Crow River Investment Club Meeting Minutes of November 11, 2008

Opening – Diane Windingland called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m.  Present with payment were Lynn Ostrem, Carole Ripplinger, Marion Marshall, Diane Windingland, Kim Windingland, Dan Vitez and Gary Quernemoen. Beth Silverwater was present without her checkbook, and Sheryl Sostarich was absent but submitted her payment in advance.  Guests were Kelly Thomas from Rogers and Margaret Nyoike from Crystal.

Secretary’s Report – The October minutes were accepted as posted, except for one clarification regarding the new member program.  “All members must agree” referred to the proposed 4 members who conduct the preliminary interviews. 

Treasurer’s Report – The bank balance began with $401.80. The dues deposit was $210.  $1,700 was transferred to the bank from the broker.  We paid off Ron Thorson at $337.05 and Mike Trisler at $1,610.66, leaving a balance of $364.09.

The broker balance began with $118.19.  We sold WAG on 10/21 at $23.01.  Proceeds were $1,833.83.  $1,700 was transferred to the bank to pay off Mike.  We received the following dividends: INFY $10.20, GE $9.92, BBY $1.40 and LOW $3.15, leaving an ending balance of $276.69.

Unfinished Business – Lynn gave an update on the New Member Mentoring program.

New Business – Diane announced that Lynn and she will audit the books with Carole this year.

New Stock Presentation – None

Stocks Previously Presented – We discussed Energen (EGN). Carole said the latest earnings release was very positive, but the price charts didn’t give the group the incentive to purchase it this month.  We plan to put it on the watch list.

Portfolio Managers’ Reports – Lynn talked about the new way she assembled the challenge list based, in part, on Mary Ann Davis’ advice.  Dan discussed the Pert and the advanced EPS entries, showing us where he got them on Yahoo Finance.

Portfolio Activity

Wells Fargo and Stryker were on the block this month.  Wells is our worst performer, but several members felt the purchase of Wachovia was too good to walk away now.  Stryker announced a division president and CFO were quitting, but the fundamentals are still strong and the estimates are positive.  Both will be reviewed next month.

We sold the next 4 worst performers: Abercrombie & Fitch, Best Buy, Coach and Lowe’s—and used $500 of the proceeds to purchase an initial stake in Quality Systems, Inc. We put stop limit orders on Factset Research at $35.51 and Quality Systems at 10% below the executed price.  Stop limit orders will used more frequently going forward.

Education – Little time was left, so Lynn briefly reviewed her class notes on Mary Ann Davis’ “There is a Time to Buy”.  Overall, members responded positively to the concepts.  We will continue our discussion next month.

Assignments for the December meeting:

Diane will become the stockwatcher for Quality Systems (QSII)

No quarterly stock reports are due since we sold them all

Carole will execute the portfolio changes as discussed above

Sheryl will lead an education segment on moving averages

The SSGs will be updated through a discussion on the messageboard

Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned a few minutes after 8:30 p.m.

The next meeting will be at Lynn’s in St. Michael on Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

Submitted by Lynn Ostrem (in Sheryl Sostarich’s absence)