Sydney turned uncharacteristically dreary over the weekend, drenched last night by a torrential downpour that arrived amidst severe drought. Supposedly, it rains here only about 90 days a year, but if that is so, and if tomorrow’s forecast for yet more precipitation holds, I will have caught more than my share of wet weather. I’m here for the Oz edition of the Hidden Pivot seminar, intent at the moment on fabricating a reason to return here soon. Although I was not able to arrange a hoped-for meeting with Nicole Kidman, I remain optimistic nonetheless that it will happen sooner or later. Last night I had to settle for a drive-by sighting of her home, which sits unobtrusively in a Sydney neighborhood that reminded me of an upscale version of Sausalito.

(Click on image to enlarge)

The seminar class was relatively small, but the students were a gratifyingly wakeful bunch that included a couple of pros, among them a guy from Hong Kong who oversees the international trading operations of a firm based there. Most were from Sydney, though, and they let me know that their participation in the Rick’s Picks chat room is especially difficult, given the time-zone difference. To accommodate them, and to extend the usefulness of the chat room itself,  I am going to try and liven things up during what would be the very off-hours for U.S. subscribers. I’m a night owl myself and would like to do more trading in the wee hours, since there would be neither phone calls, nor e-mails, nor deliveries, nor much of anything else to distract. If you’re interested in participating, please drop by the room during the day and let me know how interested. The night session can be pretty boring, but from a Hidden Pivot perspective there are opportunities galore.

Floating Lam-bos

Sydney has some of the most spectacularly scenic waterfront vistas that I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something, since I lived in San Francisco for more than 20 years. Last night I dined with friends at a club that promotes regattas for 18-foot skiffs. These are not your Aunt Tilly’s sailboat, but rather, tricked-out, waterbound Lamborghinis with carbon-fiber hulls and enough sail area to push the Queen Mary at a steady 10 knots. The boats vary quite a bit in design and rigging, since the only rule governing their construction is that they be 18 feet long. Running close-hauled, with three guys dangling from hiking straps, these boats could probably pull a water skier. Speed comes at a price, though, since they cost as much as a Lamborghini.  Just tell your spouse that the real savings will come on fuel, which of course costs nothing..