You Are Important to Us at Cabot
Our Never-Ending Pursuit of Improvement in Investing Skills
Before We Wrap Up 2015
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As Hanukah and Christmas and Kwanzaa roll near, I would like to tell you how important YOU are as a part of the Cabot family.
So I will, in a roundabout way.
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One of the challenges of running a small business is finding good employees and managing them well, especially without the benefit of a full-time Human Resources department.
So I recently attended a two-day workshop in a Boston suburb, to be trained in a system that enables practitioners to better understand the personalities, communication styles and motivations of both employees and potential employees.
Most of the attendees were young women working in the personnel departments (sorry, HR departments) of large businesses. Many of them will spend the rest of their careers using this system (and others) to evaluate and manage people.
I was the outlier-not only because I’m a man, but also because I was the oldest person in the room and the only business owner. And I will only use this system occasionally.
But I enjoyed learning it. I enjoyed getting a little more insight into my employees. And I enjoyed getting a little more insight into myself!
What the system told me about myself was this:
I like to follow rules.
I like to create harmony rather than tension.
I like to help my team reach collaborative decisions.
And I like to do it all analytically, taking time to reach the best decisions.
All told, I like to “do the right thing.”
(By contrast, my father, who started this business 45 years ago, liked to make the rules, and he liked the team to follow his decisions, both of which are great traits for business founders.)
But what does “doing the right thing” mean?
Most basically, as in any business, it means working to ensure that revenues exceed expenses, so that all employees can be paid a fair wage, and the lights stay on.
But in this business, which I’ve been leading for 11 years and working in full-time for 29 years (and part-time off and on since I was a teenager), “doing the right thing” also means this:
It means finding and nurturing expert analysts who are passionate about following investing systems that work, and giving them a platform to share their recommendations with investors (like you) who need that advice.
It means helping investors (like you) find the system that works for them, whether they’re looking for guidance on their very first trade or whether they’ve been investing for decades.
It means building a team of behind-the-scenes co-workers (customer service, editorial and graphic production, database and Internet technology, marketing) who can see the big picture of this business, and educating them on the value of working together so that we can all achieve more than we could individually.
It means coping with-even embracing-the inexorable change that characterizes the stock market, the publishing business, the marketing business, and every facet of the intersection of the three.
Lastly, it means thinking long-term, and managing assets so that this business-someday-will pass through my hands and into those of my daughter Chloe, who currently helms Cabot Dividend Investor. Because my mission is to ensure that this business lives to help investors long after I’m gone.
Which brings me back to you.
I’ve probably never met you.
It’s a rare event when our customers walk through our door-and our annual Cabot Investors Conference draws only a small fraction of our readers.
Yet you are in our thoughts every day as we work to make our advisories readable (at a minimum), enlightening (at best) and in general useful, so that you will stick with us long-term, as so many of our readers have.
One challenge to this, of course, is that every one of you is unique.
Some of you are beginners, looking for some guidance as you get into this pursuit (which may become an addiction).
Others of you are professionals, who’ve been investing for decades, and count on Cabot to deliver truly independent research.
Some of you love to trade fastest-moving stocks and options, working to make a quick killing with your “fun money"-and if you lose it, well, it was still fun to try and you can always make more (or you already have plenty more).
Others of you are investing the money you need for retirement, and you need to make it grow, yet you can’t risk losing it!
And a whole lot of you are somewhere in the middle, moderately experienced, open to some risk, and smart enough to know that you can always learn more (like me, taking a workshop on an HR system).
Also, speaking of variety, I love knowing that you come from 106 amazingly different countries!
But more important than what makes us different is what unites us, which is the never-ending pursuit of improvement in investing skills.
So, as we all pursue that goal, I want you to know that we are grateful for the opportunity to serve you all, and to continue this symbiotic relationship.
And as we head into what are likely to be some of the quietest investing weeks of the year, I want to say thank you from all of us at Cabot, and happy holidays.
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We have a few exciting events coming up before we wrap up 2015.
Mike Cintolo will publish his 10 Favorite Low-Priced Stocks for 2016, which presents 10 stocks that are priced low heading into the New Year, but likely to pop after January 1. Mike doesn’t recommend these stocks as long-term holdings, but to give your portfolio a quick boost to kick off the year. His track record on these picks is long and strong.
Click here for details and to get your copy today.
We’ll host our next Lunch with the Analyst webinar on Wednesday, December 16. Paul Goodwin will review the current state of the market, emerging markets stocks and answer any questions listeners might have. Don’t miss this live webinar filled with great investing advice and stocks to add to your watch list. Click here to register.
Paul will also write his annual Year in Review Cabot Wealth Advisory on December 28. This is always a popular issue-you may be surprised to hear the trials and triumphs of stocks in 2015 told in verse!
We’ll be accepting registrations to the Cabot Investor’s Conference soon. I’m thinking it would make a fine holiday gift. To be sure to receive the latest news on the upcoming conference-including the Extra Early Bird special pricing, just click here and we’ll add you to our mailing list.
And of course, all the Cabot advisories would make great gifts for all the important people on your holiday gift list. Andre, Tammy, Kay or Emi in Cabot Customer Service can help you choose the advisory that’s best for everyone on your list (800-326-8826).
Yours in pursuit of wisdom and wealth,
Timothy Lutts
Chief Analyst, Cabot Stock of the Month
Publisher, Cabot Wealth Advisory
