Pat Carr Has Retired
Undervalued Canadian Stocks
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Every organization has its star players, and one of Cabot’s just retired, after 33 years of service.
Pat Carr wasn’t an editor or an analyst, but she was a major reason for the organization’s success for a very long time, and her story is worth telling.
Pat was the voice of Cabot in many ways. She answered the phone and recorded phone messages. She also processed subscription orders, and much, much more. If you called Cabot anytime in the past few decades, the odds are very good that you talked to her.
When Pat came to interview with my father Carlton back in the summer of 1978, she wore a yellow blouse and a madras wraparound skirt (she remembers).
She was offered $3.25 an hour for the part time job and she accepted. She was the third employee my father hired. In addition to processing subscription orders and bank deposits, her duties included stuffing envelopes and typing stencils.
What were stencils?
In brief, they were the technology used to address envelopes before computers came along.
Basically a piece of stiff tissue paper held in a cardboard frame, a stencil could be typed on once, and then inked by a machine, week after week, in a process like silkscreen printing, to quickly address envelopes.
Pat was a competent typist, but not a perfect one; occasionally she made a mistake. And because those stencils cost money--maybe ten cents each-- she was afraid to publicize her mistakes by tossing mistyped stencils in the trash, where my father might see them later. So she’d accumulate the bad ones in the pocket of her skirt and take them home, to throw in her own trash!
It wasn’t until years later, perhaps after computers had taken over the job, that she told my father the truth!
Pat lived within walking distance of the office, as did most of Cabot’s early workers, who were typically mothers. They’d get their kids off to school, come in to work for four or five hours, and be back home by 2:00, when their kids were out of school.
That’s also when a couple of my youngest siblings--teenagers by then--got out of school and returned home. The office was in our living room. Envelope stuffing was done on the dining room table. And the folding machine was in my parents’ bedroom!
Here’s a picture of the business’ home from 1970 to 1996.
Located down a dirt road on Cabot Farm, the house has a great view of the Danvers River and hayfields. But snow, ice and mud presented the occasional challenge to the walkers like Pat, who always rose to the occasion. My brother’s family lives in the house now.
Anyway, Pat’s skills and duties grew as the company grew, and around the time I joined the company (1986), we installed a Dictaphone, which subscribers to Cabot Market Letter could telephone at any time of the day to hear a market update my father had recorded. And when he wasn’t available, Pat stepped in to record. Not only is she a great talker, she’s also a talented singer, with the gift of perfect pitch.
Very quickly, demand required two Dictaphones ... and then a machine (made by AEC) that could handle twelve calls at once. At the peak, we had five of those boxes serving 60 phone lines!
Then email came, phone traffic dwindled, and we began reducing telephone lines. We gave up the last 12-line box less than a year ago, and do it all through a computer now, which keeps messages somewhere (or nowhere or everywhere) in the cloud.
Along the way, Pat’s two kids grew up, and she was blessed with two grandchildren. And Pat, always quick with a story, kept us informed of their progress all the way. That the stories sometimes had no point was irrelevant. In fact, sometimes Pat, in telling a story, would take a turn or two and forget what road she had originally started down!
But it didn’t matter. Pat always enjoyed telling stories, and we always enjoyed hearing them.
For a long time, Pat was Cabot’s Social Director, an unpaid position that simply meant she was responsible for planning celebrations, outings, etc. ... because she was good at it. Thanks to her, we enjoyed lobsters in Maine, fancy dinners in Boston, a hilarious dinner cruise, laser tag, museum trips, shopping sprees, a fair amount of wine and more.
Pat was a great worker, always eager to pitch in, and blessed with a positive attitude about life. And she was more comfortable with a telephone, and the person on the other end of the line, than anyone else at Cabot for the past 41 years.
Now she’s enjoying retirement, promising to sleep late (maybe 7:30) and spend more time with those grandkids.
Thanks, Pat.
Moving on, I want to tell you about a Special Feature sent to all Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter subscribers last week. Titled Undervalued Canadian Companies, it features six attractive Canadian stocks you should buy right now.
And here’s why I want you to have it.
Editor Roy Ward has run Special Features on Canadian companies in his Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter six times in the last 21 months, always steering his subscribers to undervalued, high-quality companies.
And the results have been excellent!
In fact, over that period, while the S&P 500 has gained just 10.5%, Roy’s selections have gained 81.0%!
A key factor, according to Roy, is that both Canadian companies and the Canadian government have been conservatively managed; excess debt has never been a problem, so there was no housing bubble, no bust and no bank failures.
Now Roy has published his latest favorite six Canadian companies, with full details of why he likes them. They include a gold company, a silver company, an oil company, a technology company (not Research in Motion), a restaurant company and a bank.
They’re all high quality companies.
They’re all growing.
Five of the six have solid records of paying dividends.
And they’re all undervalued.
And for just $9.99, you can have the entire report!
Now, that’s a ridiculously low price for a report that’s likely to make those who follow its advice thousands of dollars ... but here’s my logic.
2011 was a very difficult year for investors, frustrating for even the best.
As a result, a lot of folks are simply afraid to invest now.
But I know from experience that it’s darkest just before the dawn; I think 2012 will be very rewarding for investors who are prepared to take even a little risk.
And I know that when people make money from our advice, they become steady customers.
So that’s why I’m making this laughably low-priced offer now.
Buy this report for just $9.99.
Buy as many of the six stocks as you can; diversification is particularly important in value investing.
Then sit back and enjoy the profits.
Yours in pursuit of wisdom and wealth,
Timothy Lutts
Publisher
Cabot Wealth Advisory
Editor’s Note: No housing bubble, no bust, and no bank failures make Canadian companies a hot ticket for risk-averse investors right now. Find out which six undervalued Canadian companies you should invest in right now in our special report. Click here to learn the names of the six Canadian companies that can earn you big profits in 2012.