We re a bunch of stars in Western Wisconsin, Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota.

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1 Introducing (drum roll please) the new Northern Lights Chapter! We re a bunch of stars in Western Wisconsin, Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota. What makes our BetterInvesting organization unique and special is the willingness of our members to step forward, share their knowledge and volunteer to help others. The new Northern Lights Chapter is no exception. We had eleven members volunteer to help form the new chapter. This new Chapter Board has elected officers, put together a schedule of classes for this winter and agreed to start two new chapter activities. This is a great beginning but we still need help. There is still plenty of room on the Board for Associate Directors and volunteers to help with the writing, proof-reading, taking pictures at our events, teaching classes, organizing and putting on events. Whatever your talent, please consider sharing your time and expertise with your new chapter. Our chapter board meetings will be online so it will not be necessary for you to drive to Minneapolis to attend meetings. Board of Directors meetings will be held once per month on a Saturday morning from 9:00 10:30 am. The meetings will be held in person and via GoToMeeting. Please contact one of the following board members if you d like to take part in the Board of Directors meetings: Claire Struthers (cstruthers@juno.com), Barry Detloff (detlo001@umn.edu) or John Larva (toivola@mac.com). New Northern Lights Chapter Activities Model Club Model Investment Clubs are the best and easiest way for Chapters to demonstrate what an investment club does and how an investment club should operate. Model Clubs also provide a place for individuals looking for a club to learn and be a part of a club. Several members of the new Northern Lights board of directors will be putting together a model investment club. If you d like to help us get this new model club off the ground, please contact one of the following directors: Jeff Hay (jhay1856@hotmail.com), Bob Burns (bobandbarbburns@comcast.net), David Hendrickson (dhh@conviso.com), or Ray Kaplan (ray@rayk.com) Portfolio Contest Portfolio contests are a fun activity that generate interest and enthusiasm among club members and within clubs. The Northern Lights Chapter is looking to put together a Portfolio Contest. If you d like to hear more information about the Portfolio contest, please contact one of the following board members: Gayle Olson gaylegmolson@aol.com); George Blank (gblank@aol.com); or Ray Kaplan (ray@rayk.com)

2 Club Visits Interested in a Northern Lights Board visit to your club? We will be setting up club visits as often and wherever they are needed in our chapter. The following board of directors are excited about visiting clubs in your area: Barry Detloff, Gayle Olson, Claire Struthers, and Rich Yeager. If your club is within 75 miles of the Walker, MN area of our chapter, Rich will be thrilled to visit. Northern Lights Chapter Classes This winter the Northern Lights Chapter will be providing a series of four classes taught by nationally known instructors. Use the registration form at the end of this newsletter to register. Register for all four classes for the low price of $30 or register for individual classes at $10 per class. All the classes will be on GoToWebinar so you can take them from the comfort of your own home on your computer. You do not have to purchase any additional computer hardware or software to take an online class. January 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm Central Time: Know When To Hold Em; Know When to Fold Em Selling a stock is usually the hardest part of investing for people. Learn what to look for before selling, reasons to sell and reasons NOT to sell. We will look at signals on the Stock Selection Guide and signals that are not on the Stock Selection Guide. Instructor, Allen Holdsworth Allen Holdsworth is a Director on the BIVA Board. He has taught classes at the last 4 BINCs as well as several Chapter Education Fairs around the country. He has been a director of the Illowa Buy States Chapter in Western Il. and Eastern Iowa for the last 13 years. He teaches many classes on investing and the SSG both in person and using online classes. He formed the MAD Investment Club 14 years ago and it is still going strong. Allen retired 2 years ago after 7 years as a stockbroker/financial planner. February 9, 2010 at 7:30 pm Central Time: Estimate Future Earnings Using Preferred Procedure Estimating the growth rate of a company s future earnings is an important step in completing the Stock Selection Guide, and we can all use a little help making this key forecast. Learn how to use the preferred procedure, or revenue-based EPS projection, to provide a useful second opinion. The session breaks down the preferred procedure into easy-to-understand concepts and explains how a company makes money. The Preferred Procedure functionality will be demonstrated using the BetterInvesting Online Stock Selection Guide. Instructor, Ann Cuneaz

3 Ann is the Education Program Manager for BetterInvesting, and is involved in the development of a variety of educational initiatives that help BetterInvesting members learn how to become successful long term investors. Programs include the new First Cut section of the member website which features completed stock studies, and online training, including the monthly Online Stock Study, delivered live via the Internet. Ann joined the BetterInvesting staff in 2008, and previously served as an active volunteer since 2001 on the local, regional, and national levels. She continues to volunteer and enjoys creating and teaching classes for both experienced and novice investors. Ann has been a BetterInvesting member since 1998, and is a founding partner of two investment clubs. March 9, 2010 at 7:30 pm Central Time: Research What You Own or How to Continue Learning about What s In Your Portfolio Most of us have a procedure for researching stocks we are considering for purchase, but in so many cases the collection of relevant information ceases when we buy the stock. This class will focus on ongoing research for your club or personal portfolio. Using forms developed by the Mid-Michigan Model Investment Club, Ken will highlight tips and tricks of locating relevant information on stocks you own. Instructor, Ken Kavula Ken Kavula is a retired educator who taught calculus and served as a high school principal for 21 years. Ken is a long-time officer of the Mid- Michigan Chapter of BetterInvesting and the chairman of the Great Lakes Coalition, a group of six chapters that have organized the BI Regional Conferences (BIRC) held in the Great Lakes area since In addition he is the Region Manager for the North Central Region of BetterInvesting, a National Volunteer and Chairman of the 2008 BetterInvesting National Convention (BINC). Ken belongs to four investment clubs, the Wolves Investment Club, the BI Brighton Model Club, the Mid-Michigan Model Club and a family club. April 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm Central Time: P/E s and More P/E s Learn what a P/E ratio is and why you should care about it. P/E can be used in the process to determine if a stock is priced right. Is a P/E to high...or too low? find out what else P/E ratios can tell us about a company. Instructor, Mary Enright Mary Enright is currently a BetterInvesting National Volunteer, Sioux Empire Chapter President and a member of three investment clubs. She teaches stock study classes at the local, regional, and national level. Mary currently works for Fiserv as a Sr. Project Manager in the Information Systems department. Meet One of Our New Directors:

4 We have a new Web Master for the Northern Lights Chapter! Please help us welcome Mr. David Hendrickson as Web Master for the Northern Lights Chapter. Please check the web site often, as David will be adding plenty of content in the future. Here is the link to our chapter web site: Interested in Photography? We need someone who is willing to take photos at our event to post on our web page. Please contact David Hendrickson if interested. Are you willing to help the chapter, but just don t want to make a huge commitment as a board member? We need proofreaders to review our content prior to sending it out. Please contact David Hendrickson or George Blank, if you are interested. Are you looking for a club? We ll be helping interested chapter members find clubs on a formal basis soon, in the mean time, we ll work with individuals to put them in touch with club presidents to see if they are interested in attending a working club meeting, as a guest. Contact Claire Struthers, if you are interested in this. We will be putting together a zip code map so we can determine where our chapter members are, and hold events where it is most convenient. We plan to have our Northern Lights Chapter listed in the next issue of BetterInvesting magazine, so please look for us there!

5 Help Our New Northern Lights Chapter Why have a Chapter? The answer is simple and easy. The BetterInvesting Chapter is the group that brings investment education to you at the local level. Do I have to know everything about investing and the Stock Selection Guide to serve on the Chapter Board? No, everyone on the Board is always learning new things and one of the great advantages to being on the Chapter Board is free classes. All Chapter events and classes are free to Board members. Will I have to stand up in front of people and teach a class? No, not unless you want to. We need people with all kinds of skills to help us do the many jobs involved in running a Chapter. Will it take up a lot of time? We are all volunteers and free to select the amount of time we wish to donate to Chapter activities. What s in it for me? 1 First and foremost all Chapter Board members can attend any Chapter class or event free. This is a great way to continue learning how to invest. 2 You will get to meet and become friends with lots of other investors, people who love to talk about stocks and investing. 3 Free data feed from BetterInvesting that you can use to do your Stock Selection Guide 4 Free online tools from BetterInvesting 5 An opportunity to help your friends and family learn about investing by helping to provide local investing classes Yes, I am willing to help build a new Northern Lights Chapter Name (please print) Address Address phone number Please return this form to one of the board members listed in this newsletter

6 Northern Lights Chapter Class Registration form Please Print Name Address Phone City Address State Zip January 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm Central Time: Allen Holdsworth will present Know When To Hold Em; Know When to Fold Em February 9, 2010 at 7:30 pm Central Time: Ann Cuneaz will present Preferred Procedure and Online Tools March 9, 2010 at 7:30 pm Central Time: Ken Kavula will present Research Stocks April 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm Central Time: Mary Enright will present P/E s and More P/E s These are all GoToMeeting classes that you will take from your home computer. There is no software to install, just sign up and a link will be sent to you. Your address is required. Make checks out to BetterInvesting Northern Lights Chapter Individual classes are $10.00; $30 total if you sign up for all 4 classes at this time. Check Number Total Enclosed $ Mail this form with the appropriate amount to: Barry Detloff / BetterInvesting th Ave Somerset, WI 54025