phildirt - You have expressed similar perspectives earlier in this thread and in early discussions on other threads. As I have said before, the door is open, we welcome the help of anyone who is willing to invest the time and effort.

We have easily over 100 people who have participated in the governance of this Club since its inception. We have a couple dozen or more currently who help. We can always use more. chriscokid has assessed it correctly, the Members elect the Directors to represent them. The Directors do their best to understand the objectives of the organization, the intent of the Members and make decisions which further those along. They are all just men and women, however. All they can do, and all you can expect them to do, is make the best decisions with the best information available to them.

If you don't like the decisions they make, or if you think they aren't getting the proper information to make them, come on in and help out. We have plenty of room and need all the help we can get.

Even if you choose not to do that, I have a duty as a Director and an Officer to explain what was done and why, and to carry your message back to the others if you disagree, have better information or want a change made. I will continue to do that. I hope eventually you, Old Magnet and the other interested parties with value to add will step up here with us and do it too.

Pete.

Tying up investment in one stock is a mistake in today's financial world.
Choosing that purchase on a sentimental value is an even bigger mistake. A $50k loss right off the bat is a good indicator.
I don't think anyone is looking at a bigger picture.
With the devaluation of China's currency the dollar now has higher value which means the US can not bid competitively with other currency nations and purchases will be made from non US sources. Not a good sign for the future of Caterpillar and other US companies and this is not likely to change in the near future.
As you know oil is tanking and not likely to change as nations with oil must sell at any price to sustain their economies. Good chance this is going to lead to yet another bail out for oil companies.
As the Chinese scramble to bolster up their economy they are bound to sell off some of their holdings of US debt which will result in new interest rates. A further hit to the US economy and debt.
The "head in the sand" reaction to budget issues experienced here is unfortunately carried all the way to the White House. I'm not surprised the sheep are not making any noise.

Hi Sue,
Thanks for taking the time to review the balance sheets.
Could you "red pencil" and post the entries and corrections that your referring to for general viewing?

Thankyou BarstartSue for running your Expert eyes over the financials, I know you are a very busy person.

This thread cuts to the chase of where the Club has come from and where we financial members hope it will be heading in the future and it is interesting to note there are over 1,000 new views of this discussion in just the past 24 hours, so it's not just a small handful of us following the conversation, but it is just a small handful commenting.

Firstly I think it is important to remember this Club almost went broke only a few years ago because the Board became fixated on the ability of the Cat toys to generate nearly all the additional funds we needed and if it wasn't for the fire destroying all those unsaleable models our cash situation right now unless I'm mistaken would be modest, particularly as memberships remain pretty much static over the past few years and we are committing funds for a new series of toys. You will remember too back in those dark days of just a few years ago that we lost several hundred financial members from Chapter 2 in the UK so things were not looking too bright though there has been fresh blood join the Board and I've particularly enjoyed the open and frank replies from Garlic Pete to all matters financial, so it has come as a big surprise to suddenly learn we had $200,000 of spare cash in 2014 that the Board thought should be invested in the share market in a single stock.

The need for a proper Technical Library for the members of our Club has been discussed 1,000 times already here on this Forum and I thought the Board was supportive of that short term goal but it seems I was wrong, I mean I even donated $US100 of my own money a year or two back as did some others in a futile effort to kickstart a fundraising drive to help finance it thinking the Club was running tight money wise and that there was no spare cash in the cookie jar for that modest project that would have cost what, maybe $30,000 max for computers and software for a stand alone library, a library that could have created income by selling scans and reprints to outsiders and helped draw more new members into the Club, but more importantly helped us existing 2,800 financial members save our old Holts, Bests and Cats by providing full access to technical information currently unavailable, or only available currently to a select few, mostly those of us who use this Forum.

I am surprised that such a risk was taken with so much money and I wonder how many financial members would have supported that decision if it had been discussed as openly here on the Forum as we discuss the new model project for example which is simply another investment strategy, to put it solely in one companies shares considering how so many people got burnt in the GFC by holding stocks in supposedly blue chip companies, if it was a modest $20,000 then I wouldn't be so concerned, but that $200,000 is now worth what, $120,000 and falling, and more importantly it might take 10 years or more for those shares to get back any where close to their purchase price and even then there is no guarantee we will ever see the $200,000.

This Club was started originally by a bunch of nice folks who wanted to save some old Cat, Holt and Best crawlers but we can only do it if we have access to parts, both new and used, supported by the best technical materials including old parts books and service journals and access to in-house experts, guys like Old Magnet and Eddie Bedwell, and their hard earned hands on experience and extensive personal libraries that they have generously shared at no cost to us for way too long, they have been politely warning us the past year or two the free ride is coming to an end as their ages increase and it was obvious, and openly discussed, the Club needed to start moving 2 years ago, in 2014, not 2017 or the year after that, or the year after that.

Quite frankly I worry that we are once again putting so many of our eggs into the toy market and assuming they will save our bacon, and yes, they do have the potential to create new cash flows but I'm curious to know what the net cash income is they will generate IF they hit budgeted sales numbers in 2016 and 2017, because I suspect their profit may not be sufficient to cover our ongoing operating expenses and the bath we are taking on our Cat shares, and most worrying is I'm hearing we, meaning the Club, must now hang onto those shares long term, like potentially 10 years or more, so as to avoid solidifying the paper loss, to use Accountants and Stock Brokers language. So the Club has now lost the use of that $200,000 for a long time unless the decision is made to diversify that investment into more liquid Term Deposits, yes, the interest in the USA at the Bank might only be 1%, but I'd much rather have an income of 1% a year on $200,000 knowing at years end I'm 100% certain of having $200,001 in my account ready to spend if needed, because that reads a lot better in the financial report to me on a Non Profit club like ACMOC than "was $200,000 invested, now $125,000 in Cat shares, and falling with only modest dividend potential".

I know the Club struggles to get people to step up to the plate and volunteer their help on the many committees and even Board positions, so I wasn't surprised to see Garlic Pete mention we are paying two "outside" financial people (an Accountant and a Book keeper) to help him with the ACMOC books, I've said before we have been lucky to have so many volunteers step up over the years to help run the Club but are we asking too much of these people and assuming they have all the skills we need, and are we all on the same page going forward with the main focus on supporting members who are saving Caterpillar equipment, or are we going to be distracted again by the desire to sell toys because I sense there is a very real chance we will end up cash poor by locking up our significantly reduced operating capital (minus $200,000) in toys sitting on the shelf unsold after the initial sales rush, seeing as share markets are crashing and tens of thousands of mining, oil and gas employees are being laid off around the world and no sign of a quick turnaround, not within 5 years for sure.

I'm curious about my fellow Club members and their mindset and would suggest a questionaire be drawn up and put in a future Club magazine included with a reply paid envelope asking all financial members what they want from OUR Club going forward the next 5 years and what they think should happen for example to spare Club funds over say $50,000, because I figure this Forum is only visited regularly by about 1% of the total financial membership and of that 1% only about 1% of them actually comment here on a regular basis on Club matters, so I'm wondering if we had polled all our 2,800 financial members in 2014 on their 5 year outlook for the Club if the results of their opinion on investing spare cash in the share market in 2014 would differ significantly from that of our Finance Committee and our Board, even if the share market had remained stable?

Seems to me we are talking as a Club a lot about expanding the number of Chapters and increasing member numbers around the world and strengthening our relationship with Cat Inc. but we still lack cohesive energy when I see 9 of our 25 Chapters have not put a bi monthly contribution in the latest magazine, have we have become fixated on creating a larger corporate identity that we still can't afford that has the potential to alienate or over look the thousands of grass roots members who fund this Club day in day out, the nice folks on modest incomes just trying to save one or two old Cats in their spare time. Can I please make a suggestion to the Board through this discussion, sell one third of that Caterpillar stock ASAP, cut our losses right now before we lose more, and with the funds set up the best Technical Library possible using the expertise of tech savvy computer experts within our Club. I'm sure there are dozens of really smart computer hardware and software folks we could call on through the magazine and this Forum who could advise on how best to proceed, at least then we can tick a huge box right now in 2016 and gain access to those thousands and thousands of pages of tech info stored in the private homes of our key members before it is too late.

The Technical Library is the single most important project for our Clubs future and if we do it right first time it will leave a legacy far greater than our Scholarship program because it will impact far more people right around the world for generations to come, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind at all about that, you smart folks on the Board know we need parts, technical support, and continued access to the best hands on Experts we have, and if the new toy project falters and fails to deliver as forecast, and we have to pay a extra $20 or $50 a year to the Club to fund and support access to that Technical Library resource that's cheap compared to buying just one part for just one old Cat.
Sincerely, and with respect
Mike

Well said Mike,
I'd like to bring a new concern forward. It has to do with a recent post from chriscokid. The statement went along the lines that payed members funds just supported the magazine and BB. That funds manipulated and invested by the board was non of the memberships business and the board was free to do as they please.
Although this has been a suspected mode of operation, this is the first time I've seen it stated, granted from an ex club officer, but I see this as a serious problem, a complete return to past administrations and the problems they created.

Yes I saw that Pete, but I sense that many of the Board Directors past and present have put in long hours of unpaid work into this Club over the years at the expense of their family and private business lives and feel they did the best they could at the time when most members wouldn't step up and help even after repeated requests for help, it would be a very tough person then who wasn't stung by perceived criticism from the members when we find out things didn't turn out as planned by the BOD and their decisions hurt our Club, because that was not their intention at the outset I'm sure, they are volunteers who simply stepped up when everyone else didn't, so we must not make this personal.

I believe we need a really good Chairperson to sit on our Board now, even someone from outside ACMOC with real hands on experience as a Captain in our industry who has done the hard yards in private enterprise and has a demonstrated track record of running Boards even if we have to pay them a monthly stipend to attend meetings, I'm sure amongst the Cat Dealers in the USA there are some really smart retired CEO's playing lousy golf at Pebble Beach each month duck hooking balls into Monterey Bay off the 18th tee block who might enjoy the opportunity to help guide our Club a few hours a month, the pay will be lousy but the folks they will mix with are priceless. We are getting some really good people to step up to the Board and offer to work on our Committees for what is really a thankless task, but we need to be confident we have the right skill set in the right seats and and that those skills are balanced with the fundamental goals of our Club, being a nice person alone isn't what we need right now.

When I saw Garlic Pete mention that we were supporting Cat by buying their shares I could see where he was coming from, but the 2,800 financial members of ACMOC are already doing that with our own check books most months aren't we, it would be very interesting in that questionaire that I hope goes out to ask our members just what their financial connection with Cat Inc is because Pete might be surprised to find between us 2,800 members that hundreds of millions of dollars of Cat Inc equipment is being run and maintained on a weekly basis, that's outside the tens of millions tied up in private collections around the world, not chump change by any means, amongst our silent majority of members are some real movers and shakers who have been supporting Cat Inc in the best way possible and not by buying shares with surplus cash, but by buying their product, both old and new.

As a new Director on the Board and yet to attend my first official meeting, I have been following this thread very closely. I know I need to be very measured in any comments regarding issues raised to date. The directors are all volunteers and endeavouring to do their best for the current and future members of the club, unfortunately here, as in any business things don't always run to plan or are decisions made, eventuate to be the best, it would be fantastic in hindsight if we could return and change some decisions.

Regarding the investment in Caterpillar Stock, it is unfortunate what has happened, no, myself I would have done it differently, spread the money over nine or ten different stocks of differing risk classes. However what has happened cant be changed, so now decisions have to be made to move forward. I believe maybe some losses will have to be realised to get cash for future programs as well as some possible re investments, into other stocks that are appreciating. Whilst the price of Iron ore and oil remains low or keeps falling, so will companies like Caterpillar do the same.

Whilst I support the actions of the Board to continue in current model productions in a much more measured and thought through process, to attract cash flow and profits, we also need to diversify our functions, to spread the opportunities and risks of income production, as well, cover more areas of differing interests, to cover the diversity of members needs. In this regard I feel it is paramount that we work towards establishing a technical library to support the members who are restorers. To this end I need to gain more information from Librarians/Archivists who have been involved in establishing an IT library, to ascertain how and what is involved to achieve such a goal. I am open to members who know much about same to contact me, also any philanthropic individual person(s) or business(s) willing to assist. I have been told it could be very expensive, however I believe it is imperative to make a start before certain people with much of the information are no longer with us, even in the first instance to just collect the material in an electronic format so that it is not lost.

The club needs to grow membership, current and future members need to feel that it is a benefit to being such, approximately 90% of the membership is in the US, so it is important that they are properly serviced to retain and grow the number, at the same time to be a truly International club we need to grow membership worldwide. Models, Technical Library and Reproduction Parts are just some of the things members want. Many members look forward to their copy of the Magazine arriving bi monthly as well. The quality of articles and magazine is improving and I consider very good. Once a year I would like to see a feature magazine produced, it would have many more pages and a special feature not only Caterpillar related, also general social history, geography, science etc. Be a very educational feature for the young, the old and the Cat enthusiast. Maybe for this to happen would require sponsorship from a business who is a major part of the feature. Such topics to feature maybe such as, The Alaska Highway, Buster Peterson, Antarctica, William Adams & Elphinstone.

To repeat myself and others, the Club is basically run by volunteers with a very small staff, hence things can only happen at a pace that volunteers can spare the time, or, available cash to pay to make it happen, the only other option is to enlist philanthropic support, as such any member who knows of any possible philanthropic support that can be enlisted, the information would be most welcome by both the Board and membership.

If any member ever wishes to speak with me, please email your details and I will endeavour to phone, call back without delay

Kind regards, Neil Clydsdale

I'd like to welcome Wombat to the ACMOC Board, somehow his successful election was overlooked in the latest magazine with no mention seen but I'm sure the oversight was not intentional and a public announcement is coming in the next magazine, I'm sure Neil's enthusiasm and experience will be great for the Club.
Good luck
Mike