Ten - uh, nine - uh, eight stocks to last the decade

With less than a month left in this decade (have we even decided what to call it yet? Is it officially the Noughties?), it’s time to look back, reflect, and make fun of all the stupid investment calls that people made back in 2000. And here’s a doozy: Fortune magazine’s “10 Stocks To Last The Decade”. (Hat tip to Seeking Alpha for the link and the inspiration.) Quoth: […]if you’re a long-term investor, these ten should put your retirement account in good stead and protect you from those recurring nightmares about the stocks that got away.

But they’re all made out of ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same

Welcome to the wonderful world of electioneering in Singapore. The seat of Potong Pasir is one of the few seats in Singapore that’s held by an opposition party member. (Coincidentally, Potong Pasir is also one of the few “single member constituencies”, which means it only has one MP - as opposed to “group representative constituencies” that have five or six members of parliament representing them. I’m just saying.) And because it’s held by the opposition party, Potong Pasir is getting the shaft from the ruling People’s Action Party:

Soon Parted

This article was buried in the Arts section of Saturday’s NYT - and unjustly so, because the writer has stumbled on yet another bubble being pumped up by Chinese money. Last year it was stocks. The year before that it was 100-year-old fermented tea leaves. This year it’s Chinese antiquities of dubious provenance (emphasis added): If you wonder how good the mood really is in China, forget the annual growth rate, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the rest.

My evening, in one MySQL log

mysql> delete from mt_comment where comment_author like ‘%viagra%’; Query OK, 1272 rows affected (1.04 sec) mysql> delete from mt_comment where comment_author like ‘%adipex%’; Query OK, 1113 rows affected (0.48 sec) mysql> delete from mt_comment where comment_author like ‘%soma%’; Query OK, 397 rows affected (0.19 sec) mysql> delete from mt_comment where comment_author like ‘%valium%’; Query OK, 106 rows affected (0.07 sec) mysql> delete from mt_comment where comment_author like ‘%xanax%’; Query OK, 190 rows affected (0.

We’re a long way from “Comcast Must Die”

There’s a new service sheriff in town, sez Pravda. BOUQUETS or brickbats about service standards can now be aired on a new blog dedicated to how Singaporeans are being served - or not. The website, www.areyoubeingserved.com.sg , is where 10 undercover service professionals will blog about service standards in the establishments they patronise. The blog will also be where online users can share their experiences, review the service they have been given or discuss service in general.