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9:00 AM EST, Tuesday, May 5, 2009. Highlight of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on the weekend: Charlie Munger on the future:

"As I move close to the edge of death, I find myself getting more cheerful about the economic future." ... There will be "a final breakthrough that solves the main technical problem of man. By harnessing the power of the sun, electrical power will become more available around the world. That will help humans turn sea water into fresh water and eliminate environmental problems. If you have enough energy you can solve a lot of other problems."

Buffett is, as always, bullish on the economy.

“We have a wonderful economy over time. We do come out of recessions. ... The biggest thing that brings us out of them is the fact that we have a system that works very well over time, even though it gets gummed up periodically.”

Buffett's fear:

Faced with a staggering national debt relative to the rest of the world, the U.S. government will do what every country that has denominated its debt in its own currency has done — "inflate its way out of the burden of that debt."

Bloomberg has a Special Report on Buffett and Munger quotes here.

Stocks are now in the black for 2009. My recommendations -- AAPL, AMZN, ERF, PWE and LINE continue to climb. Frankly, I'm surprised at how well technology has been doing -- e.g. RIMM, DELL, INTC (Intel), MSFT (Microsoft) and even BBY (Best Buy).

One big boom is in commodities -- Oil has hit a new high for 2009. BHP, the huge Australian miner, has moved from its low of $33.30 in March to last night's $51.70 -- a phenomenal 51% leap.

I have zero idea how long this rally will continue -- though it clearly has "legs" and the media is backing it up with a relentless outpouring of hyper-positive stories that "the recession has ended."

If you decide to get back in in a major way -- keep an eagle eye on daily movements. Remember our inviolate 15% Stop Loss Rule -- if it drops 15% from its latest high or the price you bought it, sell it instantly, if not sooner. That rule protected your tushy last year big-time.

Jury Duty Scam: The phone rings. It's the " jury coordinator." You protest you never received a summons for jury duty. The caller asks for your Social Security number and date of birth. This way he can cancel the warrant for your arrest.

Bingo; your identity has just been stolen. The FBI has a warning.

April showers are a pain to drive in. Harry's solution:

Get it from Amazon for $1.63. This stuff works. It continues my on-going series on the route to instant riches -- invent a magic formula to solve a special need. Previous examples of favorite magic bottles are pictured. All these inventions have made someone unbelievably rich. The clear bottle contains fluid for cleaning your glasses.

Totally tasteless (but funny) cartoon.

I'm rushing to finish the 25th edition of my dictionary. It is totally amazing how technology continues to explode. Cheaper. Better. More reliable. Charlie Munger is right.

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.