1982 was one of the worst of all years...it hearkened back to 1929...and interest rates were sky high....and I had decided to start a business...how astute was that? anyway...one Saturday morning I enrolled to attend a seminar by Don Sheehan, a famous Dale Carnegie salesman...and the seminar was held in St. Paul at the Village Buffet near Snelling and University...I was really looking for some sage advice that would be helpful.
After a short intro, we had a coffee break and I met the other business owners, maybe 20 or so...and they were all over 30, and all facing some business life or death decisions...all were looking for guidance...
Then we started the first session...Don Sheehan called it "Thank God for your problems."
Don began by noting that all those attending were facing problems...and then asked whether we knew of a place where there were no problems...nobody answered...then he said" At 30th and Lyndale in Minneapolis is a spot with no problems.".....silence in the room as the seminar attendees looked at each other in amazement and wonder....then one guy said...."Isn't that Calvary Cemetary?".....
"YES", Don Sheehan replied...and everybody in that cemetery has NO problems..."
I was just a little stunned..and at first thought, I pondered that maybe I had spent the seminar fee in vain....
"Because you are alive and kicking..you face problems...and every day you should be kneeling down and thanking God for your problems, cause...if you look around you for just a few minutes, you will see a whole world of folks that have larger problems than yourself...so
"Thank God for your problems"...
and be confident that the Lord will give you the strength to face them.
I was just a little shocked...and imagine when I went home and told my wife that we should be thankful for our problems...ya .....she was shocked too...but after 30 years or so, I can still remember how stunning that seminar segment was, and how much it helped me....
Thanks Don..
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Admitting Loss...and the energy it brings.:
Recently I have been reviewing some old investments that have gone bad, and over the years I have just persisted in the belief that to hold "long term" was the hard core integrity thing to do....but just last week, I felt that enough was enough..and sold...and presto...in the admission of the loss, or in the recognition of simply a bad financial idea, I was freed to begin again....and that albatross was lifted...and I felt an energy to "get back" ...ya like when was young, and one had broken up, and was trying to begin again...and thus I saw that in recognizing loss,,,,there can be an upside...nice...
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Memories of "Sharp Investment" Club: a true story
Years ago, maybe about 1973, I worked a brief time at a CPA firm in Minneapolis...and one of the nice things that happened during that time was that the employees of the firm, a CPA and some "juniors" all formed a stock investment club, called "Sharp Investment". I eagerly joined and began meeting with them monthly, where we would each bring an idea, some graphs, and then after a presentation, and debate, we would vote on how to use the money that we had each contributed monthly to make a purchase...Yes...some of you might remember those days...when Medtronic was selling for $10 a share maybe, or Cardiac Pacemakers was just going public, or maybe St. Jude Medical...going public for $5.00 per share...yes I remember St. Jude very well since I could have bought 100 shares for $5, but alas did not have the spare change...
The leader of the club was Rollie Anderson...he was a CPA, and well respected, and soon there were tons of folks that wanted to join our club...but to this day, Rollie still asks me when me meet: "How is your "Suave Shoe" stock doing?" Yes, that was one of my first stock picks...
During the weekdays, I would pour over my latest book I had mailordered which was the "Magic of Stock Charts" or how candlestick charting could be the path to millions...and yes I even began ordering stockcharts in paper form sent weekly by special delivery on Saturday...
Our broker during those years was Jim Goebel with Craig Hallum downtown Minneapolis...You could drop in his office, and sitting in his chair, you could see the electronic tape going across listing all the trades...there was something called "tapereading" that I for the life of me could not figure out the significance of...but all the old guys in old tweed sportcoats that hung out at the brokerage offices seemed to know how to do it, and I wanted to learn how, since some day, maybe in Florida, I dreamed of being one of those guys, making a few trades and then slipping out to the boat for a spin...ah the dreams of youth.
One special memory I have is my purchase of 100 shares of Medtronic...I think I paid $15 per share....Immediately the stock went up three dollars...I was thrilled...so..I called Jim and asked him to sell..It was Friday afternoon...and he was hesitant about selling so soon, since he had thought of me holding for years and growing my investment...anyway, he said he could sell it...and I asked whether I could get the check for $300 at 4PM that day...he said yes, but it would cost a $25 fee, which I said was fine...When I picked up the check, I went across the street to the First National Bank, where I cashed it, and asked for all $1 bills....and then took my future wife out to dinner at the Pagoda restaurant in Mahtomedi off Hwy 244. I think that restaurant still exists....I still remember how alarmed my future bride was when I took out my wallet with all those bills in it, and how small the check at the restaurant was...and from that day, I knew the thrill of short term trading...for just a little bit, and to keep the other 99% far away....
So much for managing "winners"....I always like to take the winners, and then "manage losers".....it seems to make more sense..
The leader of the club was Rollie Anderson...he was a CPA, and well respected, and soon there were tons of folks that wanted to join our club...but to this day, Rollie still asks me when me meet: "How is your "Suave Shoe" stock doing?" Yes, that was one of my first stock picks...
During the weekdays, I would pour over my latest book I had mailordered which was the "Magic of Stock Charts" or how candlestick charting could be the path to millions...and yes I even began ordering stockcharts in paper form sent weekly by special delivery on Saturday...
Our broker during those years was Jim Goebel with Craig Hallum downtown Minneapolis...You could drop in his office, and sitting in his chair, you could see the electronic tape going across listing all the trades...there was something called "tapereading" that I for the life of me could not figure out the significance of...but all the old guys in old tweed sportcoats that hung out at the brokerage offices seemed to know how to do it, and I wanted to learn how, since some day, maybe in Florida, I dreamed of being one of those guys, making a few trades and then slipping out to the boat for a spin...ah the dreams of youth.
One special memory I have is my purchase of 100 shares of Medtronic...I think I paid $15 per share....Immediately the stock went up three dollars...I was thrilled...so..I called Jim and asked him to sell..It was Friday afternoon...and he was hesitant about selling so soon, since he had thought of me holding for years and growing my investment...anyway, he said he could sell it...and I asked whether I could get the check for $300 at 4PM that day...he said yes, but it would cost a $25 fee, which I said was fine...When I picked up the check, I went across the street to the First National Bank, where I cashed it, and asked for all $1 bills....and then took my future wife out to dinner at the Pagoda restaurant in Mahtomedi off Hwy 244. I think that restaurant still exists....I still remember how alarmed my future bride was when I took out my wallet with all those bills in it, and how small the check at the restaurant was...and from that day, I knew the thrill of short term trading...for just a little bit, and to keep the other 99% far away....
So much for managing "winners"....I always like to take the winners, and then "manage losers".....it seems to make more sense..
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