I’ve been talking to you recently about technology, particularly cell phones.

It is a struggle, in my view, to pinpoint investment opportunities in technology. I am as technology friendly as my dog.

Anyway, my 26-year-old son, Andrew, visited me recently. He had been reading my columns and what I had to say about all the things that one can do on their cell phone. He is pretty convinced that most of my world, as I know it, is going to be out of date in any moment. By the way, if you have not spent any time with these people, (today’s 26 year olds) it is enlightening.

Anyway, we know that in Japan they are way ahead of us with cell phone use. Andrew has one of those hemorrhoid phones or whatever they are called. It does everything but milk the cows.

He can find me a Middle Eastern restaurant, complete with reviews, or about anything else I want. He has a GPS so as I drive he can find us on his phone.

He doesn’t really need a computer. He just Googles up stuff on his phone.

Some phones can tap over 300,000 APPS. I was reading that some banking institutions have technology where you can take a picture of a check with your smartphone and deposit it in your checking account without going to the bank.

I actually have one of those smartphones. It is called a Storm I think, which accurately describes what happens when I try to use it.

My son says that learning to use the phone is the trick. You need to think like the phone or a computer to know how to use it. He believes that this is the biggest problem people my age, 49, struggle with.

He did influence me in my decision to buy a Tablet, which is one of those little computers. Mine has a 10-inch screen. A DOOM I think it’s called.

Anyway, he said it has a GPS, and I asked him if I was sitting on the deck using my DOOM, why do I need a GPS. I already know where I am.

He just stared at me and got on the airplane and went back to Katrina country.

As a portfolio manager you can see why I let someone else manage most of my technology investments.

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As I write this on June 6, the markets have been somewhat unsettled with about a 5 percent pullback from the high. Generally every week in May was down so your brokerage statements might not look so cute this month.

Even with the pullback, we are still in positive territory, so I consider that a good thing.

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I’ve become more enamored lately with commodity prices than stock prices. If you are the shopper in the family for food, you know exactly what I am talking about.

Let’s look at food related stuff. Beef cattle prices are down more than 5 percent year-to-date, but it’s difficult to see. If T-bones have been $9.99 a pound, then a fall to $9.50 really seems like it doesn’t count.

Coffee is up 8 percent for the year. I paid $17.49 a bag the other day for my favorite.

Corn is up 16 percent, hogs more than 12 percent, wheat 6 percent and soybeans are about even.

I suspect you may see a lot of corn fields popping up around rural Butler County. Farmers can finally make some money.

The problem rears its ugly head if you are a farmer raising corn and feeding it to your cattle. Cattle prices are down slightly but corn is up. And we’re not even talking about fertilizer costs and the cost of fuel to run the tractor.

In the broader commodity market, gasoline is up 20 percent, and natural gas is up more than 9 percent. I think that is interesting.

If there is so much natural gas and it is summer, why is natural gas increasing in price? Interesting isn’t it?

Heating oil is up more than 18 percent while crude oil is up only 8 percent. Gold is up more than 8 percent but silver is up 19. These prices are all measured from Jan. 1.

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The wife was complaining about the cost of gasoline to fill up her SUV. I told her that she was just going to have to drive less and stay home more.

She looked at me like I had two heads and went to the mall.

Howie Pentony is a Saxonburg client portfolio manager.