Maven: All We Have to Fear Is Hope Itself

Though my bachelor-party buddy Warren, who buys and tends to hold forever, might not agree, the most important element for most folks in the stock market is knowing when to sell. Anyone can stumble into a good investment, from a stock to real estate, but knowing when to get out is what really puts a portfolio in clover.

To this end, there is a good little exercise suggested by Chuck Jaffe on MarketWatch. You can skim (meaning, skip) over the first part of the article and get to the second, where he suggests that you imagine you've sold everything in your portfolio. The stuff that you wouldn't buy back? Sell for real.

Speaking of selling, The Business Press Maven cautioned against it when Israel was bombed earlier in the summer. In fact, I suggested a classic buy-the-bombs strategy, pointing out that bombing was relatively isolated to the north, the country had some experience with this type of thing, and while tourism would no doubt be hurt, the Israeli economy was well-rounded.

So far, so good. After plunging, the Israeli stock market is back to where it was; check out an update from The Economist, "Of missiles and microchips."

In an invasion of another sort, the Business Week hitting the stand today has a story on levered-buyout types who are pitching privatization to tech companies in Silicon Valley. Frustrated by everything from stagnating stock prices to pressure not to backdate options, techies are giving the pitch "a surprisingly warm reception."

Companies being considered, according to the story, include Sun Micro(SUNW Quote - Cramer on SUNW - Stock Picks), NCR(NCR Quote - Cramer on NCR - Stock Picks), Symantec(SYMC Quote - Cramer on SYMC - Stock Picks) and a "host of troubled telecoms like Siemens(SI Quote - Cramer on SI - Stock Picks), Nortel(NT Quote - Cramer on NT - Stock Picks) and Avaya(AV Quote - Cramer on AV - Stock Picks)."

Although telecoms might be troubled, John Madden is not. The Wall Street Journal reports huge sales for Madden's NFL videogame, the most important in Electronic Arts'(ERTS Quote - Cramer on ERTS - Stock Picks) lineup. The $100 million opening week showing could be a sign of returning strength for the long-troubled game publishing industry. We'll see, but, mom, don't forget that my birthday is coming up.

And never mind marketing electronic games -- let's talk about using electronics to control real games. The Los Angeles Times has a story about one of the most interesting -- and perhaps misguided -- efforts in sports marketing. A minor league baseball team in Illinois has, as part of a promotion, been letting fans vote online for the starting lineup. A complication is that the opposing team's fans seem to be voting lame players at the top of the lineup.

Well, who said marketing was an exact science? Remember, with a little luck, even a lame player can hit a curve.

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