I Can Help You Become a Great Investor
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in heath, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2 World English Bible)
On January 8th, 2008, I came home from our attorney’s office with a very large check. We had just sold our investment firm. The Everett Financial Group, Inc., had been one of the largest and most successful independent investment companies in the United States. My darling wife MarySue asked me what I was planning to do with the check—I think she felt a shopping spree coming on! My reply was, ‘put it in a guaranteed money market account’. The stock market was overpriced, and I felt led to put the proceeds in a safe place until better investment opportunities opened up.
As you may remember, the Great Recession began just a few months later. To use “financial jargon,” the U.S. economy and stock markets got trashed. It was a crisis of biblical proportions.
I wish I could say I was a genius and saw the economic meltdown coming, but that would not be accurate. I’m just not that smart. Better to be blessed than brilliant. A few years earlier, MarySue and I had a serious discussion at our dining room table one evening. We decided to sell all our business holdings and real estate investments. We both felt it was time to downsize and enjoy life. Our timing turned out to be impeccable—God’s favor is awesome!
In the spring of 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average[1]--the most famous and best-known stock market barometer--closed below 7,000 for the first time since 1997, a 50% decline from its pre-recession peak. I let MarySue know that I thought it might be a good time to invest some of the capital we had been sitting on for the past 15 months. Her response was that I should go do what I knew best. So, we pulled the trigger and made a bundle by buying blue-chip stocks at substantial markdowns. Buying low and selling high is a terrific investment strategy that works every time! But most people do not have the courage to invest when the outlook is gloomy.
I’m a value investor and a bargain hunter. I enjoy buying my Tommy Bahama shirts on eBay at 75-80% below their retail prices. I also enjoy buying stocks and bonds at deeply discounted prices. Which brings me to my favorite quote from Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and the greatest investor of my generation:
Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.
That’s how you make a lot of money on Wall Street.
By the end of 2009, our investment account was up over 50% after only nine months! To say I was deliriously happy would be an understatement.
I can help you become a great investor by sharing the skills I have learned over the past 35 years. Some of the goals for my latest book, “How to Be a Great Investor: Investment Techniques for Christians”, are to demystify the investment process; dispel some very costly financial myths; and to blend decades of investment experience with biblical principles.
You can order a copy of the book on GreatInvestor.org, or through Amazon in paperback or Kindle. The Great Investor website is chockfull of valuable resources to help you become a better investor. Take advantage of them, learn, grow, and profit. Just about everything on the website is FREE!
Bearing fruit in every good work (Colossians 1:10)
Thanks, and Blessings!
[1] The DJIA is a stock market index that tracks 30 large publicly-owned companies in the United States. It was created by Charles Dow and Edward Jones on May 26, 1896.