MEETING MINUTES
Friday, October 3, 2008
Volume 15; Issue 34

Leads
35-06, 17-28, 42-40 (Thanks), 58-46 (Thank You), 18-33, 26-13, 26-41, 49-04, 57-17, 57-41, 45-17, 15-10, 15-45, 15-56, 21-28, 21-06, 13-17, 51-22, 51-41, 25-19, 25-26.

Treasurer Report
The quarterly dues billing went out 9/1.  They are now past due.  Please contact Melissa Matthews if you did not receive your e-invoice.

Other Business
The brochure template was sent around for members to make any needed corrections, changes and adjustments.

Dr. Miller's Health Corner
There are a lot of fillers in juices you buy.  Make sure the main ingredient is the concentrate of the juice you are buying.  Otherwise you are mainly drinking sugar water.

Main Feature - Andrew Jensen and the "Bailout Package"
Andy handles individual and small company portfolios.  He can handle checking accounts, options, commodities...anything in the financial services market.  He can do mortgages but he tries to refer them to Joe Hesch if I can as Joe is usually more competitive.  Many people may not know that he can offer home equity lines at very competitive rates. 

Andy is from Grants Pass in southern Oregon.  He spent 4 years at the University of Oregon.  Yes, he is a HUGE Duck fan!  He wanted a change so he moved here.  His first job here was selling cars.  That lasted three weeks.  He didn't care for the people worked with.  He worked two years at a rental car company where he met his wife.  He did a 4-year stint working in the mortgage industry.  He has been with Smith Barney since 1995.

Andy gave his personal opinion on the Bailout Package and opened the meeting up to group discussion.  [Some comments below.]

Andy Jensen - There are so many questions about the bailout.  The government has done a terrible job educating the citizens about what they are trying to achieve.  Bailout is terrible word to use for this package.  It doesn't have that much to do with Wall Street.  These loans originated throughout the mortgage industry.  The oversight of it I will not defend.  The situation requires someone to give us a bid or a price of what these mortgages are worth. 

Mark Dreher - It goes back to how these things are accounted for.  There were a lot of interpretations as to what these assets are worth.  They are packages of mortgages - a mixture of good and bad ones (sub prime).  Companies have been forced to write them off if there was no market for them.  They blame the accountants.  But accountants don't make the standards.  The financial accounting standards board went from a private organization to a government agency.  They have issued guidance in the last week that will hopefully help   The impact is on everybody in America that wants a line of credit.  Congress has the right to create accounting standards but they have never exercised that right. 

Andy Jensen - The other problem has nothing to do with mortgages - it is deposits.  Good 'ole fashion run on the banks.  People are worried about their accounts.  The market is rough.  95% of my phone calls are people asking if we are going to be in business and "is my money safe?".  People are running around and moving money.  Not one person has lost a nickel of their deposits.  There has been delays.  Smith Barney is strong enough to maintain there rating.  People would have been better leaving their money in the market vs. buying the mortgage, loosing the investment and having their credit ruined by foreclosure.

Both Andy and Mark agree that the Bailout Package structure is not the best but we have to do something.  You can't control deflation with monetary policy.  People hoard money.  That is the downside of doing nothing.

Warren Buffet said the two C's...If you have cash, courage is the next thing you need. 

Tomorrow would be a good time to invest in the market.  Don't be afraid if you are doing it for the right reason (i.e., retirement, not quick cash).