George R. Shannon
Chief Investment Stategist
Portfolio Manager

  George R. Shannon attended The University of Texas at Austin on a football scholarship, where he graduated with Honors. He then attended both the UT Austin Graduate School of Business MBA program, and later the Ph.D. program in Economics.

  He began his career in the brokerage industry in 1974 with Merrill Lynch, receiving his training with Merrill in New York. In 1986 George joined PaineWebber, and went through the PaineWebber Management Training program, again in New York. George has since managed brokerage offices for PaineWebber, A.G. Edwards, and Southwest Securities, Inc.

  As a market analyst and research consultant, George brings to Mader & Shannon 30 years of experience in the brokerage industry; an excellent formal education in accounting, economics, and finance; and a proven track record of investment analysis and portfolio management. George follows the Graham-Dodd approach in determining value, and believes an appreciation of the liquidity of markets, coupled with an in-depth understanding of the history of asset category performance, provide the keys to successful portfolio management.

  George believes three of the most notable recent academic articles concerning reasonable expectations for future financial market performance are the contrasting views expressed by "Valuation Ratios and the Long_Run Stock Market Outlook: An Update"† by John Y. Campbell and Robert J. Shiller: "Stock Market Returns in the Long Run"† by Roger G. Ibbotson and Peng Chen: and "From Efficient Markets Theory to Behavior Finance" by Robert J. Shiller.

  George believes three important developments impacting the quality of information available to investors in the financial markets are the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the adoption of "core" earnings by Standard and Poors and the developing trend of more aggressive prosecution of securities laws violations.

  As an example of his appreciation for the great outdoors George cites his 2002 "rim to rim" backpacking trip across Grand Canyon . George has one son, Hudnall Shannon, a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.

George can be contacted at grs@madershannon.com __________________________________________________________________

†(Copies of these papers and of the white paper establishing the concept of "Core Earnings" by Standard and Poors titled "Measures of Corporate Earnings" are available from Mader & Shannon Wealth Management, Inc. upon request, as are seminars on these subjects.