Meeting Minutes of January 8, 2008

Opening

Diane Windingland called the meeting of the Crow River Investment Club to order at 6:30 pm on January 8, 2008.

New Member Election Results

A vote was taken by email after the December 2007 meeting and Deantha Menon and Gary Quernemoen were elected as new members of the club.

Secretary’s Report

Sheryl announced a correction to the Treasurer’s report for December 11, 2007. We received dividend income of $18.60, leaving an ending brokerage account balance of $699.85. The minutes of the December 11, 2007 meeting were approved as corrected.

Treasurer’s Report

Craig made a dues deposit totaling $430 and wrote a check for $60 to cover the cost of pizzas for the December social, leaving an ending bank balance of $1,224.64.

We received dividend income of $11.80 and paid a fee of $2.00 for a printed statement, leaving an ending brokerage account balance of $709.65.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Sheryl announced the winners of a contest where members were asked to forecast the closing level of the DJIA on December 31, 2007 and choose the sector he or she felt would perform the best in 2007. Carole won a Mad Money cap for predicting that the DJIA would close at 13,309. Diane, a raging bull, won a gift card to Caribou Coffee for choosing Energy as the best performing sector in 2007. The members voted to repeat the contest in 2008.

NEW BUSINESS

New Stock Study

Lynn led a roundtable stock study of Oshkosh Truck Company. We decided that this company was too highly leveraged to warrant buying the company in our club portfolio.

Previously Presented Stock

Although we like the fundamental characteristics of Abercrombie & Fitch, we are too overweighted in the retail sector to add this company to our club portfolio. We agreed to leave Abercrombie & Fitch on our Watch list.

Stocks Making Headlines

Deantha Menon shared insights regarding the political turmoil in Pakistan. The assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto caused the shares of many Indian securities listed on the Bombay and New York stock exchanges to drop sharply. We feel this is a temporary situation and we are comfortable owning Infosys Technologies for the long-term.

Quarterly Stock Capsules (condensed from the written reports)

FactSet Research is firing on all cylinders, reporting first quarter sales growth of 23% and earnings growth of 24%. Subscriptions were up 22% over the past year. Earnings per share declined by a penny due to margin compression from unfavorable currency exchange rates. The company reported strong subscription revenue despite the fact that many large banks are reigning in their expenses.

Walgreen reported first quarter sales growth of 10.4% and earnings growth of 7%. Walgreen opened 169 new stores in the first quarter and plans to open 475 net new stores during fiscal 2008. Walgreen reported a better quarter due to tighter expense control. The company currently has 17% of the total U.S. retail prescription market. The shares have dropped substantially in this period of extreme market volatility. The company did not offer any future earnings guidance.

Portfolio Activity

A motion was made and seconded to buy an additional $400 of Stryker and an additional $400 of Infosys Technologies.

New Stock Watchers

The following stock watcher assignments are effective in February: Deantha Menon -- Portfolio Recovery Associates and Gary Quernemoen – Lowe’s.

Annual Meeting Planning Session

Beth Silverwater has volunteered to be the Nominating Committee Chair for 2008.

Kim Windingland has volunteered to review and recommend amendments, if needed, to the Operating Procedures, Partnership Agreement and Website documents.

These members have been nominated for the following officer positions:

President – Diane Windingland

Vice President/ Education Chair – Lynn Ostrem

Secretary – Sheryl Sostarich

Treasurer – Carole Ripplinger

Craig has asked to give up the Treasurer’s job as of February 19, 2008 due to work and personal commitments.

Note: If there are any additional nominations for officers, please contact Beth Silverwater no later than Tuesday, February 12, 2008.

These members have volunteered to be on the Audit Committee:

Craig Block, Treasurer (Chair)

Lynn Ostrem

Diane Windingland

Proposed Goals for 2008

1. Define our method of Portfolio Management

2. Improve education sessions by incorporating an interactive format

3. Improve communications

Proposed Social Activities for 2008

Black Power Keg Party in May

Dinner at a local restaurant in November

The following members have volunteered for these non-elective positions:

Portfolio Manager – Ron Thorson

Co-Portfolio Mgr – Dan Vitez

Files Page Manager – Steve Smith

SSG/Toolkit Trainer – Diane Windingland, Dan Vitez

The following members have volunteered to read and give occasional reports on newsworthy items pertaining to our club portfolio stocks. The newsletters and online forums that endorse the NAIC investing methodology are listed below:

Manifest newsletter/ forum – open

BI CompuServe forum – open

Morningstar newsletter – Carole

Standard & Poor’s Outlook – Craig

I-Club IAS newsletter – Beth

Motley Fool headlines – Marion

Seeking Alpha headlines - open

Industry Study Team #1

The purpose of an industry study team is to research an industry sector and identify companies that would be suitable candidates for our club portfolio.

Sheryl has volunteered to select and lead an Industry Study Team to research the Energy sector. Sheryl’s team will also be developing a template for future industry studies in healthcare and technology.

Assignments for the February meeting:

1. There won’t be a new stock presentation or education session in lieu of our Annual Meeting.

2. Quarterly stock reports are due for Coach (Kim), Infosys Technologies (Eric), Portfolio Recovery Associates (Deantha), Stryker (Marion) and Wells Fargo (Beth). Quarterly stock reports are to be posted to the message board no later than 2 days before the February meeting.

3. Sheryl will assist Deantha in preparing a quarterly stock report for Portfolio Recovery Associates.

4. Craig will buy $400 of Stryker and $400 of Infosys Technologies.

5. Anyone who has additional nominations for officer positions, please contact Beth no later than Tuesday, February 12, 2008.

6. Any member who would like to volunteer to follow one of the above listed newsletters or online forums should contact Diane Windingland.

7. Sheryl will select a team to conduct an industry study of the Energy sector.

8. Kim Windingland will review and recommend amendments, if needed, to the Operating Procedures, Partnership Agreement and Website documents.

 Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm.

Sheryl A Sostarich, Secretary

The next meeting will be at Lynn’s in St. Michael on Tuesday, February 19, 2008. Tess Vigeland of NPR Marketplace Money will be in attendance to record and summarize our Annual meeting for a future nationally syndicated radio broadcast.