Broadus I

Back in the early days of my earliest career, we lived in a little town called Broadus that sits along US highway 212 in the south east corner of Montana about 110 miles from Belle Fourche, South Dakota. There I was starting a church for the Assemblies of God. Ya, believe it or not, I used to be a preacher. In this case a "DPP" which I will explain later. My pay was $50 per week, which was to cover all living expenses. This came from the district office. I also received offerings from our new church attendees, which at first we had none. Every now and then a check was sent to us from someone, somewhere, who knew we were there and somehow knew we were close to starving. God knew we were there and that was enough. 

We rented a house at the southeast end of the city (Pop. 800) along UD Highway 212. This is when we first discovered semi trucks existed. At night the trucks coming down the hill above our house from the east would go through a whole array of gears downshifting to slow down for the city. Going east, the trucks going up the hill would go through their gears getting out of town. Many Semis travel US 212. Many sleepless nights. 

The house had been added onto several times. It had a huge front room (church). It had a nice sized kitchen (fellowship hall) with a breakfast nook where I set up my office. It had a back entrance which led off to a large master bedroom, a bathroom, and two more bedrooms (Sunday School rooms). The house had a crawl space (which I will talk about later). And it was a ranch style house. The house was heated with two wall heaters, one between the big front room and the kitchen, and the other in the back entrance (which didn't work). We paid $75 per month rent for all of this.

The landlord, Mr. Rogers, (no, not the Mr. Rogers) (no, not Roy either) wanted to paint the trim of his white house orange, so he gave me a gallon of orange paint, a paint brush, and loaned me a ladder. I worked off a month's rent. When I realized I wasn't going to have enough paint, I thinned it out with water. The miracle of latex. Everybody in town thought the house looked pretty good. Another lady in town asked me to paint her house. The neighbor across hwy 212 decided to paint her front door orange. She also started sending her kids to sunday school. Two of them, a boy and a girl. They were our first attendees and brought our first offering, 25 cents each. We had 67% growth that day. So we taught Sunday school to two kids for about three weeks.

Did God really know where we were?

More later.

French Press

My daughter, Amy, and her husband, Nik, gave me a French coffee press for Christmas. All I can say is that it makes fantastic coffee. I make and enjoy two pots a day. It makes even bad coffee taste good. And only once did I get a bit jittery due to too much coffee. Maybe Nik will drink my coffee now. 

This morning I am at Starbucks waiting to go out to a job to install a fireplace door. These doors, custom made, are expensive. $800 and up. I sure hope it fits properly and that I don't scratch it during the install. (Prayers going up to God)

Today, the stock market will bounce back a ways. $350 billion from the government will do that. Included is a $20 billion guarantee to Bank of America. Citigroup is splitting itself up. We split from their stock. Yesterday, Exxon Mobil lifted the Dow Jones Average. Chevron followed. Conoco Phillips did not. Maybe today.

Stocks are cheap once again. A buy yesterday or early this morning will bring yields today. Oil is at $35.00 per barrel. Do you think it will go lower before going back up? With oil prices this low, gasoline should go down again, but it might not due to anticipated crude oil prices increases. With gas at $1.50 per gallon, I say, let the gas station owners make a little for a little while. I sure don't want to pay for a bail out for them, too. Ha!

Tonight we have a special dinner with our granddaughter, Amber. She's 10. She wants to go to Chillis and not McDonalds. There is a merciful God in heaven! Anyway, we're looking forward to this.  But, do you know what? The other two grandkids that live close by are going to insist on their turn, too. May God extend His mercy. It's not that I don't want McDonalds to survive, it's just that I want to survive.

This summer our granddaughter, Tori, who lives in Michigan, is going to fly in for a visit. I think the number one thing that she wants is a camp out with Amber and grandpa, and...... and...... grandma. Ya, I think our tent will hold the four of us. But, don't anyone say the word "bear" or grandma will be sleeping in the Sequoia. 

Well, I'm done rambling. 

The 3 Kick Method

A lawyer was out duck hunting when suddenly a flock of ducks flew over. He pulled up and shot one and it fell in a farmers field. He was in the midst of crawling through the fence when the old farmer drove up and shouted out, "What are you doing?" The lawyer said, "I shot a duck and I'm going out into the field to retrieve it." The farmer said, "That's a problem. This is private property and you are about to trespass." The lawyer said, "Look, you don't know who you are dealing with. I will litigate this and when I am through with you, you won't have anything left!"

The farmer said, "We don't settle things that way around here. We use the 'three kick method." The lawyer asked, "What's the 'three kick method?'"  The farmer said, "I kick you three times, then you kick me three times, and we keep on doing that until one of us win's out." The lawyer looked at the old farmer and thought, "this will be a piece of cake." So he consented to settle the issue that way.

So the farmer kicked the lawyer hard in the shin. Then he kicked the lawyer in the stomach, and while the lawyer was bent over he gave him a swift kick in the seat of the pants and sent the lawyer sprawling. The lawyer got up just furious. He said, "When I'm through with you, you'll wish you'd never been born!"

The farmer said, "Just hold on. I've reconsidered and decided you can have the duck."

This story as told by our Pastor, Dr. Stanley Reeder

The Girl and Grandpa

The six-year-old girl felt her grandfather's rough and wrinkled face, then with the same and she felt her own. Then she felt her grandfather's again, then her own. This went on for a couple of minutes. Then the little girl asked grandfather where he came from. The grandfather replied that God made him a long time ago. Then the girl asked, "Did God make me, too?" Grandfather replied, "Yes, but not so long ago."

Then the little girl sat silent for a moment. Then she said, "You know what, Grandpa? God does a better job now than he used to!"

This story as told by our Pastor, Dr. Stanley Reeder

Cheap Gas

Gas is really cheap! It's been going down almost daily. But I saw something different today. Today gas went up a nickel. That's not much but it is the beginning of a price reversal. Crude oil is up over $13.00 from it's lowest point. It now sits at $48 and will edge up higher the closer we get to Spring. 

These higher prices are also reflected in energy stocks such as drilling companies like Pioneer Drilling, Noble Corporation, and TransOcean.  Also, oil service companies such as Halliburton, Schlumberger, and Weatherford International.  Some of the smaller companies like Kwik Silver have had their stock rice by as much as 60 percent over the past week. These stocks will dip, level out and then rise again as oil prices once again increase. Look at their charts, they are still pretty much at the bottom of the curve and have a lot of room for growth. 

The bail out of the auto makers and builders will also create growth in the market. I believe that the Dow Jones Industrial average will rise from 9,000 to 10,000 by Spring. This is partly because the market had been oversold because of panic and because investors are slowly regaining confidence in the market and are coming back to it.  right now is the best window to buy stocks.

Coffee at Home

My daughter, Amy, and her husband, Nik, gave me a French Press coffee maker for Christmas. It makes really good, rich coffee. Come on over sometime and I will make you some. This is every bit as good as Starbucks' if not better. 

Time to buy.  For the first time analysts are encouraging people to invest in stocks once again. They are really cheap, especially energy stocks. As the market slowly rises most stocks will also rise. Right now there is very little down side potential and a lot of up-side potential. Buy the right stocks and you still may be able to retire early. 

Cade Kesic thinks that the pastor of our church, Dr. Stanley Reeder, is cool. He and pastor Reeder had about a five minute conversation in the foyer of our church Saturday evening. And, do you know what? Pastor Reeder is cool. And..... so is Cade.

Shares Going Up

Energy and steel shares are going up. Many of the energy shares went up from 5% to 11% today. Analysts are upgrading energy shares. The conflict in the Mid-East is influencing these shares as well. Halliburton, Noble Corp., McDermit International, Shlumberger, Pioneer Drilling, all have been on the rise lately. Mc Dermit and Pioneer are nicely priced. So is Weatherford International. BJ Services is also another great buy. 

AK Steel and Gerdau American Steel both went up by 11% today. Gerdau (GNA) has increased 67% for me in the past three weeks. US Steel had risen over 100% in the past six weeks. 

I am excited about the markets potential. Many stocks are still near their lows but will soon rise. Especially energy stocks that will rise with world conflict and the forthcoming spring when oil prices usually go up. Now is the time to position yourself. Margin accounts will do better. The Dow Jones closed over 9,000 today. The market is a lot less volatile than over the past sever months.