The Peddler - II

Another Peddler Story

Once a year, a man and his push-cart makes his way through my neighborhood, sharpening knives and scissors on the sidewalk. There is no announcement of his coming and little fanfare as he makes his way down the street. Only a small bell that quietly dings with each revolution of the cart wheel and  a small transistor radio playing opera music signals his arrival. But somehow this is enough.  Usually, the neighborhood children are the first to notice.  The excitement of the children sets off the "Neighborhood Watch" mechanism and as the word spread, adults begin to appear curbside with utensils in need of a fresh edge. He is very amicable and usually spends much of his time explaining to the children (and adults) how his human-powered grinding wheel works.  

In the summer of '06  I had some blades that needed to be sharpened. There weren't any children to entertain so we began to have your typical empty conversation about the neighborhood. At that time a house across the street was having some work done on its roof and he asked if they were having any work done on their gutters. I knew that the house had copper gutters and I also knew that the price for that metal was in a bull market, reaching record levels practicallyy every trading session.  I asked him why he was interested. He replied that with copper at its current level the contractors were probably going to try take advantage of the home-owners by removing the old gutters and then reselling to a scrap-metal dealer. What surprised me was that the price he quoted to me was so accurate. When I pressed him further regrading his knowledge about copper he told me about his investments in the copper mining company BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) and Alcoa (NYSE: AA) He spoke about how the falling US dollar and Chinese demand were lifting the prices of these industrial materials.

I rank his market savvy right up there with: #1) my house-painter who at the turn of this century was correct in questioning why technology stocks kept rallying; 















or #2) my acupuncturist who voiced his concerns about the housing market in 2006 or 2007;

Bought 1.27.10 @ $99.30 Last $324.60 Up 227%

and finally closer to home #3) my wife, who bought shares in a robotic surgical device (ISRG) company that she heard about from her father and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) because our daughter worked there and it was featured on Oprah.

Bought 05.01.06 @ $128.8 Last $400.55 Up 212%