Growing Rich - Arabictrader.com

Rule 1
FORGET ABOUT THE MARKET
As you step inside Donald Yacktman’s downtown Chicago investment
firm, it’s easy to forget about the hubbub of activity taking
place on Wall Street less than 800 miles away. The muted color furnishings
make you feel at home, yet give no indication you’ve entered
an area responsible for managing around $1 billion of other people’s
money. There are no frantic traders running around shouting buy
and sell orders. No flashing Quotron screens or television monitors
relaying the latest market gossip. And no hyper portfolio managers
yelling into their phones in search of late-breaking information. In
fact, this place is so quiet and free of outside distractions, you could
easily take a nap, which Yacktman does on a regular basis. The most
gaudy decoration in the entire place is a ceramic Christmas display
in the conference room. It was loaned to him by the president of one
of his largest holdings, Department 56, which designs and manufactures
products like this.
The employees of Yacktman Asset Management don’t dress up for
work. In contrast to the dark three-piece-suit uniform common among
financiers, Yacktman and his crew prefer a more casual approach.
This means a simple dress or pantsuit for women, and slacks with a
button-up shirt (no tie) for men. Boring committee meetings are also
a rare occurrence. The day I visited, Yacktman and his staff of ten
gathered for their monthly luncheon meeting to discuss the latest
company news. After a brief update on the progress of winning over
some major new accounts, the rest of the talk focused on sports, upcoming
vacations, and other subjects you’d expect people to chat
about in a coed locker room. It’s almost like the conversation one has
at a family dinner. In a way, that’s what this is. One of Yacktman’s
sons works for him. The rest of his associates have been with him so
long they’re arguably closer than blood relatives. While gobbling
down turkey sandwiches and potato chips, the closest thing to a