Crow River Investment Club

Meeting Minutes of February 19, 2008

 

Opening

Diane Windingland called the Annual meeting of the Crow River Investment Club to order at 6:30 pm on February 19, 2008.

 

Lynn Ostrem

Present w/pay

Marion Marshall

Present w/pay

Carole Ripplinger

Present w/pay

Sheryl Sostarich

Present w/pay

Craig Block

Present w/pay

Diane Windingland

Present w/pay

Kim Windingland

Present w/pay

Mike Trisler

Present w/pay

Dan Vitez

Present w/pay

Eric Chlan

Present w/pay

Beth Silverwater

Present w/pay

Steve Smith

Present w/pay

Ron Thorson

Present w/pay

Deantha Menon

Present w/pay

Gary Quernemoen

Present w/pay

 

 

 

Distinguished Guest

Tess Vigeland of NPR Marketplace Money came from California to record and summarize this annual meeting for a future nationally syndicated radio broadcast.

 

Secretary’s Report

The minutes of the January 8, 2008 meeting were approved as posted.

 

Treasurer’s Report

Craig made a dues deposit totaling $560 and transferred $1,000 to the brokerage account, leaving an ending bank balance of $784.64.

 

Craig bought 5 shares of Stryker for $360.50 and 9 shares of Infosys Technologies for $389. We received $1,000 in a transfer from the bank account and dividend income of $15.47, leaving an ending brokerage account balance of $975.62.

 

Audit Committee

The Audit committee comprised of Craig, Lynn, Diane, and Carole met on February 10, 2008. The tax audit for 2007 was completed and K-1 Partnership Forms were mailed.

 

Review of Goals for 2007

1. A written succession plan for officers was completed and will be filed in the Secretary’s Manual and posted under the Members Only folder on our website.

2. Lynn enhanced the New Member Orientation Program by providing specialized training of the club’s tools and concepts on CD.

3. This, in turn, helped to bring all members to the same level with investment tools.

4. The club added seven new members in the latest fiscal year for a total of 15 active members, exceeding our goal of 12 members.

 

ANNUAL MEETING

A motion was made by Kim and seconded by Beth to amend Section 6 Capital Contributions of the Partnership Agreement, removing the requirements that all club members buy an individual membership to NAIC/BetterInvesting and the book, Take Stock. The motion passed unanimously.

 

A motion was made by Beth and seconded by Lynn, passed unanimously to elect the following Slate of Officers for 2008 -- Diane Windingland, President; Lynn Ostrem, Vice President & Education Chair; Sheryl Sostarich, Secretary, and Carole Ripplinger, Treasurer.

 

Ron Thorson was appointed to the non-elective position of Portfolio Manager for 2008. Dan Vitez was appointed to the non-elective position of Co-Portfolio Manager for 2008.

 

A motion was made by Carole and seconded by Dan, passed unanimously to schedule the following Social Activities for 2008

1. Black Powder Keg Party and Summer Barbecue on June 7, 2008

2. Elegant dinner at a local restaurant in November (date subject to a poll in March)

 

A motion was made by Lynn and seconded by Diane, passed unanimously to adopt four comprehensive Club Goals for 2008

(A complete description of our club goals appear in the Addendum Page to these minutes.)

 

1. Improve Communications among members

2. Redefine Portfolio Management

3. Improve Diversification

4. Make education more interactive

 

Additional issues that were approved: (and also appear in the Addendum Page to these minutes)

1. Ron’s plan for the Portfolio Management Committee

2. Dan’s plan to improve the Presentation/Challenge List

3. News and Newsletter Assignments

 

Stock-Related Business

Quarterly reports for Coach, Inc (COH), Infosys Technologies (INFY), and Stryker Corporation (SYK) were submitted prior to the meeting. All three companies continue to meet our expectations. Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRAA) was also slated, but the earnings had not been released by meeting time. It will be due at the March meeting.

 

Portfolio Activity

Due to the time allotted for the annual meeting, the discussion to buy or sell stocks was postponed until the March meeting.

 

Tess Vigeland interviewed stock watchers Kim Windingland, Gary Quernemoen, and Craig Block to obtain specific information on three of our portfolio stocks – Coach, Lowe’s, and FactSet Research.

 

Education: No education program this month due to the annual meeting activities.

 

Assignments for the March meeting:

1. New stock presentations for CVS Corporation by Eric and PetMed Express by Steve.

2. Quarterly stock reports are due for PetSmart (Dan), Portfolio Recovery Associates (Deantha), Lowe’s (Gary). Quarterly stock reports are to be posted to the message board no later than 2 days before the March meeting.

3. Steve will present a brief update report for Walgreen.

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

5. Ron will conduct a poll to schedule a date for the November dinner social.

6. Lynn will lead a discussion on Lowe’s Corporation and we will vote whether to retain or sell this portfolio stock. All members are to review the recent headlines, the PERT, the Manifest Forum discussions, and I-Club correspondence for Lowe’s.

 

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, March 11, 2008.

 

2008 PROPOSALS

 

Corrections & Amendments:

Section 6: Capital Contributions - change from:

Initial/Additional Partners—New partners will pay a $25.00 entry fee, plus at least $50.00 to fund their capital accountIn addition, they will be required to join NAIC as an individual member, purchase the club-sanctioned software, and the club manual.

To

Initial/Additional Partners—New partners will pay a $25.00 entry fee, plus at least $50.00 to fund their capital accountIn addition, they will be required to purchase the club-sanctioned software.

Goals:

 

1.                  Improve Communications – Create an atmosphere that is more conducive to sharing ideas at the meetings and on the message board.

 

2.                  Redefine Portfolio Management – How we monitor, buy and sell, and report.

 

3.                  Improve Diversification – Create a more risk-averse portfolio by improving our mix of companies by size and sector.

 

4.                  Make our monthly education segment more interactive.

 

Social Events:

 

1.                  Black Powder Keg Party for members and spouse or friend in June

 

2.                  Elegant dinner out for members and spouse or friend in November (Saturdays are 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd & 29th – Thanksgiving is the 27th)

 

Issues on the Floor:

 

Proposal #1 – Restructuring Portfolio Management:

 

Create a Portfolio Management Committee (PMC) who will work as a team to redefine our processes and present buy and sell recommendations to the club.

 

Their role will be:

 

¨      Protect our portfolio from harm and preserve capital

¨      Monitor portfolio construction for diversification, risk and return

¨      Analyze, organize and report the data

¨      Study best-case scenarios for portfolio

¨      Provide recommendations

 

Proposal #2 – Improve Presentation/Challenge List:

 

We improved our stock selection process immensely by creating the Best of Breed list.  However, not all stocks listed met our criteria.  Therefore, it is proposed that we devise a more rigorous screening method that will produce even better results, using several growth investing strategies—namely Manifest, NAIC and Navellier.

 

¨      Criteria and screening process will be submitted to the club in March

¨      Two members will work together to produce a monthly screen

¨      The results will be called the Challenge List and incorporate our BOB & Watch List into one.

¨      Stocks that continue to meet the criteria will remain on the list

¨      Stocks that fail to meet our criteria will be removed (even if they have been presented to the club)

¨      The Challenge List will be maintained by the Portfolio Management Committee, reporting only.

¨      The Stock Presentation Schedule will remain in tact, sign up will be by the month

¨      The club will continue to choose the monthly presentation stock, with input from the PMC

 

Proposal #3 – News and Newsletter followers:

 

While the individual stock watchers will monitor the news source of their choice, the company website and the conference calls and press releases on their respective companies, club members will help by watching a single source, either a news website, a newsletter, or an investing forum, on our holdings and potential holdings.  If they find newsworthy items, they will send them directly to the stock watcher, and use them to help promote discussion during the open stock segment of our meeting.  So far, we have these followers:

 

¨      Manifest newsletter/forum –  Ron

¨      BI CompuServe forum –  Eric

¨      Morningstar newsletter – Carole

¨      Standard & Poor’s Outlook – Marion

¨      I-Club IAS newsletter – Beth

¨      Motley Fool headlines – 

¨      Seeking Alpha headlines – Craig

¨      Argus & Wachovia reports - Sheryl