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Harry Newton's In Search of The Perfect Investment Newton's In Search Of The Perfect Investment. Technology Investor.

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8:30 AM Thursday, March 16, 2006: You can feel it creeping up on you -- the inevitability of a bird flu panic/pandemic/problem. We won't all die. But we will all buy stocks of companies that make things to protect us. In short, our portfolio is improving, day by day. Here's last night's close.



As I mentioned yesterday, my favorite three are Novavax, Gilead Sciences and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.

Leavitt calls for personal flu plans. Don't panic, much.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- There's no cause for panic, but Americans need to prepare for a possible worldwide epidemic of influenza by stockpiling food, water and basic first aid, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt said Tuesday.
During a wide-ranging speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Leavitt said citizens need to prepare for a pandemic as they would a hurricane or earthquake, which could happen at the same time since a pandemic could last as long as a year and a half.

A pandemic may arise from an as-yet unknown virus or the avian flu strain H5N1 that's been sweeping the world and devastating flocks of swans and poultry -- if it acquires the ability to pass easily between people, he said.
Unlike natural disasters or even terrorist attacks, a pandemic is unique because it typically lasts a year or more and occurs everywhere at the same time, Leavitt said.

"Pandemics happen," Leavitt said. "They have happened for centuries, and there's no reason to believe the 21st century will be any different." The 20th century saw three pandemics, the worst of which was the 1918-19 Spanish flu that killed an estimated 50 million people globally, 500,000 of whom were American. The last two pandemics, in 1968 and 1957, were considered mild. ...

As of Tuesday, the total worldwide number of human cases was 177 and the human death toll stood at 98, the WHO said. The vast majority of people who died of bird flu had close contact with sick birds, and none died from eating properly cooked chicken or eggs, health authorities said.

"We will have stockpiles of Tamiflu and other antivirals sufficient to supply 25% of the population," he said. "Being able to get pills into the palms of people in a relatively short time is ultimately how we measure success."

ChapStick is great for your hands: Cold, dry weather causes your hands and fingers to split. One simple solution:


Watch your key fob.

A "key fob" allows you to pay for gas at the pump or at the point of sale terminal in in gas and convenience stores. Your actual credit or bank account debit card information is not stored on the key fob. This "key fob" is, however, electronically linked to your credit card or
bank account for payments just by waving it over the pos scanner which then activates a brief radio frequency connection required to complete the purchase transaction. If you happen to lose your keychain, containing the "key fob", then anyone who finds your keys could go shopping for gas and other items while paying for the goods using your linked credit/bank account funds.

The Pacific Life Open / Indian Wells Tennis Tournament continues. Roddick and Agassi have lost in great matches. Federer is still in. It gets more exciting each day. We'll be there tonight in the stands.

Date

Start Time (PST)

 

ESPN2

Thu, March 16

11:00am

Live

Women's Quarterfinal
Men's Quarterfinal

Thu, March 16

7:00pm

Live

Women's Quarterfinal
Men's Quarterfinal

Fri, March 17

11:00am

Live

Women's Semifinals
Men's Quarterfinal

Fri, March 17

7:00pm

Live

Men's Quarterfinal

Sat, March 18

2:30pm

Live

Women's Final

Sun, March 19

11:30pm

Delay

Men's Semifinal

Sun, March 19

11:00am

Live

Men's Final


The London Philharmonic plays in Palm Desert: Wonderful concert last night. Audience demographics: every male (including me) had gray hair. Every one. The 60+ are many. Big market for whatever we buy.


GOOD
In Richardson, Texas State Trooper was running radar. He had a perfect spot to watch for speeders, but wasn't getting any. Then he discovered the problem. A 12 year old boy was standing up the road with a hand painted sign which read "RADAR TRAP AHEAD!" The officer later found a young accomplice down the road with a sign reading, "TIPS" and a bucket full of money. (And we used to just sell lemonade!)

BETTER
A motorist was mailed a picture of his car speeding through an automated radar post in Plano, Texas. A $40 speeding ticket was included. Being cute, he sent the police department a picture of $40. The police responded with another mailed photo of handcuffs.

BEST
A young woman was pulled over in Austin, Texas for speeding. As the TX State Trooper walked to her car window, flipping open his ticket book, she said, "I bet you are going to sell me a ticket to the Texas State Police Ball." He replied, "Texas State Troopers don't have balls." There was a moment of silence while she smiled and he realized what he'd just said. He then closed his book, got back in his patrol car and left. She was laughing too hard to start her car.


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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