If you are in the northeast, you are are thinking of warmth for it is the middle of February. One way to do this is go south or look at travel pictures of warm climates or read books that have settings in warm climates, while you are indoors. A book that helps with the warmer climates is Aloha Rodeo written by David Wolman and Julian Smith published by William Morrow, NY, 2019.

In the book about the cattle ranches and some of the cowboys in Hawaii, the authors also write about the founding of the Rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1897. Cheyenne’s business people like the idea of putting on a rodeo for a day and ensured the marketing was directed at the folks in Denver which is a short train ride away. Frontier Days tapped into the changing western frontier and people came to the event which ended in the profit for the city. Frontier Days were on the calendar forever, in 2020 the event runs from July 17 to the 26th.

In addition, the popularity of the rodeo owed its popularity to Bill Cody or Buffalo Bill Cody and the Wild West Show which toured the world in the 1880s. There was Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley and 500 hundred performers and animals filled 82 train cars. The show ran for 30 years and there are a variety of movies and Broadway plays based on the performances.

In the rodeo, all types of events are tried and at the bigger rodeos draws Cowboys from all over the country including Hawaii. In 1908, 3 Hawaiians arrived at the biggest Rodeo in Cheyenne, were the underdogs because who had heard of Hawaiian cowboys? The Hawaiians left champions and eventually some of the Cowboys were inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Hall of Fame.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in a competition all things seem to be equal and everyone has the same opportunity. In reality, with investing over the long run it is better to invest in year over year profitable companies who can pay a dividend and likely increase it. The dividend is a good method to know whether to continue to hold or sell the shares. The profitability allows the investor to see how well the company continually adapts to the challenges before it.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.