Mark Gilbert, a columnist for Bloomberg.com, has an intriguing piece looking back at the past six months. His conclusion: it was investor Nirvana.

Bonds, equities and even gold did well.

Why the good times? First, there was finally stability in energy prices. Next, there were no disasters, such as a hurricanes or major earthquakes. Also, the US consumer continued to spend, spend, spend. Finally, private equity firms continued to spend, spend, spend.

Have we reached a New Era?

Probably not.

It's a good bet that volatility will return in 2007 (hey, wasn't the first half of 2006 pretty tough?). Or the housing market may deteriorate even more. Or the Fed may not lighten-up on interest rates. Or a massive private equity deal might blow up.

Markets, by nature, go haywire sooner or later.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates DealProfiles.com.

Apple has finally found a product, in the iPod, that is an unqualified profit monster. The company is morphing from niche hipster to provider of music to the masses. And as part of the transformation they're making moves that never before seemed possible, like using Intel chips and (horrors!) Microsoft software on their computers. New strategies indicate that Apple is willing to be creative and do some interesting deals, like the one where the Red Hot Chili Peppers are selling advance tickets to their upcoming tour through the iTunes store.

The obvious next step? Porn, says Mark Gilbert (no relation to yours truly). If iPod owners will watch films on their 2.5" screens, surely they'll watch movies of an, umm, more lascivious nature. It's a huge money business; if Apple could get just a sliver of that $20 billion in adult video sales each year, they might continue their finally-respectable growth. But is growth respectable if it's (literally) made on the backs of the naked and promiscuous?

I love profits and all, but for the same reason I wouldn't invest in cigarettes, I'd feel very different about an Apple (fruit of the tree of good and evil) sinking its strategic go-juice into porn. Mark Gilbert doesn't agree, with the (flawed) rationale: "A search on Google Inc. shows a bunch of companies willing to sell the content and software needed to view erotic material on an iPod. Apple may as well grab some of that revenue for itself." With this logic, you could justify anything. I, for one investor, will pass.