My Friend...
We met over 30 years ago while attending a small Northern California college. Nine of us bonded and remained extremely close friends for all these years. We got together on a regular basis, usually 2 or 3 times a year, mostly meeting at Lake Tahoe. Most of us lived in the Bay Area, except for Frank. Frank moved to San Diego several years ago to establish his business. Although separated by distance, we still maintained daily phone contact.
During one of our trips in the early summer of 1999 to Tahoe, Frank was intent on watching the CNBC ticker. We learned that he had invested in something called "Qualcomm". The group of us watched in amazement as we saw QCOM stream across the screen, each price quote seemingly being higher than the previous one. Being from San Diego, Frank had gained some familiarity with the stock. He tried his best to explain what a "call option" was, and we nodded without really grasping the meaning. In due time, we his friends, jumped on the Qualcomm bandwagon, purchasing stock and buying call options, to varying degrees. Eventually we even learned what "CDMA" meant. Frank did his best to guide us along.
As we all know, 1999 turned out to be an amazing success. We "high-fived" during our phone calls and sometimes got together in person to celebrate. I can remember one time Frank drove from San Diego to meet me at Harrah's in Tahoe. It was a Friday expiration day and we were "buried (down)" in that months call options. Frank arrived about noon and during that last hour before the market closed, QCOM suddendly soared, which wasn't unusual in those days. We made the call to our respective brokers and sold our expiring options at another nice profit.
The year had been very good to us. We followed QCOM on SI as a main source of our information. "Coming into Buying Range" was a big part of our lives and then "Voltaire's Porch". Frank didn't "post" but he "lurked" with the best of them. We celebrated when Jim Willie announced that he had made "Quillionaire". Soon thereafter, Frank and I joined Jim Willie's status. We read every word posted by Voltaire and we respected his "Angels". Ruffian continued to amaze us with his ability to post important news so quickly. So many of you added to our knowledge and we followed you closely with appreciation. "Rich the Janitor" was a favorite as was a one time poster named, "runs batted in", who correctly predicted a 4-1 split, albeit on the Yahoo thread.
Like many of you our fortunes suffered this year. The "high-fives" were very infrequent. Still, Frank kept the faith, having spread out his investments in many of the stocks high-lighted on Voltaire's Porch. He looked forward to a turn-around and what that would mean for his financial security in the years ahead.
I spent this last week in San Diego. I saw the Qualcomm headquarters from a distance and the signs for "Qualcomm Way". There were no "high-fives" to be had on this trip. Frank's eight closest friends from college were in town to attend memorial services for Frank, who passed away a couple of days earlier from natural causes, at 52 years of age.
We don't know just yet how we will get along without him. We've lost someone very dear to us, a very special person. You didn't know Frank personally, but since the Porch "touched his life", I took the liberty of telling you a little about him.
The Porch has demonstrated to me that in addition to stock prices and investments, "people and friends count." Frank's passing is just another reminder to all of us, to live our lives as best we can and continue to try to keep our perspective about those we love and cherish.
My best to all of you,
Don (jazzcat2000) |
