Our last meeting of 2009 is now scheduled for Wednesday, November 11, 2009.  Please note the start time has been bumped up an hour to accommodate the automatic security door feature on our building (which lock at 6:00 PM).  We’ll now have refreshments/socializing beginning at 5:30 PM and start the meeting at 6:00 PM. Our guest speaker is one of our newer members, Steven Johnson, CFA. 

Mr. Johnson is Founder of Forty Eight 17 Analytics, (“Forty Eight 17”), an independent investment research firm, where he provides technical and fundamental analyses of the overall market, equity sectors and individual positions to investment professionals. He has developed a proprietary methodology based on quantitative means that identifies market cycle positions and enables investment professionals to capitalize on opportunities presented. The approach employs well-tested mathematical models bundled together in a suite of services, which provide a complete view of the investment landscape.

Prior to Forty Eight 17, Mr. Johnson was a Vice President with Smith Graham & Company (“Smith Graham”), an institutional asset management firm, where he advised the firm with regard to investments and monitored positions held in client portfolios. Prior to Smith Graham, Mr. Johnson was a Vice President with Spinel Capital (“Spinel”), a private investment firm focused on leveraged buyout, recapitalization and generational ownership transfer transactions. He developed the firm’s research and investment tools for screening, due diligence, structuring, monitoring and post-acquisition value-creation and was involved in several transactions across multiple industries.

Prior to Spinel, Mr. Johnson was a Research Analyst in JPMorgan Fleming’s Asset Management Group (“JPMorgan”), where he performed in-depth analyses to formulate objective opinions, generated buy-side research reports, pitched recommendations to an open investment committee, initiated and maintained direct research coverage on companies and assisted portfolio and fund managers in the day-to-day management of positions in client portfolios and mutual funds.

Mr. Johnson holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst and is an active member of the Houston Society of Chartered Financial Analysts and CFA Institute. He is also a candidate for Level I of the Chartered Market Technician certification.

Mr. Johnson holds a Master’s of Business Administration in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University.

If we are well-attended here, as promised, I’ll look to schedule our first meeting of 2010 in January, and push the schedule to meeting every other month. Look forward to seeing everyone.