There's No Whining in Baseball

Just when you thought (you did, didn't you?) we were safe from bubbles, the Chinese had to go and ruin it all. You've likely read the recent news that their segue from American housing securitizations to domestic ones has come to a bit of a bumpy patch. Turns out, Asia generally, and China specifically, have morphed the trade in old wine vintages. If memory serves, really old wine just turns to vinegar (check the etymology) anyway. So all those Chinese with more money than uses for it are buying pet rocks.

"Bordeaux is the only wine in the world that can provide excellence and quantity," Ms. Mentzelopoulos said. "If you want to buy an '82 Margaux tomorrow you can find it."

"Other wines are based on scarcity," she added, before mentioning two famous California wines. "If you want to have a Screaming Eagle or a Harlan Estates from '05, I don't know you can find it so easily."

Availability is, of course, relative. That '82 Margaux would set you back about $1,100.

I've got a hothouse chock full of tulips, if anyone's interested in getting rich quick.