Maria’s Note: Maria Bonaventura here, Tom’s longtime managing editor. Tom is unable to pen his usual Postcards today. So instead, we’re passing along the story of how Tom met his friend and mentor Bill Bonner…
I was working for Salomon Brothers in London on the legendary trading floor Michael Lewis wrote about in Liar’s Poker, the largest trading floor in Europe. The year was 2003.
I was hungry – to be a hedge fund manager or a “Big Swinging Dick” on a trading floor somewhere. And I was indoctrinating myself night and day in the art of speculation… by reading books, playing poker, and trading futures.
And then, I discovered e-newsletters…
They were penned by characters like Richard Maybury, Richard Russell, John Mauldin, Kurt Richebächer, Stratfor… and Bill Bonner.
Their ideas captivated me.
I felt like I’d broken into an underground club… or become a member of a modern resistance…
I’d ride the tube – the underground train in London – reading the latest issue of whatever it was, sunk low in my seat, casting an occasional furtive glance. I wanted to make sure no investment bankers were reading over my shoulder.
I’d found my place… on the investment fringe.
Then, I did two things any investment banker would think were crazy…
First, I put my entire life savings into gold mining shares and gold futures contracts. And I convinced six of my mother’s bridge friends to give me money, and I did the same thing with that (more on that in a minute).
Second, I wrote to Bill and told him I’d quit my job at Salomon Brothers and come work for him, for free, if he’d give me a job at his newsletter at the time.
Bill forwarded my note to Addison Wiggin, another colleague of ours in the newsletter world. He took me out to dinner with Dan Denning (now Bill’s coauthor on The Bonner-Denning Letter). But then he never followed up with me.
I quit Salomon anyway. And I flew to Mexico City without any money (literally no money or credit cards). My mother was so worried about this, she cried at the airport and tried to give me a credit card “for emergencies.”
From Mexico City, I hitchhiked my way to Chicago by freight train. I scavenged from dumpsters, slept in the streets, and sent hilariously ironic newsletters to my lawyer and banker friends back in England.
I also sent these emails to Addison, out of a sort of perverse revenge for not hiring me. But then, he asked me to Paris to hang out with him, Dan, and Bill for a few days, an invite which I gratefully accepted.
Despite my stench of garbage, they offered me a job in Baltimore.
And as for the long gold trade…
Gold was $350 an ounce when I started the trade… on its way to $2,000. So that worked out okay, too (although I cashed in much too soon).
And so you see, this isn’t the first time I’ve put my life savings into gold, launched myself on a crazy adventure, and sent absurd emails to my friends back home…
How will it end this time?
Better keep reading…
– Tom Dyson
P.S. As regular readers know, I’ve spent the last three years traveling the world – this time, with my wife-again Kate and our three kids. Before hitting the road, I put all our savings – about $1 million – in a gold and silver strategy I learned from Bill. If you want to follow my simple investing strategy, it’s not too late. Learn more here.
FROM THE MAILBAG
First up, a reader shares their sentiments about the passing of Tom’s mother…
Reader comment: My condolences on the passing of your mother. It’s a bittersweet moment to be in the house you and your parents shared. Tons of memories and there seems to be a memory attached to each article, no matter how small the item. My response was to build a shed just to put the items after we sold the house. But, that’s not an option for many folks.
For the first year after my father passed, I found myself dialing his number to ask a question and then remembering he was no longer on the other end of the line. Same thing with my mom.
Time does heal, but nothing replaces the feeling of having your parents alive and within a phone’s reach. May the Good Lord bless and keep you. Keep homeschooling those kids… it’s the best thing they’ll ever go through. My four children are testament to that. If you’re ever in Washington, please feel free to park next to my parent’s shed if you need to ditch a car for a while. Mi casa es su casa.
Others disagree with Tom’s comment that it’s self-indulgent – and often boring – to tell the story of one’s own life…
Reader comment: You mention that you thought “it’s self-indulgent to tell the story of one’s own life.” I am a 64-year-old woman who lives in Minnesota. My children live far away. I still work. I am divorced and live alone, except for my old and cranky cat. I read your Postcards whenever they pop in my email. Your stories have been so interesting to me; I kind of feel like I know your family. I agree with your stance on gold. I think you and your wife are giving your children an amazing life and opportunity to learn and grow. And giving your children a strong, loving family base.
Reader comment: I am an old reader, since the beginning of your travels. I must take exception to your statement “boring at times!” in responding to the new reader. I have yet to find any of your emails boring. And I think it is a wonderful story of Kate and your children and what the two of you are doing for and with them.
Time is relentless in its passing, and you all are blessed to be able to be together and grow together. One day you will wake up and find, as my retired school teacher wife and I (retired 86-year-old CPA), that they are grown and gone.
Our youngest son lives in Munich, our middle son in Horgen, Switzerland, with his wife, daughter, and young son, and another son and family lives in Georgia, but no children and grandchildren live close by, where we can visit on a frequent basis. My point: Enjoy them while you can as time passes quickly.
I think your advice is noteworthy and I like your Dow-to-Gold ratio. I prefer gold stocks and royalty stocks that yield over 3% to dampen the loss in purchasing power of the dollar.
While another contributes to the ongoing discussion about what faith really is…
Reader comment: Thank you for your interesting weekly log of events. Keep up the good work. You mention a quotation from a reader: “Faith is what you believe even though you know it’s not true.” I would suggest a more helpful approach to such matters. Assign a probability of 0% to 99% to the existence of each of the following: god, saints, angels, devils, hell, purgatory, everlasting life, etc. Any score over 90% would count as a “belief” while any score less than 50% would not score as a belief.
Tom’s note: As always, thanks for writing in! Please keep your messages coming at [email protected], and I’ll try to answer as many questions as I can in a future Friday mailbag edition.