Reading Roundup (II)

Articles I've read recently with my excerpts and comments in brackets, and other miscellany:

Call Helped Break London Bombings Case, by Beth Gardiner. [I was correct when I wrote that the bombers would quickly be identified on CCTV. This line caught my eye: "Some believe {the bomber} may have intended to set off his bomb on the Northern Line, which also passes through {King's Cross}, but hit a bus instead because a technical problem had disrupted trains on the line earlier that morning." So the always-miserable service on the Northern Line actually ended up saving many lives?]

Understanding the Brits' 'Stiff Upper Lip', by Geoff Nunberg. [When Lucian Pye visited my college to give a talk, I picked him up and dropped him off at the airport. He said 'Stiff Upper Lip' to me as a good-bye, which has puzzled me ever since.]

A City's Traffic Plans Are Snarled by China's Car Culture by Howard French. [Another article on the rise of a car culture in China: "... in cities like Shanghai, where automobiles account for 70 percent to 80 percent of air pollution, nothing seems capable of stopping, or even slowing, the rapid rise of a car culture. This is not for lack of trying. In one attempt to slow the growth of automobile traffic, the city has raised the fees for car registrations every year since 2000, doubling them over that time to about $4,600 per vehicle - more than twice the city's per capita income. Many drivers illegally register their cars in other cities, where the fees are much lower, and the result is a never-ending cat-and-mouse game with the traffic police."]

University of Kansas : Warren Buffett Q&A via the always excellent vinvesting.com; read every word of this great interview closely, and then read it again (and again): [Classic Buffett: "Markets are there to serve you, not to instruct you. You can often find a couple of companies that are out of line. Find one; get rich. Most people think that what the stock does from day to day contains information, but it doesn't. It isn't just something that wiggles around. The stock market is the best game in the world. You can take advantage of people who have no morals. High prices inside of a year will typically be 100% of the low price. Businesses don't change in value that much. That is simply crazy. There are extreme degrees of fluctuation, and Mr. Market will call out the prices. Wait until he is nutty in one direction or the other."]

Baby T rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time yesterday (shortly after his six month birthday celebration). Yes, he is late to start rolling over, but I'm thankful for that since I tend to set him on ledges and tables and other precarious places.

MaoXian.com now has 150 subscribers via Bloglines. This makes me one of the Kings of the Stock Market Blogging World and is pretty remarkable considering 1) I only post headlines in the feed, 2) readers don't have the ability to post comments, 3) the blog doesn't have any real focus, 4) I do no networking, 5) I write curt, snappish replies to anyone who emails me (just kidding), and 6) I generally come across as an arrogant, ignorant prick.

Seriously though, a big thanks to all of you who read the site via Bloglines.

PetroChina Versus the Shanghai Composite

PetroChina (PTR) hit a new all-time high yesterday. The Shanghai Composite is languishing near eight-year lows. I first posted a chart of PTR when it broke out above $22 back in April 2003. If I had to re-write the title of that post with the benefit of hindsight, it would be "Buy PetroChina, Buy America, Ignore Europe."

PTR & Shanghai Composite, Weekly Charts