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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 Friday, September 9, 2005: The Katrina devastation has affected an area of the United States larger than Great Britain.

An obliterated apartment complex in Long Beach, MI: Blown away by Katrina. Only a few cars, including one in the pool, withstood the storm. An amazing photo.

From this week's Time Magazine.

Economists have two hands. Today's Wall Street Journal writes,

"Hurricane Katrina is expected to slow growth and boost inflation in the second half, according to a WSJ.com survey of economists. But recovery efforts could give the economy a modest boost early in 2006."

There's an old joke about the president of an investment being visited by a genie and granted one wish. His wish was to employ only one -handed economists. Every time he asked them what might happen, he was always told "On the one hand.... on the other other.... In short, you can't predict the future. But I see nothing to change my own predictions:

+ Rebuilding efforts will propel massive economic growth in 2006.
+ The massive amounts of steel, lumber, concrete and construction machinery needed in the Gulf over the next few years will push construction costs up nationwide. That's bad news for most of us -- except for the companies that make this stuff. That's where we need to look for investment opportunities -- this weekend's task.

Where will all your papers be? Hurricane Katrina obliterated courts, records and their support network in the New Orleans area. Companies have two places they store their important papers and computer records -- their office and a backup site. Do you? You should. Here's my "IT Backup Strategy":
+ Make five photocopies of everything. Make five envelopes. Give one to each kid. Put one in my bank's safe deposit box. Put one in a small fireproof safe in my country house. Send one to my trusted friend, Dan Good.
+ I will also scan all the papers and store them on my main laptop and the various backup hard disks which I make regularly.

I don't make this stuff up.
+ My friend who rents low income housing tells me the average low income renter has a net worth of $2,500.
+ The corn in a one-pound box of cereal costs its maker 3¢.

Learning from the tennis greats:
+ Agassi talks about "spending a lot of time to get still" just before he hits the ball.
+ Federer talks about his
eye-ball concentration. He claims to see the ball hit his racquet. He keeps his head down well after he hits the ball.
+ In short, concentration (and great footwork) is the name in this exacting sport. No tennis player has ever moved as well as Federer.
This weekend promises some great matches. The best should be Men's Semifinals, tomorrow afternoon.

US Tennis Open TV Schedule
Friday, September 9 CBS
11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Men's Doubles Final / Women's SF
Friday, September 9 CBS
12:37 am - 1:07 am*
Men's Doubles Final / Women's SF
Saturday, September 10 CBS
12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Men’s Semifinals
Saturday, September 10 CBS
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Women's Final
Sunday, September 11 CBS
4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Men’s Final
Sunday, September 11 USA
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Women’s Doubles Final

A promise and a threat?
An older Jewish gentleman was on the operating table awaiting surgery. His son, a renowned surgeon, was to perform the operation. As he was about to get the anesthesia he asked to speak to his son.
"Yes, Dad, what is it?"
"Don't be nervous, son; do your best and just remember, if it doesn't go well, if something happens to me .. your mother is going to come and live with you and your nice wife...."

Long live Alabama
Two fellows from Alabama were sitting around talking one afternoon...
After a while the first fellow says to the second, "If'n I was to sneak over to your trailer Saturday and make love to your wife while you was off
huntin', and she got pregnant and had a baby, would that make us kin?"
The second fellow crooked his head sideways for a minute, scratched his head, and squinted his eyes thinking real hard about the question.
Finally, he says, "Well, I don't know about that, but it sure would make us even."

Two Al Qaeda spies
Two Al Qaeda spies met in a busy Los Angeles restaurant after they had successfully slipped into the U.S.
The first spy starts speaking in Arabic.
The second spy shushes him quickly and whispers:
"Don't blow our cover. You're in America now. Speak Spanish.

Recent column highlights:
+ Manhattan Pharmaceuticals: Click here.
+ NovaDel Biosciences appeals. Click here.
+ Hana Biosciences appeals. Click here.
+ All turned on by biotech. Click here.
+ Steve Jobs Commencement Address. The text is available: Click here. The full audio is available. Click here.
+ The March of the Penguins, an exquisite movie. Click here.
+ When to sell your stocks. Click here.


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. That money will help pay Claire's law school tuition. Read more about Google AdSense, click here and here.
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