Tom Barlow posts

Feed

Barry Bonds: A temporary leader isn't worth paying big for

When Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's all-time record for home runs, it ignited a debate: How much was the historic baseball worth, and how much would it sell for? BloggingStocks writer Tom Barlow asked the question, "What is it really worth?"

To Barlow, it's worth nothing. Bonds is a cheater. But I have another take on it, and one that ties into the way I look at stocks. When investing, I want to buy a company with some kind of moat: If the moat surrounding the value of the Bonds ball is however many homers Bonds will finish his career with, how wide is that moat? Not too wide. Here are some people who have a shot at breaking the record:

  • Alex Rodriguez
  • Albert Pujols
  • Ken Griffey, Jr. (This is a long shot but would be the feel-good story of all-time)

I am willing to make a bet: Whoever pays $400K+ for the Bonds ball will, in 10 years at the most, own a home run ball hit by a steroid-tainted baseball player who, in addition to being among the most hated people in all of sports, is also number two on the all-time list for home runs.

Whether you're buying a baseball or a stock, you want to look for a durable moat. I don't think the Bonds ball has that, and I'd be shorting it here.

A Google's eye view of the world

By now everyone has heard about the new Google Street View. While this new Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) feature may be unnerving to some and even patently offensive to others, it's my solemn duty to inform you that legally, Google is doing nothing wrong. For the purposes of Fourth Amendment searches, this particular scenario has been put to rest. You see, the Supreme Court decided long ago that any area that can be plainly viewed from any place in which a person has a right to be, retains no right of privacy for the area being viewed. Simply put, a cop can stand on the sidewalk and gawk all he wants toward the front of your house. Anything within his view is fair game.

Additionally, the court then determined that it is permissible for that cop to use magnifying lenses to enhance his ability to see. This means he can stand on the sidewalk with binoculars and peer into any place he'd like (within reason of course). Furthermore, he may fly over your home in an airplane with a camera and spy into any space available to his line of sight. The Supreme Court said he can, and so Google can too.

My advice to you dear friends is to simply remain aware of the fact that you might possibly be viewed and recorded at any time. You may wish to remember also that any cell phone communications you have carry no privacy privileges. Any of your internet access is readily available for instant scrutiny, and any public establishment you enter has a right to record your image and pretty much do with it as it pleases. At least we don't have those nasty British hovering camera drones to deal with, or at least I haven't seen any here yet.

If you would like some more input on the Google Street View issue, here are the observations of Tom Barlow, Sheldon Liber, and Peter Cohan. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. In the meantime:

Smile! You're on not-so-candid camera!

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-46.7810,732.39
NASDAQ-18.682,372.60
S&P 500-6.351,159.47

Last updated: March 19, 2010: 02:52 PM

Hot Stocks

General Electric

18.05-0.14(-0.77)

Alcoa

14.34+0.04(+0.28)

Apple Inc

222.25-2.40(-1.07)

Google Inc 'A'

559.60-6.80(-1.20)

Bank of America

16.91-0.17(-1.00)

Wal-Mart Stores

55.32-0.62(-1.11)

Exxon Mobil Corp

66.79-0.60(-0.89)

Ford

13.63-0.10(-0.73)

Citigroup

3.98-0.04(-1.00)

IBM

127.35-1.03(-0.80)

Yahoo

16.44-0.12(-0.72)

Starbucks

24.93-0.09(-0.36)

Microsoft

29.48-0.13(-0.44)

Home Depot

32.38-0.02(-0.06)

DailyFinance Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

AOL Business News

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Sponsored Links

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

CNNMoney Headlines

More CNNMoney.com

Financial Times Headlines

More Financial Times

CNBC Headlines

More CNBC.com

SmartMoney Headlines

More SmartMoney

Fox Business Headlines

More Fox Business

Engadget Headlines

More Engadget