"Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward." - Anonymous

Morning News of Note:

• GOOG MSFT YHOO: Google Helps Clients Get Personal Customized Web Program May Present Competition For Microsoft, Yahoo Tools Google Inc., which identifies Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. as its chief foes, is releasing a new piece of software that could challenge both of them. The free program, known as Sidebar, presents consumers with a pane of customized information -- such as weather forecasts, stock quotes, news headlines, text feeds from favorite Web sites, photo slideshows and email alerts -- that sits alongside whatever else the user is viewing. (Full Story) WSJ
• Housing Bubble: Goldilocks? Not Exactly LIKE AGE, THOSE LONG and variable lags eventually catch up to you. It takes months and even years for monetary policy to affect what happens in the real economy, Milton Friedman taught an entire generation of economics students. And although every central banker on the globe pays lip service to this verity, they still are guided more by backward-looking indicators, such as how many people found jobs last month, than forward-looking ones, such as markets. Quarterbacks know to throw where the receiver will be, not where he is. Central bankers don't get that. (Full Story) BARRONS
• PG: A Beauty! Proctor & Gamble's Hot New Look THE HISTORY OF big corporate mergers is hardly a study in glory. Most deals have failed to produce the promised benefits, and many have caused lasting damage. In the 20 years through 2000, one study found, mergers destroyed a total of $221 billion of shareholder value. And that was before AOL-Time Warner and HP-Compaq came along. - Procter & Gamble's $57 billion deal for Gillette, slated to close this fall, could prove to be an important exception. (Full Story) BARRONS
• AAPL: Apple Computer Inc-AAPL to offer 2GB and 4GB iPod shuffles?-Engadget.com: Shopping.com has either prematurely revealed the existence of 2GB and 4GB iPod shuffles or mistakenly announced a product that doesn't exist. AAPL is planning on releasing new iPod models next month in Paris at an expo. Current iPod shuffle models come in 512MB or 1GB.
• Short Interest: NYSE short interest for mo end Aug 15 up 2.7% m/m to 8,585,419,209; SIR 6 from 5.8 in July

Market Comments: Wow, the market sure is strong out of the gate this morning. Guess everybody ready my weekly sentiment review over the weekend (just kidding). I'm glad I added some long exposure on Friday, but I would like to add to my positions still.

Semis are strongest so far (+1.2%), while the homies are laggind (+0.2%). It's still way early, so let's see if the market gives back some of these gains or can keep the momentum going.

long GOOG, MSFT, PG