V.17:6 (275-280): Interview: Doug Fabian Of Fabian Investment Resources by Thom Hartle

Keeping Investing Simple Doug Fabian Of Fabian Investment ResourcesFor mutual fund investors, one of the bestknown newsletters is Fabian Investment Resources, previously known as Telephone Switch Newsletter. It was begun by financial planner Dick Fabian, whose 1976 book, How To Be Your Own Investment Counselor, triggered enough response for him to start the newsletter the following year. Since then, the newsletter has prospered, with Fabian’s son, Doug, later picking up the reins and expanding its horizons. Editor Thom Hartle talked to Doug Fabian via telephone on March 24, 1999, asking him about, among other topics, the key points to the Fabian methodology, how he determines the trend of the stock market, and how backtesting an idea is crucial.

Let’s start at the beginning. Can you give me some personal history as well as some of the firm’s history? We’re celebrating the 22nd anniver-sary of the Telephone Switch Newslet-ter, which became Fabian Investment Resources in 1993. My father first pub-lished the newsletter 22 years ago, after he self-published his book How To Be Your Own Investment Counselor, which he wrote after the 1973-74 bear market. The book followed the advent of the money market fund and the telephone exchange feature within mutual fund families. His premise was that stocks were the place to invest to grow your portfolio, and mutual funds were, and are, the simplest way to participate in the stock market.