WHAT’S TO LIKE?
From yesterday’s New York Times: ‘Americans have a bleaker view of the country’s direction than at any time in more than two decades, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. . . . Mr. Bush’s overall job approval rating hit another new low, 31 percent, tying the low point of his father in July 1992, four months before the elder Mr. Bush lost his bid for a second term to Bill Clinton.’
‘You can fool some of the people all of the time,’ President Bush joked at Washington’s Gridiron Dinner shortly after his first Inauguration, ‘and those are the ones you have to concentrate on.’
☞ Yes, but that pool is shrinking
CORRECTION: THE INCREDITABLE, EDIBLE EGG
Less Antman: ‘By omitting the word ‘creditable’ from the reference to Medicare HMO and Medigap prescription plans in my piece yesterday [since corrected], I implied that any drug coverage at all in these plans was sufficient. Not so. If you are Medicare-eligible and have prescription coverage with ANYONE, whether it is an employer-based plan or a Medigap policy or whatever, you should have received a notice from your insurance company that told you explicitly whether your coverage was ‘creditable’ or not. If they said it was not, then you MUST act by May 15 to avoid a permanent penalty on future Medicare PDP coverage. If you don’t remember getting such a letter, call your insurer NOW!‘
DRUGGIES
Nearly four years ago mentioned three bio-tech stocks, ‘NTII at $2.75 or so, EMIS at $3 or so, and HGSI at $12 or so,’ continuing to say: ‘My hope is that two or three years from now they could be double or triple today’s price, but I am fully prepared for them to go broke . . . and you must be, also, if you buy them.’ A nice move in EMIS yesterday reminded me of this, and for those who may have nibbled, I thought I would tell you that (at $3.28, $9.72, and $11.59, respectively), I continue to hold all three. Ten thousand dollars divided equally among these three would today be $17,900. Let’s see where we are in another couple of years.
YOU’RE FREAKING ME OUT, DUDE
Alan Light: ‘This is hilarious: An improv group got about 80 people together, had them dress just like Best Buy employees (blue shirt, tan pants, black shoes), go into a store one by one until they were all in there, and just hang out waiting for customers to ask them questions. They never claimed to work there (customers just started to assume it) and were helpful when asked for something. The real store employees thought the whole thing was amusing, but management and security personnel were completely freaked out. Story and pix here.’
