We gathered at the usual time in the usual place, and had a bunch of visitors, to boot.  But before we get to that, BILL WALTERS started us off with the Pledge. One of the Harris boys was scheduled to be involved with the Song, but apparently he lost his nerve and got PP ROY BELOSIC to handle the baton, so to speak.  BILL MAXWELL was on the squeeze box, and once they decided that there WOULD be an opening bar or two, we were underway. ROY is a two-handed mover, and he really got us going. By the time we ended (all together, for a change) it was indeed a rousing chorus. Prez BOB commented that he could then see what was meant by using both hands - and it's good to know that the Prez is still capable of learning these significant lessons…PETER MORE gave an excellent Thought for the Day, based on learning to control your temper - outbursts of temper do leave wounds, which hurt.

GEORGE COX introduced Joe Mulryan, from LA 5, who is also related to LENORE. There were several wives of Rotarians with us, including Debby Scherer, Marie Rolf, Pat Anderson and Shirley More. ELLIOTT TURNER brought Robin Miller, who is his partner in whatever nefarious schemes go on at Americorp Funding. And speaking of partners, KARI DORRIS was with hers at Salomon-Smith-Barney, Jan Lydon. PP HOMER NEWMAN brought his Special Guest Jim Enstrom. ANN SAMSON was accompanied by her senior Director, Lucy Mackuse. PP RON LYSTER, Chairman of the Nominating Poobahs, then made the happy announcement that GEORGE DEA, who already does everything at WVRC, is willing and able to step in to replace RON KLEPETAR in the Chairs. This news was very well received, and RON then gave us a bit of background as to why he had to withdraw. A good man, replaced by another good man - good news all around.  STEVE ADLER spoke about the exciting things going on at our Website, www.wvrc.net, and urged all of us to visit. He thanked the many members who have contributed to this activity, including PETER MORE and his son, Jeff, PP DAVE WHITEHEAD, DICK LITTLESTONE, PP RON LYSTER, PP JIM DOWNIE, RUDY ALVAREZ,  PP ROY BELOSIC, and newest member, BOB YOUNKER - who is the new WEBMASTER!

Upcoming February events start with an important Guadalajara Committee meeting next Thursday at 11:30 at the hotel - you all know who you are, so please be there - and ON TIME, OK? They will be arriving the following week, so this will be our last chance to finalize the plans. We NEED your input!  Call PP RALPH WOODWORTH.

February 9th - Yearling Breakfast at the Holiday Inn, 0730 - call HARLEN LEWIS.
Feb 10th to 14th - Guadalajara visitors are here - again, PP RALPH WOODWORTH.
Feb 12th - Valentine's Sweetheart Brunch - call TED IHNEN.
Feb 15th - Board Meeting at Ernie Wolfe's - call him if coming, please.

Madelyn Fischmann tells me that it is possible that WALLY will be able to go to the Rotary Convention in Buenos Aires, which starts on Sunday, June 4th through the 7th. It will be a real stretch for WALLY, but he does want to participate in the PLLUS booth and demonstration that WVRC will be putting on.  Since others who have been involved with PLLUS will also be attending, I have put together a tour, including Rio de Janeiro and Lima/Machu Picchu, which will depart on the 30th of May and return to LA on the morning of the 14th of June. Deluxe hotels, great sightseeing (with some shopping for the ladies) and all that great South American cuisine. Cost is $3397 including air - which will be handled by our own DENNIS CORNWELL at his ABC Travel.  Please call me for details - the detail and full itinerary is available, of course. But hurry - Rotarians are known as late bookers - and we are now into that category, OK?

Before we get to the Program, I must call your attention to the following shocker - and after you have this message, it may forever color your perception of the character and integrity of the person who ran the program today - none other than PP STEVE SCHERER! Last week, PP STEVE made the following PUBLIC STATEMENT - "It has just been disclosed who the first Shareholder in history was - I have it on good authority that it was none other than Sony Bono."  Now, if you still want to read the report of today's Program, that's your decision. In the steadfast tradition of absolutely honest reporting, (for which I'm sure I am famous) I could not let the above 'public statement' escape publication… So, be warned.

Panelists included veterans LEO TSENG, DICK ROBINSON, LEE DUNAYER, DONN CONNER, JIM BECHTEL and the aforementioned Mr. SCHERER, plus first-time-participant KARI DORRIS. STEVE began by pointing out that predicting 2000 was even scarier than for 1999, which ended with the NASDAQ up 85.6%, for the all-time best one-year performance of any stock index in history! The Dow was up 25.2%, S&P 500 up 19.53 and Russell (small stocks) up 19.62. At the final bell, the DOW was at 11,497, with one year Treasuries at 5.99% and 30 years at 6.48%. Last year's panelists predicted a 5 to 10% gain in the Dow, and their audience generally agreed (by a show of hands). First, the panelists average predictions for 2000:

The Dow, 12,966. Thus, the increase would be 8.9%.
There were two predictions on the NASDAQ, averaging up to 5150.
One year treasuries 6.33%, and 30 years, 6.42%
And then, the real experts (the audience, by hand vote) expected the Dow to go up from 10 to 15%, on average. Pretty close, wot?
Specific 'BUY' suggestions included MITTS on the Amex, Sun Microsystems, AOL (through Time-Warner), LSI Logic, JDS Uniphase (two suggested this), plus what I heard as Terayon, and two back-ups, Qualcom and Intel.

Some quotes, as best I had them:
LEO TSENG - Be a Contrarian, throw darts at the wall.
DICK ROBINSON - Farming and Manufacturing were each once half of our economy - today 82% is in the Service Industry.
LEE DUNAYER -The S&P will go to 1725.
KARI DORRIS - Remember, if you take away the top 7 NASDAQ stocks and the top 40 S&P stocks, both indexes would be even, not ahead for the year.  It isn't a general advance.
DONN CONNER - The Dow is a joke - and jokes are now the reality.
JIM BECHTEL - My real fear is that half of you will go out and buy what I'm recommending.
And finally, STEVE SCHERER - Enhanced fiber optics can move one billion bits in one second, traveling at the speed of light. Soon they will be able to map all the genes in the human body - today's a great time to be alive. 

Amen, says YOE, Ernie Wolfe