Ned Schmidt: I grew up in Southern Illinois with something of an agricultural background. After the Army, and an all-expense paid year in a beautiful Asian location, I attended Southern Illinois University. From there I went to the University of Georgia for graduate school. My degrees are both in Finance and I am a CFA Chartered Financial Analyst.

Daily Bell: Give us some background on your professional career.

Ned Schmidt: My first job out of school was as the oil analyst for a major trust investment operation in Atlanta. They made me the oil analyst in January 1974 because oil was not very exciting. They were obviously wrong on that one, and I had to scramble to learn about places no one knew of like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

From there I went on to be a portfolio manager in Nashville, Tennessee. And yes, I did have some accounts, though small, for some famous people. Living in Georgia and then Tennessee gave me great appreciation for catfish and barbecue.