Universal Appeal

• Interested in Miss Universe 2006? We'll start this one with a picture of Miss USA 2006, Tara Conner.
• I added more high beta equities at the close.  (Using ETFs).  Rotated from some lower beta stuff.   I'm not a short-term trader, but I am aware of the saying that cheap stocks tend to get cheaper.   But I trade longer term than that, and like to buy weakness across a diversified index.  I believe we're in a correction within a bull market, and that the upwards trend will resume.  So I increase my beta on dips.  I'm also aware of this classic line from Vegas Vacation, where Chevy Chase's character Clark Griswold was losing money at the blackjack table:  You don't know when to quit, do ya Griswold?... Here's an idea: Why don't you give me half the money your were gonna to bet, then we'll go out back, I'll kick you in the nuts, and we'll call it a day!
• Why the glum face?  It's friday!
• For your weekend Fox News pleasure, be sure to keep tab of those Israeli tanks massing along the Lebanon border. 
• Despite the stock market turmoil, did you notice that the indices appear to have done nothing for the week?
• A different take on DELL from Bill Cara:  For many reasons, Dell is included in the Cara Global Best 100 Companies list. Today the company reported a bad quarter and dismal guidance going forward. That’s good. It’s time to buy. So don't sell DELL.  Hoo, that takes some guts, Bill!
• From Larry Kudlow's site, quoting Milton Friedman:  "There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government. And that’s close to 40% of our national income."