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8:30 AM EST Friday, November 24, 2006: It's a half day, a half holiday on exchanges. But it's a full day for shopping. There are countless ways to waste your money and clutter your basement with yet more useless junk. My technique is to clip ads/editorial of all the things I want. Then put the clips in a file called "To Buy." Once a month I revisit the file and give thanks for all the junk I didn't buy. Perusing the file is as good as owning the junk.

That said.... you have to buy the latest iPod.

I went to New York's Apple store on Wednesday before I left town. Impressions:

1. The place was mobbed. Buy Apple shares. They're going higher. Buy ten each for your kids. Perfect Christmas present.
2. The Nano is small and cute, but the new smaller iPod with a 30 gigabyte hard drive is a far better deal. I bought the black one. It's darling. Much smaller than the previous iPod. The controls now click. They're easier to use.
3. Video on the iPod is gorgeous -- when you can find video. The thing doesn't play Windows formats, only QuickTime formats. But it will rip DVDs of your favorite movies and you can watch them on your iPod -- great for travel.
4. Downloading videos from iIunes.com is painfully slow. The present selection is awful.
5. Apple stuff is on sale today at your local Apple store. Click here.

There is nothing more wonderful than plugging your ears in and listening to your favorite music reading your favorite book resting on your favorite bed. And if you fall asleep listening to Mozart... bliss.

Tip: When downloading iTunes 7 -- the latest version of Apple's free software -- turn off pop-up blocking on your browser.

The sad story of my friend with three kids in college: The company he works for just got bought. His Thanksgiving Day present is there won't be a place for him in the new company. I've been begging him for years to become an entrepreneur. His problem "No capital."

I wish I could answer his fears.

Kagara Zinc just paid its maiden dividend. Which is the Australian way of saying its first dividend -- click here. Kagara -- KZL.AU -- continues to climb. It's the best Australian mining stock in my unhumble opinion.

Five thoughts to ponder on this holiday weekend:

5. Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach him to use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

4. Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

3. Take a lesson from the weather -- it pays no attention to criticism!

2. In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

1. Men have two emotions: hungry and horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich.

Thanksgiving Day and Alice's Restaurant. If you missed yesterday's column -- which had nothing to do with investing but everything to do with Alice -- Click here.

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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