What I did today

(1) A day of constant losses (except towards the end when New York started positively), I sold IDB Pituach, Maraton, Walla - realizing my profits. Near the end of the day I bought BAZAN, the Haifa Refinery, which was still 2% cheaper than yesterday. Realizing profits and changing stocks has very high transaction cost, so I try to do it as little as possible. For example, Marathon had gone up 70%, so any further increase would have been on 170% of my original investment. Realizing the profit, I had to pay 20% tax on the profits, so the sum I had to re-invest (in BAZAN in this case) was 156% of the sum invested, and deducing selling and buying (2 X 0.2% = 0.4%) and costs of the lines on my bank statement as well as the "spread" between selling and buying, I am investing only 150% of my original investment in Marathon. So if there is a general 10% increase in TASE, if I had not sold Marathon I would profit 170 X 10% = 17 while changing horses to BAZAN I shall profit only 15. There is a 13% difference. But I think I have more than 13% better chances in BAZAN in comparison to Marathon, which has gained much during the last half year. (2) Spent the day preparing working designs for the stables farm near Gezer. Next Sunday I have to go to instruct the workers. Already I had been paid, this is follow up work to keep good relations with the client. The workers don't want to install buster pump, they say there is enough pressure and they want to save money for the owner. The Standards Institute made two measurements, and the results are pathetic. I have to check out how the responsibility is distributed if the stables burn down and there is no pump. I can also say that it was there and they took it away. It happens all the time. The pic shows a work of the German painter Beckmann, on the 1929 depression.