On Investing -- October 6, 2018

Updates

Later, 2:37 p.m. MDT: wow, what a beautiful day. Snowing in Yellowstone at the higher elevation. Two of the roads in the higher elevation were closed due to snow, but the other roads were open. At the highest elevation where the roads were still open, it got down to 27 degrees, but for the most part, well above freezing throughout the park. All of six buffalo seen along the road. More on this later someday. I am now in Butte, Montana. Then to Missoula where I turn right (north) for the last leg of the trip.

I'm hoping that next spring, I can make the same trip with Sophia. We would drive up, get a room in Jackson Hole, and then her parents would fly up to Jackson Hole. Travelocity has DFW-JAC flights, round trip, for two, stating at $443, with a one-hour layover in Salt Lake City. We would have a rental car, and would pick them up at the airport and then spend two days in the park. So, we'll see.

Original Note 

I will be leaving (Cody, WY) soon. Breakfast. Coffee.

Either west through Yellowstone National Park or north to Belfry. Tough, tough decision.

I plan to write a note to my granddaughters on my lessons learned after 30+ years of investing.

One lesson: don't invest in silver or gold coins. Maybe gold coins, but definitely not silver coins. The lesson has nothing to do with investing or even with the monetary value of the coins and whether they appreciate or not. It has to do with the phenomenon of collecting.

I was reminded of that when I saw the news this past week that Bill Gross, the poster child for bond investing, is selling his stamp collection, perhaps the biggest and best stamp collection known in the free world.

Anyway, enough of this. Talk to you later. Good luck to all.

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Another Monica?

I'm feeling much pressure to post my thoughts on "Kav."

In a reply to a reader, not ready-for-prime-time:

When I get time I will post my thoughts on the Kav story.  Rush Limbaugh filled in some connecting dots which were important. I forget how many of those dots Susan Collins mentioned (at least one).

I don't know where one begins. One could begin with the reporting. It goes without saying that even far-left "journalists" were gullible. But that's not new. 

At the end of the day, Ford was "played." Feinstein was also "played" but she should have figured that out. I don't think you can say the media was "played." This is the irony that needs to be sorted out. Had Feinstein brought this letter to Trump's / Grassley's attention well before the hearing and said she would only bring it up if Trump went ahead with the nomination, it is very likely that rightly/wrongly Trump/Grassley/McConnell might have had the nomination withdrawn. The Dems would have kept Kavanaugh off the bench. The fact that they waited until the last minute to mention the letter (not release it, just mention it) raises the question: why did they wait so long? Diane Feinstein was under no moral compulsion to NOT pass that information to Trump/Grassley/McConnell as soon as she had the letter. I think that's the interesting question to explore. At the end of the day, everything will lead back to Feinstein, but she is the connecting dot to a much bigger story.

One starts with Susan Collins' statement. Her review of the timeline is concise, and would pretty much be accepted by everyone involved. From there, one can then ask the question why the existence of the letter (not the letter itself) was not brought to Grassley's attention earlier.

When one goes through this, especially with the stuff Rush Limbaugh brings up (not to mention what Dr Savage alleges), the Feinstein-Ford- MonicaMcLean mystery is fascinating. I would argue that it is worthy of as much investigation as the JFK assassination.

If the Dems that the US House in the mid-term election, I fervently hope the US House does a full investigation and following through with their "promise" to do so. The key witness that will never be called: Ms Hillary Clinton.

Later: after hearing Susan Collins' speech, Diane Feinstein still could not take the "high road" and the "right" road. With regard to my note above, clearly I'm wrong. Diane Feinstein was not "played." She knew exactly what she was doing and clearly orchestrated the entire three-ring circus. The fact that a GOP senator from Alaska said she was "present" on the day of the vote but had still had not made up her mind is priceless. I believe Sir Saint Obama had a habit of doing that when he was the junior senator from Illinois. 

Later, later: as more and more of the story starts to come out and the dots get connected, it is obvious that I am very, very wrong. Neither Ford nor Feinstein were played. I was going to write more regarding this subject but the statement by Susan Collins pretty much says all that needs to be said. 

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The Great Gatsy

And finally, before heading out, a few pages of The Great Gatsby.