Program for Friday August 1, 2003 Sally DeWitt Peres School Volunteer Door Duty: Jim Young and Mike Ready * * * * * * * * * Program for Friday August 8, 2003 Jim Briggs Outside the Box-Decision Making Door Duty: Don Hardison and Troy Pewitt * * * * * * * * * Program of July 25, 2003 Doug Howe was our emergency speaker after our scheduled speaker passed away unexpectedly.  Thanks Doug.  For all you alert folks -- Yes Doug Howe is related to Mark Howe. He is his cousin.  That is how Stoney met him and cajoled him into speaking on such short notice. Doug's talk was titled "Don' let the airbag deploy after the accident" He talked about how to configure a portfolio safely.  In light of the recent collapse in the stock market and tech stocks in particular he advised that all long term investors practice the "tried and true approach" of diversification and be patient and realistic with their investment return goals.  To emphasize his point he said "imagine what would have happed had an investor been exposed to just tech stocks in the recent crash  -- some people had 100% of their assets in Lucent for example and suffered a 99% decline in their portfolios - this is the stuff the divorces are made of. Specifically he said a proper allocation between the assets classes: Cash, bonds, and equities reduces the emotionalism, that leads to mistakes, that occur when you are overweighed in just one asset class.  A diversified portfolio fluctuates less and thus allows the investor to sleep at night.  There is an old saying on the street that says, "Bull and Bears make money, but pigs get slaughtered" that is applicable here. He explained that the Common stock asset class is the most volatile but in the long run provides the best returns.  He said that bonds move inversely to interest rates but are the most stable asset class and provide income at the expense of capital appreciation.  One interesting chart showed that just 15 stocks generated 51% pf the S&P 500's gain in 1998.  This chart shows the power of herd instinct among modern institutions.  "Don't fight the tape" the saying goes. Another very interesting chart the he provided "The Callan Periodic Table of Investment Return"  showed the returns on every asset class from 1981 to present.  This chart certainly demonstrates the variability among assets classes over time. And finally he finished with a worksheet that compares three investors:  the Momentum Maven, the Courageous Contrarain, and the Disciplined Diversifier.  And as you might have guessed The Disciplined Diversifier come out on top with an 11.1% annual return.        .

` Last Week President Stoney rang the bell and issued a call for a silent prayer for peace.  Jan Hardison was called upon to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.  Visiting Rotarians Guests  President Stoney brought his long time friend and fellow stockbroker at Merrill Lynch to the club.  He also brought the friend he has brought before to the club who is an investment banker in Oakland.  He is also an attorney but does not practice any longer. Look like the rest of us have some catching up to do on the in the guest dept. Announcements Stoney wanted everybody to mark their calendars for 12/11/03 - the day of the big BLACK TIE PARTY. ·David N. is still under treatment.  The club wishes him well.  But Mark H. did a little investigation of his own and although it true that he is living with his sister in the city while undergoing treatment - he still attends his weekly morning Saturday coffee break with Johnny and Harry at Richmond Junk.  In addition, Harry reports that he is looking quite well and says he is feeling fine.  We are certainly glad to hear this. Coming Speakers 8/15  Steve Grossman Oakland's Airport of the 21st Century 8/22  Dr. Robert Hirst PhD Tales of the Mark Twain Archives 8/29  Dr. Joseph Marshall The More You Know, The More You Owe! Recognitions   Happy/Sad $$ Raffle Don Hardison won the raffle  with $208 in the pot.  But the yellow ball was not to be had and Don H. gets a free lunch for the effort. Hasta Luego Viernes Mark R. Howe

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