A Message from the Chairman

Another late note post from headquarters. This week has been so busy with the equity markets continuing their manic fluctuations that I spent the day visiting one of the businesses in which we are making an investment and organizing the cash secured equity put options we've written as a strategy to either 1.) reduce our cost basis or 2.) generate premium income and extremely high returns on capital for tying up our shareholders' money for only six months to a year. We've also written a few, selectively chosen covered calls (I'm working on an article explaining how you can use those in your own portfolio under limited circumstances.) Our market orders are put in place for Monday's opening bell and I'm finally sitting down to a cup of coffee, sketching an outline for my next few investing pieces, and listening to Enya.

What's new here? The same story that we've been repeating for the past few weeks. Stocks are cheap. If you've stopped investing in your 401(k) or Roth IRA, you've made a horrible, horrible long-term mistake. You are sitting there watching once-in-a-generation opportunities pass you by at prices that will make you smack your head in five years in frustration. If you've actually sold out of your low-cost, broad based index funds, you have literally wiped away years, perhaps even decades, of your time, effort, and hard work, utterly destroying all of the sacrifice you and your family have made up until now. Don't be that foolish. You are better than that. (Unless you don't have health insurance - you must maintain sufficient health insurance, even if it means selling stocks because major unpleasant surprises can decimate your wealth in a matter of months if you're not covered.)

I never understood mass investor psychology. How can you look at yourself in the mirror and say that you want to sell companies at 1/2 the price you were willing to buy them only one year ago!? It's baffling. Perhaps my disposition is partly due to my view on the United States. Overall, I feel good about the overall five-year prospects of the broader economy (that doesn't mean the short-term won't be unpleasant, perhaps extremely so). My businesses, as well as those of many other entrepreneurs and financiers, are still growing exponentially, with some lines up triple digits as a percentage and the overall consolidated enterprise comfortably into the double digits on a year-over-year basis. As I've explained in past articles and blogs, we're using these uncertain times to take as much market share as we can from competitors and launch into new businesses. On Wall Street, smart businesses are doing the same thing. It's times like these, for instance, that Wal-Mart thrives.

Have you ever noticed that the people giving you the conventional advice aren't rich? Stop listening to the idiot at the water cooler telling you the world is going to hell. Warren Buffett ordered you to buy stocks a week or two ago. Keep your expenses in check, don't get into credit card debt, and figure out how to own good businesses either in whole or part. It's that simple. It may take awhile, but the rewards are worth it. I don't worry about how to pay my bills, folks. I've spent years writing millions of words of content at About.com so you can experience that same freedom; I want you to have it! If Anne Scheiber, a former IRS auditor living in a small New York apartment, can amass more than $22 million in wealth, there is nothing stopping you.