Bill,
Congrats! You are #1 in my blog reading.
BTW, I'm listening to LeAnn Rimes. Thanks
Tony

Hi Bill.....congrats on your blog rating!

There are some big news stories today on a
new gene therapy for melanoma.

Have a great weekend!

You are the man Bill!

Thanks for blogging in the common investor's interests.

Take a bow, Bill!

(We're not a bit surprised, of course.)

Bill,please forgive me to be off topic a little. I just want to know if any one here may have some information about the pro audio market (the size of the market,trends,competitors, market share, etc.)I have spent some time on internet research,and read through the 10K of companies like HAR, but the information was not very comprehensive.
Thank you very much for the help.

Re: "pro audio market"

The following is Morningstar's Industry Peer Group for Harman Int'l Ind. (HAR). Go to WWW. Morningstar.com for information on their rating system. Value Line has (HAR) listed under their Electical Equip. Industry Group that includes Garmin (GRMN) which is a bit odd from my perspective. Hope this helps.

Stock Mkt Cap $Mil Sales $Mil Growth Profit-
ability Financial
Health
Harman International Industries 5,499.0 3,197 B+ B A+
Industry Average 2,354 1,303 C+ C+ C+
Sony ADR 43,289 66,666 --- --- ---
Philips Electronics NV 41,231 38,062 --- --- ---
Sharp ADR 19,937 23,650 --- --- ---
Thomson ADR 4,381 768 --- --- ---
Sanyo Electric ADR 3,939 23,135 --- --- ---
Pioneer ADR 2,393 6,881 --- --- ---
Dolby Laboratories 2,316 368 A- B+ A+
Gemstar-TV Guide Intl 1,372 529 F D- D+
Tivo 712 206 B F F
DTS 326 81 B+ B+ A+
Syntax-Brillian 191 --- --- F D
InterVideo 177 119 A+ D+ B
Emerson Radio 82 234 D+ B+ C
Koss 80 52 C A A
American Technology 76 6 B F D+
SRS Labs 75 24 C D B
Boston Acoustics 73 54 --- --- ---
Rockford 32 120 F F F
SLS International 16 6 A --- D
Vicon Industries 15 55 D- D- C

oratier,
Thank you very much for your information. I will go to there and check.It could be a good place to start. A few of the companies are very big with many business sectors, such as Sony, or Sayno. I am looking for something very specific about pro audio sector.But other companies like Boston Acoustics may provide some information.
Thank you very much for the help.

Bill,

It is your honest opinions which makes you number one. We the people trust you that you never mislead us.

For this reason, I have every reason to believe that thou shall remain numero uno 4 eva

Cheers,
Anil

Our favorite American Capitalist may be preparing to ride into the sunset...

"Buffet Marries
Thursday 8/31/06 8:51 a.m.

OMAHA, NEB. (AP) - Warren Buffett married his longtime companion, Astrid Menks, in a private ceremony Thursday, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

Buffett's daughter, Susan, hosted the wedding at her Omaha home. She said her father and Menks were married by Douglas County
District Judge Patricia Lamberty in a 15-minute ceremony on Buffett's 76th birthday.

Buffett's first wife, Susan, died in 2004.

The Berkshire chairman and CEO announced in June that he would bequeath the bulk of his roughly $44 billion fortune to the foundation established by billionaire Bill Gates and his wife. He donated the first 500,000 shares of Class B stock Thursday."

Bill,
There is your Blog, and then all the rest!

Lockheed (LMT) Wins Contract to Build NASA's New Spaceship.

This sector (and related sub-sectors) contains many non-military price trading opportunities.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083101067.html

http://cowles.econ.yale.edu/P/au/PINDEX.htm

Here's a link for any of you economics wonks that enjoy reading papers that make your head hurt. Here is a lifetime supply of reading. I found it while doing some research on Robert Shiller. At the very least, print one off and put it on your coffee table and impress your friends with your erudition.

"Creature From Black Monday. . .Alive

<a http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083101559.html

Interesting first cup of Starbuck's article...
"Deja Vu all over again?" Yogi Barra

"Coming To Video Games: Live Ads

By Mike Musgrove
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 1, 2006; Page D05

Game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. announced yesterday that it has inked deals with two ad companies that will stream live advertising into its games.

Players of the latest version of EA's Need for Speed see the same billboard ads on the side of the virtual roads whenever they play the street-racing game. But with live ads streamed via the Internet in the next version of the game, players could see different ads every time they turn the game on.

In-game advertising company Massive Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft Corp. this year, will be streaming ads into Xbox 360 and PC versions of that game, along with up to three other EA titles, which were not announced.

"Some areas naturally support the advertising," said Chip Lange, EA's vice president of online commerce. "If you drive around an urban environment and there's no advertising, the space feels naked -- and if the advertising is dated, the game feels old."

The privately held IGA Worldwide Inc. will stream advertising into EA's coming futuristic war game, Battlefield 2142, scheduled for release later this year. That company will also provide advertising in two other coming EA games, which were not announced yesterday.

No terms were disclosed, and Lange said neither advertising company has lined up ads for the coming games.

Lange would not say how much business in-game advertising represents for EA, the world's largest game publisher. But Nielsen Entertainment, which tracks movies, videos and music, has estimated that in-game advertising was a $75 million market in the United States last year and will grow to $1 billion by 2010.

Some players find such advertising objectionable -- after all, many games for the Xbox 360 cost $60 apiece. But many game fans say they like the ads because they contribute to the illusion of a realistic urban or sports-arena environment. Generally, publishers have avoided putting advertising in fantasy titles or other types of games where a billboard advertisement would seem out of place.

Lange said that, eventually, such advertising could lead to live, in-game product placement -- where cars or other products are put into games to coincide with an advertiser's marketing campaign. But that's a possibility that's still far down the road, he said.

"We've taken our time getting to here," he said. "We're beginning the learning process, as is the industry."

I pity Jane and Johnny or is it Mom and Dad?

I'm forming a mental image of the next "urban myth"..."Jane, John, got tell Mom and Dad that we (your friendly game developer), in our continuing effort to provide you with quality gaming software at a reasonable price, are embedding FREE advertising in every gaming title they buy for you. Isn't that exciting!"

Hey Bill, it's good to see others catching up with the reset of us on the quality of your blog.

Non-farm payrolls came in better than expected. Is this our (my rather) government gilding the lily ahead of an important mid-term election? Or, if a genuine reflection of the job market, this would suggest a better economic outlook, no?

interesting
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-08-31-gene-therapy_x.htm

"SanDisk(R) Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today introduced the Sansa(TM) c200 series, a stylish flash memory-based MP3 player that is loaded with high-end features -- such as a bright LCD color screen and a microSD(TM) expansion slot -- and smashes the $100 (a) price threshold for a 2-gigabyte (GB) player. The announcement was made at a press conference at IFA, the world's largest consumer electronics show, where SanDisk is exhibiting at Booth 103, in Hall 2.1 of Messe Berlin, through Sept. 6."

Lots of readers may find the above information uninteresting; however, this is a significant technology breakthrough. These flash memories players have virtually no moving parts thus rendering them ALMOST indestructable. And the inclusion of flash drives almost make the player's size reduction imminent. The competition (the Ipod) still relies on hard drive technology, Put one up the your ears, turn it on, and you can hear those drives revolving away.

Oratier: iPod Nano and many other flash models, they have been around for quite some time.

Good sell on SNDK, take it, be happy and run away.

SiO2,

You are right! I completely overlooked the Ipod Nano. Thank you for providing that correction.

Re: "Good sell on SNDK, take it, be happy and run away."

Thanks; however, I'm a technology buff. I monitor and try to stay current on that sector (i.e CSCO, MSFT, INTC, SUNW, AMD, etc).

Things beginning to look a little tired here...

But it's the beginning of the month - so lets see if the beginning of the month pump can break this resistance and take us to new highs?

If oil keeps dropping AND interest rates keep dropping AND shorts have to keep covering - new highs will probably occur until earnings reality sets in.

If not - then a good short point must be coming up - especially if September seasonals come into play.

However if everyone starts coming on CNBC talking about how September is a terrible month -
this could be another contrary sign.

tradesman

ALOHA !!

Good job Bill ... Numero Uno !!!

This blog of yours and your views on the markets and geopolitics obviously serve as an oasis for the financially and poltiically unrepresented thinking minority who seek to broaden their perspectives and seek the truths that are so woefully missing in today's TV spin media hype world ...

Thank you ... Gracias Senor !!

Very cool, a testament to your vision of things to come. Keep the movement going forward and the markets will be a better place. Thanks Bill!