Wall Street on the air

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH--Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, slacks and sensible shoes,

Doug Fabian looks more like your typical Southern California surfer dude

than an investment advisor.

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,” the

43-year-old said. “Whereas I think that you should make money for

yourself.”

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

Newport Heights resident switched from rather dull speaking engagements

to hosting a radio show in March 1999.

His weekly, two-hour show is broadcast on KLSX-FM (97.1) in Los

Angeles and in Chicago. And as of Oct. 28, he will be adding listeners at

about 90 stations across the nation.

A fan of radio talk shows for years, Fabian said he admires the work

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

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

Niguel sound studio where he produces his show.

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

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 admits

that he’s still not perfect.

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

booth, all by myself,” he said. “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 no longer is a problem to 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” of the past few months.

“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 a county

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

approach to investing.

He wants them to decide whether they will be conservative or

aggressive in their dealings with the stock market. Everyone should also

establish a “sell discipline” for his or her portfolio, Fabian said.

“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 now does 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. He hasn’t made up his mind whether 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

Doug Fabian offers investment advice from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on

KLSX-FM (97.1).