Maybe folks will learn to listen to their astrologer. Then again, maybe not. I warned about the tough year coming up, and at the very bottom of this article, I found the real sticking point in some of these online companies going bust. The web-based retail outfits that go bust are saddled with a lot of debt. That makes them a less likely acquisition target. A few months ago, last year, if I recall, a local web operation tanked, and then the former CEO bought the remaining assets (technology and targeted mailing list) for his next venture — at pennies on the dollar. And I wish I could remember the source, but the way it works, the more successful net ventures are based on content, with retail being a side venture. Like AOL’s original form, content — retail was just happy a side effect. Like this site, where selling astrology readings is just a happy side business (okay, so it pays for the server, too). Some much for prognostication, I’m fishing for a new sponsor. Yesterday was sun, sandals, shorts. Forget this Mercurial market analysis. And trust Magnolia to come through with a late night snack of some sort of weirdness, just right for the time: a stuffed avocado, filled with I don’t know what, but it was tasty. Tad strange, but at 11 at night, who cares?