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..
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