Last week, on Wednesday, November 3rd, Mindy Pawinski, Robert Craig, and I went to the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles to hear a discussion on private banking by J.P. Morgan. The head of J.P. Morgan spoke with us about current trends in the banking industry as well as the nation’s general economic situation. They were moderate in their responses, but feel that there will be a resurrection of the normal markets and that we are not in a permanent slump.

One of the guest speakers talked about Facebook, and in fact he has written a book on the topic. He felt that Facebook is the most important tool we have on the Internet. I asked what he thought about Google. He said that he thought Google was going to be less important than Facebook in the long run.

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On Thursday I attended a briefing on molecular genomics put together by Drs. Sebat and Judd at UCSD, who are working together on research projects in the area of mental illness. Dr. Sebat was one of the sharpest people I have met in a long time. I think he will make some very interesting discoveries in the causes of Alzheimer’s disease and mood swings. What was surprising to me was they seemed to be jointly creating some really good research with my modest investment.

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We decided to take Solutions to Catalina on Friday, and it was a highlight of the week.