Celebrating Easter.........

This is the last post for a week ........am headed south and leaving the country on a large ship to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the western Caribbean. My goal is to not gain any extra pounds on the ship!!

I will leave this piece for you to enjoy and live...........pass it on!!!

Be brilliant in the basics. Be the change you want to see in the world. Be the first one. Be unforgettable. Be interesting. Be a sleeper. Be the world's expert on yourself. Be better than yesterday, but not as good as tomorrow. Be confident enough to be humble. Be somebody who reminds everybody of nobody else in the world. Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don't sell, enable people to buy. Talk less and say more. Don't let the bums and negative people get you down. Work with people you respect. Don't be weary in well doing, for in due season you will reap a great harvest if you faint not. Don't wait for the mainstream to validate your voice. Don't despise the day of small beginnings. Don't be selfish with your knowledge. Don't complain if you haven't earned the right. Don't be different, be unique. You are what you charge. You are what you believe. You are the books you've read and the people you've met. You are an empty sheet of paper in the minds of every person you encounter. Live each day with courage. Travel your own path. The world cannot resist a man on a mission. The best swimmers are always in the pool. The sculpture is inside the stone. The two greatest days in your life are the day you're born, and the day you realize why you were born. If you are successful you will always have too much to do and too little time. Don’t sweat every detail. If you aren't being criticized, you aren't doing much. If everyone says you're out of your mind, you just might be onto something. It's not who you know, it's who knows you.

It's not the years, it's the mileage. Work hard, work long and work smart. Work like you don't need the money. Work from technique, because you never know how you will feel. Success leaves clues. Confidence is king. Credibility comes from specificity. Listening is not waiting to talk. Tell the truth, tell it all and tell it now. Give value first. Life’s too short to be in a job you hate. Paint yourself into a good corner. Do the work once and benefit many times. Give yourself away. Take massive action. Act as if you already were the person you're trying to become. Always stand up, stand out or be counted out. Learn to love your zone of discomfort. Greet each day with love in your heart. Show, don't tell. Actions speak louder than words. A picture does paint a thousand words. Make daily appointments with yourself. Never apologize for your art. Work harder on your self than your job. Always put your children, spouse and family first. Find your one big idea. Remember who you are. Validate your existence. Be yourself and do something cool - every single day! Life isn't about finding your self, it's about creating yourself. Let grudges go. What goes around comes around.

Aubrey's Dad..................

http://www.dailyspeculations.com/ReEd.pdf

April 1, 1982 -- April 1, 2007

David B. Utter.

To my friend, confidant and pal I want to publicly say, "THANK YOU" for your support and encouragement over these past 25 years. When you hired me at Kidder, Peabody & Co. Inc. in April of 1982 you took a shot.

Thank you for your support then and your friendship today.

You make the world a better place for many.

First Quarter, 2007

As many of you know, Chippewa Partners does not report investment performance quarterly.

We do so on a semi-annual basis. July and January.

Interesting to see the utility stocks staying afloat this quarter and then some. It's been quarter after quarter for them.

Energy remains stellar. The Saudi's hold a wild card for sure.

Iran remains the enigma.

Edges...............

As many of you know I like to have an edge. Without an edge you are flipping coins, gambling, chasing hype and a myriad of other names for trading without one. Edges are many and varied.
Chats with corporate pilots who talk to corporate CEO's, chats with accountants, employees, golf outings with senior salespeople, the list goes on and on and on. Sure it is nice to buy on the technicals and fundamentals and sell on the technicals. In nasty volatility though, it is that edge of how the business is running that can keep you in the name fundamentally. Of course, you need proper position-sizing and money management skills to ride out the rough patches.

One name that came to my attention today is a local name. Scientific Games. SGMS.

I like the look of today's trading action in SGMS. Volume wasn't through the roof for the last trading day of the quarter but buyers were in the hunt and selling dried up early in the day. Maybe you enjoy a relationship with somebody at the company. It might be worth a call to see how their business is going. The chart tells me they are hitting on a lot of cylinders.

I think it is worth a look. I don't own a single share.

Yet.

FPA: Defeat of Exemption Rule 'Priceless'

"Priceless," is how Financial Planning Association (FPA) Chairman Dan Moisand characterized the association's federal appeals court victory today, forcing the Securities and Exchange Commission to rescind it’s so-called “Merrill Lynch” rule.While Moisand and other FPA executives declined during their press conference to disclose the actual tab for their four-year legal bill, sources put the final costs in the $100,000 range for the 29,000 member association. “It was easily absorbed in our budget, “ says Moisand. “Even if we had lost, it would have been a victory, because it gave us a platform to talk about what responsibilities those in the professional community have to clients. A real financial planner is willing to put clients’ interests first. We don’t see it any other way.”Indeed the $100,000 may be a bargain considering how wide-ranging the impact of the FPA’s victory might be. For starters, FPA executives say, the appeals court’s decision forces the broker-dealer to stop selling fee-based accounts and advice without having to register as advisors. Brokers have sold an estimated shopping $300 billion in fee-based accounts in the past eight-plus years under the SEC-ordered exemption. Currently, broker-dealers will only have three months to “re-paper” these accounts, Moisand said.

15 scared Brits................

Tony Blair is a gutless wonder. He should have sent an arsenal of Tomahawk missiles into the Iranian Navy by now. An amazing lack of leadership.

Sir Winston would not approve.

Light the candle, Tony.

Double your "search" capability..............

http://twingine.com/

Do You Know What You're Paying your Hedge Fund Manager?

The Federal K-1 tax forms are now reaching investors for their share of the profit or loss in their hedge fund investments. Most investors will mail their K-1 to their CPA and head out for a round of golf, none the worse for the experience. They know they pay the 2% management fee and the 20% incentive performance fee to the fund manager, but a sinister, stealth form of compensation may also be reaching the back pocket of the fund manager.

Due to the sheer volume of trading, fund managers negotiate very low commission rates; say $2 per equity trade or 25 cents per futures contract, with the clearing firm. The clearing firm may then charge the hedge fund $5 per trade or futures contract, and then rebate the difference directly to the hedge fund manager. At first glance, you might say to yourself, "it's only about $4 a trade, what's the big deal"? But, in reality, the hedge fund may trade 5-10 thousand contracts per day. That amounts to $40,000 per day, or $8 million per year in stealth compensation to the hedge fund manager. Do you think that $8 million in excess commissions might effect the overall performance numbers of the hedge fund?

This compensation may even dwarf the management and incentive fees paid to the manager. Why do I call these types of soft compensation "stealth”? First, if it is disclosed in the hedge fund offering, it is likely in the small print, the very small print. Second, it's not likely to be separately stated on the monthly or quarterly statements sent to investors. Third, since the managers share of the total commissions charged by the clearing firm are not separately stated on the monthly trading statement, they would likely go unquestioned and undetected by the fund administrators and the outside auditors.

So, if it's hard for administrators and auditors to detect it, how can the investor detect it? First, they can ask the fund manager if the condition exists. Or, they can ask the fund manager for a monthly statement and if commissions exceed the above amounts, there may be a problem. Or, you may receive the telltale letter from the fund manager with your periodic statement, wherein they inform you they will forego the management fee this quarter because performance is below expectations (I guess $40,000 per day in soft commissions gave them a guilt trip?).

I can only speculate on how those excess commissions are used. They may be used for the corporate condo in St. Kitts or a luxury yacht, or they may be used to grease the palms of investment advisors to keep those investors flowing in. They may be used to pay off union, public school or government pension administrators as a reward for investing in the fund, or it may just be hidden away in the Caymans or the British Virgin Islands outside of the grab of the IRS. But, in the end, the amount of compensation investor’s pay to the fund manager is the responsibility of the investor. So, if the performance of the fund is less that what you've been promised or expect, take some time to find out why.

Thought for the day............

" Only in banks do they leave both doors open.......and chain the pen!"

Marriage Counseling.....Southern Style

Earl and Bubba, two good ole boys from Dixie are quietly sitting in a boat fishing, chewing and drinking beer when suddenly Bubba says, "I think I'm going to divorce my wife - she hasn't spoke to me in over 2 months.

"Earl spits, sips his beer and says, "You better think it over - women like that are hard to find

Mothers.........

This weekend marks the 8th year since my Mom passed away. The following was sent to me by a friend in Canada at the Samson Cree Reserve and I thought this appropriate to share.

SHOWING OUR MOTHERS HOW MUCH WE APPRECIATE THEM

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, "I love you, but I know this other woman loves you too and she would love to spend some quality time with you." The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 10 years. With the demands of my work and my three children, I was only able to visit her occasionally.

That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked quickly. My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. "I thought that it would be nice to spend some time with you", I responded. "Just the two of us." She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I would like that very much."

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She was waiting at the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and she was wearing the same dress she wore to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She looked so beautiful. Her face was lit up with a smile that was as radiant as an angel's. "I told my friends that I was going out with my son, and they were very impressed," she said, as she got into the car.

"They can't wait to hear about our date." We went to a nice, cozy restaurant that had great food. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me with tears in her eyes. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. "I am remembering all the times when I read the menu to you when you were small," she said. "Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favour," I responded. During the dinner, we had a relaxed, enjoyable conversation, nothing extraordinary, just catching up on recent events and sharing memories of our family history.We talked so much that we missed the movie, so we had dessert, coffe, and more conversation instead.

As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me pay next time." I agreed.

"How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got home. "Very nice. Much nicer than I could have imagined. Thanks for suggesting it," I answered. A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to see her or be with her.

Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a receipt from the same restaurant where my mother and I had eaten. An attached note said: "Hi Son, I paid for 2 meals in advance. If I can't be here, bring your wonderful wife (who loves you almost as much as I do). You will never know how much this night means to me. I love you, Son. XOXO Mom"

I treasure that hastily written note and my memory of that evening.
Now I fully understand the importance of saying,"I LOVE YOU."
I realize that the most precious gift we have to give our loved ones is our time.
Northing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve NOW.

All too often, the connections that we put off till "some other time" are the ones we regret most.

Somebody said it takes about 6 weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby... that somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "normal" is history. Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct .. that somebody never took a 3-year-old shopping. Somebody said being a mother is boring... that somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit. Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good".... that somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee. Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices ... that somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through a neighbor's window. Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother... that somebody never helped a fifth grader with his math. Somebody said you can't love the second child as much as you love the first .... that somebody doesn't have 2 children. Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books.... that somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears. Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery.... that somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten or on a plane headed for college or a new job. Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back ... that somebody never organized 7 giggling Brownies to sell cookies. Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married... that somebody doesn't know that marriage adds new rooms for sons and daughters-in-law in a mother's ever-expanding heart. Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home... that somebody never had grandchildren. Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her.... that somebody isn't a mother.


Pass this along to all the people you care for. This is a reminder to show your love and appreciation for all the people in your life while you have them.......

LEND......

26,000,000 million shares outstanding........10% held by insiders.

LEND has traded over 200,000,000 shares in the last 5 days.

Think and wake up............

Our friends in the government.........(I'm from the government and I'm here to help you) the Labor Department, reported yesterday that February prices for "crude foodstuffs" were 18.8% above year-ago levels. Food companies are starting to pass those higher costs of ethanol on to consumers as wholesale consumer food prices were 6.8% above year-ago levels.

Inflation. It's alive and well in America.

Congratulations to ICE............

And no, I am not talking Vanilla..........the boys in Atlanta at the IntercontinentalExchange in launching a surprise $9.9 billion bid for the Chicago Board of Trade.

from Denis Waitley...............

"Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer."

Relax.................

If your portfolio is making you feel like you are sitting outside your first class cabin on the Titanic let’s talk for a moment on what you might do to help yourself as an investor. The first thing would be to shut off CNBC. I hope someday CNBC will be required by law to flash on the TV screen a graphic that says “Nothing that happens in the market in the next 30 days will matter in 10 or 15 years”.

Another thing you might want to do is fire your stockbroker. Wall Street firms only care if they can sell stocks, not what happens to investors. They are not paid to make clients money and are not fiduciaries.

Another thing might be to stop reading the negative financial press. Yes, I admit that I read 3 papers every morning before the average guy gets out of bed, but journalism always gets it wrong! It has a relentless bias to the negative. I call it financial pornography. Reporters haven’t written much lately about why the stock market is headed up in our lifetime and it isn’t the job of journalists to make people great investors. It’s their job to make people come back for more journalism.

Another approach in the market would be to copy Warren Buffet. He finds the right situation by locating value in businesses. He trades an economic purpose in the largest timeframe, the timeframe called forever. He spends essentially no time thinking about unemployment numbers or interest rates, the big factors that so many investors think about. He does care about the potential impact that inflation might have on various businesses. Warren Buffet, on October 19th, 1987 had his personal stock holdings marked down by a staggering $342,000,000. My one question to you is: How much money did Warren Buffet lose on October 19th, 1987 when the market cratered 508 points and an astounding 22%?

Do you know why he didn’t lose any money that day? On that day he didn’t sell. He was a buyer. It was a bear market. Stocks were on sale. If the stock market falls 25% that does not mean a loss of 25%. If you don’t panic, there is no loss. If you don’t sell, there is no loss. Warren Buffet knows that no one can forecast interest rates and that no one can forecast the short term swings in the stock market. Long term, the market always goes up. Always.

Today, more than half the volume on the NYSE is generated by traders whose long-term horizon is the weekend. The secret to making big money in stocks, is to not get scared out of them, and Americans, God bless them, are totally unable to distinguish between fluctuation and loss. Relax.

Risk in retirement..............

To me and probably to you, the hallmarks of a successful retirement are dignity and independence. Today the average American male lives to be 74, the average female lives to be 80. I know the key to financial independence, perhaps over decades of retirement is an income you can’t outlive—an income that’s rising even as your cost of living continues to go up.

The biggest financial risk to all of us, besides not losing one’s money, is outliving it, which means owning the stock market is more critical today than ever before. Remember, the Consumer Price Index over the last 30 years has tripled. For grins, how many people do you know who have tripled their income in their retirement years?

Risk is the extinction of their purchasing power. Safety is increasing their purchasing power.

Last week I paid 39 cents for a postage stamp. I will bet you my shoes that the price of stamps is only going one way. The government inflation numbers are rather comical. They lie. Inflation has probably averaged 4% a year during my lifetime.

Would anyone care to guess which way the price of stamps is going for the rest of their life?

In 1976 when I completed my Economics degree the price of a postage stamp was 13 cents

As you can see, consumer prices have roughly tripled since then.

The stock market has gone up thousands of points since then.

Anyone think they don’t need stocks for the long-term?

Theodore Roosevelt "Citizenship in a Republic," Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

From my great pal, Maurice Altshuler..........

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!!
"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration."

Socialized medicine

If you want to see an example of what socialized medical care will look like in our nation, look no farther than Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Cherokee have spoken...........

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 4) - Cherokee Nation members voted Saturday to revoke the tribal citizenship of an estimated 2,800 descendants of the people the Cherokee once owned as slaves. With all 32 precincts reporting, 76.6 percent had voted in favor of an amendment to the tribal constitution that would limit citizenship to descendants of "by blood" tribe members as listed on the federal Dawes Commission's rolls from more than 100 years ago. The commission, set up by a Congress bent on breaking up Indians' collective lands and parceling them out to tribal citizens, drew up two rolls, one listing Cherokees by blood and the other listing freedmen, a roll of blacks regardless of whether they had Indian blood. Some opponents of the ballot question argued that attempts to remove freedmen from the tribe were motivated by racism. "I'm very disappointed that people bought into a lot of rhetoric and falsehoods by tribal leaders," said Marilyn Vann, president of the Oklahoma City-based Descendants of Freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes. Tribal officials said the vote was a matter of self-determination. "The Cherokee people exercised the most basic democratic right, the right to vote," tribal Principal Chief Chad Smith said. "Their voice is clear as to who should be citizens of the Cherokee Nation. No one else has the right to make that determination.' Smith said turnout — more than 8,700 — was higher than turnout for the tribal vote on the Cherokee Nation constitution four years ago. "On lots of issues, when they go to identity, they become things that people pay attention to," Smith said. The petition drive for the ballot measure followed a March 2006 ruling by the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court that said an 1866 treaty assured freedmen descendants of tribal citizenship. Since then, more than 2,000 freedmen descendants have enrolled as citizens of the tribe. Court challenges by freedmen descendants seeking to stop the election were denied, but a federal judge left open the possibility that the case could be refiled if Cherokees voted to lift their membership rights. Tribal spokesman Mike Miller said the period to protest the election lasts until March 12 and Cherokee courts are the proper venue for a challenge. Vann promised a protest within the next week. "We don't accept this fraudulent election," Vann said.

The 2008 vote.........

I dont' have a clue on who I may cast my vote for in 2008. My biggest concerns are immigration reform, tax reform and social security reform. Is that asking too much?

I would like to see the Democratic platform on those issues but liberals seldom have a remedy, vision or future plan for America.

from Joe Gibbs, football coach.......

Failures are expected by losers, ignored by winners.

XING

Qiao Xing Universal Telephone, Inc. (Qiao Xing), incorporated on December 6, 1994, is engaged in the sale of telecommunication terminals and equipment, including cord and cordless telephone sets, in Mainland China. It is also engaged in the production and sale of mobile phones and accessories. As of June 20, 2006, the Company owned 80% of Qiao Xing Mobile Communication Co. Ltd. (QX Mobile), an international business company. QX Mobile owns 90% of CEC Telecom Co., Ltd. (CECT). Qiao Xing classified its products into two core business segments: mobile phones and indoor phones. The Company also owns 100% of Qiao Xing Communication Holdings, Ltd., which owns 90% of Hui Zhou Qiao Xing Property, Ltd. (QX Property), and 90% of Hui Zhou Qiao Xing Communication Industry, Ltd. (HZQXCI), a People's Republic of China joint venture.

Chippewa Partners owned shares in XING last year. The stock has moved up from where we exited the position. We don't feel bad about giving up on a name that has zero financial transparency. In fact, financial transparency is a joke with Chinese stock listings. The country dishes out as much propaganda as Wall Street. The stock dive in China last week should serve as a reminder that investors should let professionals spread their risk in foreign stock exposure and keep an eye on their level of exposure to foreign markets. They are hungry for capital in Beijing and cook the books in a nanosecond to extract more US investment. Just wait.

Humor...........

One sunny day in 2008, an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and meet with President Hillary Clinton." The Marine replied, "Sir, Mrs. Clinton is not President and doesn't reside here." The old man said, "Okay," and walked away. The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Hillary Clinton". The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mrs. Clinton is not President and doesn't reside here." The man thanked him and again walked away . The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with President Hillary Clinton." The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mrs. Clinton. I've told you already several times that Mrs. Clinton is not the President and doesn't reside here. Don't you understand?"

The old man answered, "Oh, I understand you fine, I just love hearing your answer!" The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, "See you tomorrow."

Mitt..........

Mr. Romney has the white teeth and the Hollywood look.

He will be the man to beat. It is all about the look.

Will any candidate in 2008 mention "immigration"? Not a chance.

What's wrong with that picture?

from Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart

High expectations are the key to everything.

Investment products and advice from banks..........

Investors who go to banks to buy their investment products and to get financial advice remind me of people who go to McDonalds to buy great steaks and lobster.

Why do I have to see such carnage after the fact?

Best bumper sticker today.........

My horse bucked off your honor roll student.

You go girl!!!!

MADISON — Tribal chairwoman Patricia DePerry urged state lawmakers to uphold tribal sovereignty during an address Thursday that was as much her personal story as an overview of Wisconsin tribal issues.

In the third annual State of the Tribes address, DePerry, chairwoman of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, told members of the state Assembly that a misunderstanding of tribal sovereignty has led to conflicts between state game wardens and tribal members.

Tribal sovereignty is "a decree ordered by the United States government when treaties were signed," said DePerry. "It's not up for negotiation; it is not up for discussion. It is the law."

DePerry, the first female to serve as chairwoman of the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, also was critical of state Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Hassett for failing to consult with tribes on issues important to both the agency and tribes.

She called for meaningful dialogue between state government and tribes.

The chairwoman told legislators of her impoverished upbringing as the eldest of nine children born to alcoholic parents. In the Catholic school she attended, she said, she was physically abused until the seventh grade, when she told her nun schoolteacher that the abuse had to stop.

"The moral to this story is we need to be protectors of each other, of those that cannot, for whatever reason, stand up for themselves," she said, adding that tribes have come a long way since then.

DePerry said tribes today have much to be hopeful about, but that many problems still exist, such as poverty, alcoholism and drug abuse.

The annual tribal address was started by former Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, and has been continued by current Assembly Speaker Michael Huebsch, R-West Salem.

Huebsch said he agrees with DePerry that lawmakers should be educated about treaty rights, and that he advocates holding a workshop on sovereignty for the Legislature.

"The chairwoman was correct in that it really isn't up for debate. Sovereignty is in place and it exists," Huebsch said.
Karen Lincoln Michel writes for the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Chinese logic...Why not just POUND the husband?

Monday, Feb 26, 2007 7:40AM CST
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese businessman has advertised on the Internet for a stand-in mistress to be beaten up by his wife to vent her anger and to protect his real mistress, Chinese media reported on Monday.

"When the woman found out her husband had a mistress, she insisted on beating her up," the Beijing Youth Daily said, citing the advertisement posted on a popular online jobs forum on sina.com.

More than 10 people had applied for the job, the newspaper said. The "successful" candidate would be 35 and originally from northeastern China and would be paid 3,000 yuan ($400) per 10 minutes, it said.

Many Chinese businessmen keep mistresses in second homes, a trend banished after the Communists swept to power in 1949 but which has made a comeback with market reforms in recent decades.

Chippewa Partners

Investing Across Cultures

The founder of the first Native American-owned money management firm has a mission to serve the underserved, many of whom are millionaires.

By Adam PioreMarch 1, 2007- To hear Dean Parisian tell it, bad investment advice has plagued Native Americans since the moment after one tribe sold Manhattan to the Dutch for a few pockets' full of trinkets. Imagine how much those trinkets would be worth today if they'd kept up with inflation. (One estimate, made by compounding $24 at 6% from 1626 to today: $44 billion.) It's a trend the loquacious registered investment advisor, a former Drexel Burnham Lambert trader, has been fighting to reverse for more than a decade now, since he opened Chippewa Partners, the nation's first Native American-owned investment shop, in 1995.

GUIDING GROWTH

From the dual trading desks in his home office in suburban Atlanta, Parisian preaches a simple message to one of the most underserved populations in the nation: "The greatest long-term risk to money, besides losing it, is the loss of purchasing power," he says. And maintaining purchasing power requires understanding and participating in the financial markets.
It is not an easy message to get across to his target audience. Consider this: 15% of Native American communities are more than 100 miles from the nearest ATM or bank, and 86% lack a single financial institution within their borders. But it's a personal mission for Parisian.
Today, perhaps more than ever, sound financial advice is crucial in Indian Country. Indian gaming is now a $7.4 billion industry, according to the Native Indian Gaming Association, with the wealth spread across major population centers around the nation. In San Diego County, for example, Native American casinos maintain a payroll of $22 million.

Meanwhile, Indian Country is experiencing explosive economic growth in other areas. Nationally, from 1992 to 1997, the number of Native American-owned businesses grew 84%, to a total of 197,300 businesses, and their receipts increased 179%. In 2004, nearly two million acres of Indian lands were leased for hydrocarbon production, producing over $254 million in royalty revenues, according to the Department of the Interior.

Perhaps the most promising news is the emergence of a solid middle class. Comprised of the growing number of college-educated Native Americans, this demographic, along with a lot of newly minted millionaires, will lead their tribes forward economically. "The challenge for us is to make sure the next generation has some understanding of money and markets, and where to go to find out about them," says Michael Roberts, president of First Nations Development Institute, a 25-year-old nonprofit that works to help the Indian nation take care of its assets. That's where Dean Parisian comes in.

RAISED ON THE REZ

As a member of the White Earth Chippewa Band of northern Minnesota and the son of a Bureau of Indian Affairs bureaucrat--he calls himself a "BIA Brat"--Parisian grew up on Western reservations that were mired in poverty, alcoholism and desperation. He attributes his ability to escape his surroundings to his parents, who encouraged him to go to the University of Minnesota. He paid his way through with summer jobs trapping beaver, muskrats and coyote.
After college, Parisian landed a job at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, then moved to Kidder Peabody in 1982. He found a home with high-rolling Drexel Burham Lambert in 1984. "Things were rocking and the world was awash in cash," Parisian remembers.

Parisian thus found it all the more appalling when he learned how the BIA Office of Trust Funds and Management was handling Native American money. "I saw money going into short-term government bonds, where you don't get any growth," he says. "Imagine where we'd be now if we'd put $1 billion in the stock market in 1989 or 1990, instead of putting it in bond money?" It was then that Parisian began to think about how he might serve his fellow Native Americans.
In 1995, he opened Chippewa Partners with about 25 clients. To keep overhead low, Parisian set up shop in his large North Atlanta home, located on a quiet cul-de-sac. He's still there today, delighting in the fact that instead of commuting, he spends his morning reading three newspapers. He prefers to keep his total assets under management below $25 million--he prefers to avoid "the headache," he says. Though he's considered hiring staff, he still works alone.

TRADING FROM HOME

Parisian's office is a mishmash of state-of-the-art trading technology and old-style decoration. Multiple computer screens blink with the latest market data. Above them, the hides of deer and white timber wolves hang from the walls, as do horns, animal heads and pictures of Parisian's father in full Native American regalia. It's a unique workspace. But most of Parisian's clients will never see it. The majority "are in Ketchikan, Alaska, Fort Lauderdale and all points in between," he says.

Indeed, the first thing Parisian did when he went private was hit the road. "You can't fax handshakes," he explains. He crisscrossed the nation, meeting tribal leaders on their own turf, determined to lead them into the 21st century.

To his dismay, Parisian often found himself facing down blank-faced, risk-averse and suspicious tribal elders. "There's a lot of education needed with Native American money," Parisian says. "You've got to get people to really understand why they need long-term exposure to the stock market. Tribal councils are looking for safety, and there's volatility in the stock market."
Lynette Two Bulls, an independent financial consultant in Montana who worked for Dean Witter and Merrill Lynch, says she faced similar obstacles. She too grew up in a "traditional environment," raised by her grandparents as an Oglala Sioux on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. "You have to teach the basics," she says. "What is a stock, a bond? What is the S&P 500? A lot of mainstream people read it in the paper, but it's foreign to many tribal leaders."

CONNECTING WITH AN ETHNIC GROUP

The key to specializing in any particular ethnic group--even your own, Parisian learned--is balance, staying power and discipline. Today, Parisian estimates, about 50% of his clients are Native American tribes and individuals. He's balanced that out with clients he has met through newspaper advertising, investment seminars and radio spots on local and national talk shows. Parisian now relies on referrals to bring in new Native American clients.

"It takes longer than I ever thought to break even financially and to get over those early hurdles," he says. "You need to figure out up front what types of accounts you want and be very stringent. If you have minimums, stick to them. Stick to the types of personalities you want as customers. For young guys starting out, figure out what kind of clients you want and don't take nonsense. I'll tell some people to go across the street to Merrill Lynch."

Today, Parisian is perhaps best known in the Native American community for work that doesn't pay. "He's an advocate for financial education and a proponent of making sure not only tribal councils understand money and markets, but that the general population does too," says First Nations' Roberts.

Parisian has endowed a $25,000 scholarship fund for Native American business majors at the University of Minnesota, his alma mater. He hopes someday to raise funds for an endowment, which he would like to see grow north of $1 million. Often, when working with tribes, he'll gift back a portion of his management fees--usually about 10%--if they'll agree to put it in an endowment fund of their own that will grow over time. He encourages the tribes to use that money to fund education. Parisian is also helping Roberts and First Nation put out a culturally sensitive Native American investment manual.

As far as investment style, Parisian favors the Core and Satellite approach. The core consists of the Rydex S&P 500, an equally weighted index fund. For the satellites, Parisian favors small-growth stocks, exchange-traded funds and convertible bonds.

As a former stock jockey, Parisian considers his fee structure one of his best practices. Clients with more than $750,000 managed by the firm, or a net worth of at least $1.5 million, qualify for a performance fee, set up as a sliding scale of 0 to 1% of assets plus 20% of profits. Parisian will also accept a retainer or bill on an hourly basis.

He says that he gets better every day at trading, but what's more important is that Indian Country grows in its knowledge too. "Education is the key to breaking the cycle of dependency," he says. "And I am more committed than ever to helping the people who need help."

FLU...............

I have never gotten a flu shot. With a billion different strains of flu it seems highly unlikely that some statistician at the NIH in Bethesda can put a Cray to work and come up with the exact strain that is going to afflict me next winter. That said, having the flu is no fun. I have it.

Like the gyrations in the stock market today, this too shall pass.

Life.............

Life may not be the party we hoped for...... but while we are here, we might as well dance.