It was a blood bath.
You see, the oil industry is a cyclical market. It’s volatile. It booms and busts like crazy.
During the boom times, everyone is happy and making money fast. But what no one was prepared for in 1981 – what any smart investor should have known from history – is that any cyclical asset like oil can turn around and bust for years.
I found that out during my first years on the job…
‘It’s Boom Time in the Oil Field!’
It was 11:30 a.m. on “lingerie Thursday,” July 1981.
Escaping the 105-degree heat, I ducked in for lunch at Michael’s Plum – an oil and gas industry hangout in Oklahoma City. Every day, the old guys went there to talk about the old days. The young guys went to show off their Rolexes.
It was the middle of the oil and gas boom.
Every Thursday at Michael’s Plum was “lingerie day.” That’s the day the waitresses wore lingerie. It was marked on everyone’s calendar. (Things were different in corporate America back then.) On that particular day, I sat at a table with four other guys, most older than me. I was in my first year of law school. Just got a job as a Landman, negotiating and acquiring oil and gas drilling leases for Southwestern Energy Production Company. I was making $30,000 a year. I was feeling my oats. But I still wore a Tag watch. I knew two of the guys at my table. One was Mike. He was my age and an independent Landman who checked courthouse records and bought oil and gas leases. Mike earned about $300 a day plus expenses. He’s the one who invited me to this bustling hot spot.
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