Don’t Rearrange the Deck on a Sinking Titanic Steven N. Moerdyk May 2014

I bought a very old copy of the St Louis One of my clients, to emphasize this issue As I write this my Detroit Tigers are off Post-Dispatch from April 16, 1912, because of ‘attitude change’ over the years, told to another good start to the 2014 baseball I wanted to read the real accounts about me about an old Bill Cosby skit where Bill season. I wrote a story last year about the Titanic going down. It is fascinating said: “We used to walk uphill both ways to an investment strategy that I strongly how newspapers used to report on events. school, barefoot in 2 feet of snow, and when recommend, and to explain it, I compared Even more interesting, were the old we got at night we were so poor we it to the Tigers playing baseball games. In a advertisements - what a hoot - example ate dirt, and we felt fortunate to have dirt.” nutshell, the analogy goes like this: Someone ‘Corsets 69 cents’! wants to make a bet that the Tigers will lose Another one of my clients said that our age 28 out of their next 30 games, and someone In reading this paper I came across a story group has a responsibility to ‘Set a good else is willing to take that bet. It is possible (see below) where they held a meeting example’. Hard work and tough love help that the Tigers could lose that many games, to protest the working conditions in the to develop noble character. Manners and but highly unlikely. I love this comparison, steel mills of the day. These Americans unselfishness are to be admired not mocked. because these types of ‘bets’, in the financial used to work 12 hours a day, seven days We all have a limited amount of time left on world, are made several million times every a week! Fast forward 102 years to today, day. The investment strategy that I suggest, and if you can find a job, then according to this planet, let’s not waste it. Get on your soap box and preach a positive message. that parallels this baseball example, is not the government if you work 30 hours that designed to make big quick gains - it is qualifies as full-time employment. Could Let’s see if collectively we can influence the work ethic and improve our community. designed to make small reasonable monthly today’s acceptance of a shorter work week profits. As many of you know, because you and more leisure time be taking a toll on I know, I know, this is a financial newsletter, are already invested here, this monthly American ingenuity and productivity? Could so let me get to it. The stock market trading strategy has been consistently a lax attitude toward work be contributing to continues to irrationally race forward, producing positive returns. No guarantees, this current extended economic funk? even as P/E ratios approach record levels! but I like the odds. You can always ask me Obamacare is giddy boasting of 7 million about this at [email protected] sign-ups, but didn’t they tell us 4 years ago or you can use an old fashion ‘land line’ and that this would help 40 million uninsured call us at 742-1166. people! Putin is flexing his ruthless (and oft photographed) military muscles, while at I read a new book last week, Pillar to the the very same time America is cutting our Sky. It’s an amazing story about military budget! A jetliner disappears (be ‘an ’ made of carbon nanotubes. weary of third world air-traffic), there is They build this nanotube pillar straight up another shooting on an ‘unarmed military 22,236 miles into space to geosynch! When base’ (oxymoron), and the Keystone XL I first heard about the concept of the book, I pipeline from friendly neighbor Canada still rolled my eyes in doubt, but then I read this hasn’t been approved after 6 years of , facinating probable story. I would urge you as we continue to buy oil from inhospitable to read the book and encourage you to have Venezuela! Have common sense and logic your grandchildren read it too (start them to been abandoned? We need to make it easy to thinking outside the box). hire, build, and invest in America. There is another book that I previously For the above reasons and more, please take endorsed, that I am rereading, called Lee a more careful stance with your portfolio. Kuan Yew. Mr Yew was the first Prime We never know for sure when the stock Minister of Singapore and even though market hits a peak, but we do know that he is best remembered for his strict rules we’re now into the 5th year of a undeterred and uncompromising disciplined laws, bull run. It might be a good time to take he may be one of the most brilliant, most some of your riskier investments off the experienced, most even-handed, macro- table. Don’t simply rearrange the deck thinking leaders to ever walk the earth. It is furniture on a sinking Titanic. another book that will open your eyes and expand your mind.

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Securities offered through Center Street Securities, Inc. (CSS), a registered Broker-Dealer & member FINRA & SPIC. Investment Advisory Services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC (BCM), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Moerdyk Financial, Inc. and BCM are independent of CSS. Moerdyk Financial Inc. is a private independent firm that carries the licenses necessary to offer their clients a vast array of investments and financial products. From stocks and bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, managed portfolios, non-traded REITs and BDCs, to fixed and variable annuities, MLPs and more. Over the years, Moerdyk Financial Inc. has developed a straightforward no-nonsense reputation. Their unbiased investment advice is efficient and appreciated. They have helped hundreds of retired people to better understand the financial benefits from the old adage ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’. Their experienced guidance on income distribution and asset sustainability has earned them a respected advisory position among senior residents in the Grand Rapids community. President Steve Moerdyk met his wife Annie at Michigan State University. They were married in 1979 and reside on beautiful Lake Bella Vista in Rockford. They have two children, Carly 30, and Jimmy 24. Carly is Chief Resident (neurology) at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where she lives with her husband Kia. On February 12, 2012, Carly gave birth to the Moerdyk’s first grandchild Sammy. Vice President Jimmy Moerdyk joined the firm in 2011 after graduating from the Broad Business School at Michigan State University. Along with his youth and enthusiasm, he also brings a quick understanding of the latest in cutting edge technology and financial strategies. Steve and Jimmy Moerdyk

Mrs Mary Russo in the gorgeous mink, and her son Joe, stopped in to teach us some Italian: “Ciao” (‘hello’) and then “Arrivederci” (‘goodbye’) “See Mary, I remembered!”

Golf season has finally arrived. This is Rick Arpin, Kurt Hassberger, golf legend Jack VanEss, and me. Mr VanEss, even at 86 years old, beat me like a drum! He is an amazing athlete.

“What a difference a day can make!” Sunday in the pool with my grandson Sammy in Someday we shall all stand Miami, and then 24 hours later on Monday night in Grand Rapids trying to find my car in before Him and give an account. the snow (and you wonder why I spend so much time down there with my grandson!)