Wall Street on the air

Mathis Winkler

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, slacks and sensible

shoes, Doug Fabian looks more like your typical Southern California

surfer dude than the investment advisor he is.

But that’s part of his maverick-style approach to helping people make

the right decisions in the stock market.

“Wall Street, for the most part, is making money for themselves,” said

the 43-year-old who works out of a Main Street office. “Whereas I think

that you should make money for yourself.”

Although he’s been in the business for more than two decades, the

Newport Beach resident switched from rather dull speaking engagements to

hosting a radio show in March 1999. His weekly two-hour show broadcasts

on stations in Los Angeles and Chicago. And in October, he added

listeners at about 90 stations across the country, he said.

A fan of radio talk programs for years, Fabian said he admired the

work of such hosts as political commentator Larry Elder on KABC-AM (790).

“I have him on the way home,” Fabian said, sitting in the Laguna

Niguel sound studio where he produces his show.

Not that Fabian would need to sit through nerve-racking rush hour

traffic after a long day at the office.

“I have built a level of wealth that I don’t have to work anymore,” he

said.

With a book deal and plans for a TV show in his pocket, Fabian said he

sees radio as his calling.

“To influence as many people in a positive way and help them take

advantage of the great opportunity that we have to invest in the country

-- that’s what turns me on,” he said.

Getting comfortable with the medium took some time, and Fabian adds

that he’s still not perfect.

“The first time I got on air it was kind of like in a phone booth --

all by myself,” he remembered. “You just don’t want to have dead air. If

someone turns on the radio and there’s dead air, they change the

channel.”

Dead air is no longer a problem for Fabian, who barely pauses long

enough to catch his breath.

His underlying philosophy is to make people think about their

investments before being lured into the stock market’s “casino

atmosphere.”

“People forgot why they’re investing,” he said, adding that financial

independence, children’s college education, a down payment on a home and

living off investments still remain the four major reasons why people get

involved.

Fabian, who on radio sounds a bit like a booth announcer at the fair,

said he encourages his listeners to make up their mind about their

approach to investing. He wants them to decide whether they’ll be

conservative or aggressive in their dealings with the stock market.

Everyone should also establish a “sell discipline” on his or her

portfolio.

“Not all stock should be held for the long term,” he said. “Having a

‘sell discipline’ will keep you from falling in love with your

investments.”

Some weeks, Fabian broadcasts his show from his second home in Idaho.

“It’s a great place to get away from the city,” he said. “It gives you

another perspective on life.”

A father of four, Fabian’s oldest son, David, is a freshman at

Pepperdine University this year. He hasn’t made up his mind if he’ll

follow his father’s career choice. But that’s not what matters, Fabian

said.

“I’m encouraging him to find out what he’s passionate about in life,”

he said. “I found something that I was passionate about with the help of

my dad. I fell in love with the stock market.”

FYI

Fabian’s show can be heard on KLSX-FM (97.1) from 10 a.m. to noon

Saturdays.