINAL
9:00 am - 12:00 PM: Women’s FINAL - NBC - LIVE

Sunday, June 7: FINAL
9:00 am - 2:00 PM: Men’s FINAL - NBC - LIVE

Retarded Grandparents
This was actually reported by a teacher. Maybe.

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school.

One child wrote the following:

We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to The Villages, in Florida. Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on their bicycles and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.

They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well.

There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.

At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape.

Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts.

Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And, they eat the same thing every night --- early birds.

Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.

My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.

When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.

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 on this site. Thus I cannot endorse, though some look 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 Michael's business school tuition. Read more about Google AdSense, click here and here.