My father was an investor, investment adviser and publisher who purchased his first public stock in 1926. Thereafter, he was hooked on investing as a profession.

He studied the markets, read every book and The Wall Street Journal, went to school to study investing, and continued to invest his own money throughout the Great Depression and the 55 years following. He bought and sold raw land, coins, precious metals, currencies, art, real estate, commodities, cars — any form of investing, he would study the markets and trade. He went on to study engineering and geology, graduating from Oklahoma State University with a master’s degree in civil engineering, and then from Louisiana State University in 1940 with a Ph.D. in geology.

He was a master investor: studious, intelligent, knowledgeable and experienced, with a vast amount of knowledge gained from first-hand investing activities during a 60-year career. From all his investing experience, his life motto becam