Hosts

John Paul Bott, II

Financial Economist

John Bott – Chairman of the Board, Chief Economist

John Bott manages all types of accounts and portfolios, ranging from individual investment accounts to tax advantaged retirement plans, trusts for estate planning, and corporate financial management accounts. Since 1975, Mr. Bott has dealt in municipal, treasury, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds. He has also dealt in commodities, futures, interest rate swaps and all types of mutual funds. For the past fifteen years, he has written “TrendTracker,” one of the top performing newsletters in the country, commenting on economic and financial issues. John has been the portfolio manager of Parallax Capital Partners, LP, a hedge fund specializing in fixed income products, since 1998. He has participated in programs for the Dallas Investors Forum, the Woodlands Investors Group, and currently presents monthly topics at the University of Houston to the Houston Investors Association. John Bott takes the most pride in the fact that over the course of his career he has never had a single client complaint.

In addition to running his successful businesses, John is well known as a financial educator. In the fields of Finance, Business, and Economics he has taught on the adjunct faculty at the University of Houston Bauer College of Business for a number of years. John has made numerous appearances on Fox 26 News and KHOU Channel 11, offering Economic insight and investment ideas. John has presented investment and economic seminars for the Dallas Investors Forum, The Woodlands Investors Group, and the Houston Investors Association for whom he has presented a monthly
Special Interest Group at the University of Houston.

John hosted “Where Wall Street Meets Main Street” on Biz Radio 1320 AM show and was a guest host of “Streettalk Live” on KSEV 700 AM. John is currently a host on the Business 1110 AM Wall Street Radio Network show, “What’s Working Now.”

As an author, Mr. Bott has written “TrendTracker” an economic and investment newsletter since 1982. John is co-author of the fictional book “Bond Daddy” published in May 2010.

Mr. Bott’s community activities in Houston have included: Founder of the Northwest Coalition of Civic Organizations, Vice President Inwood Forest Civic Association, Executive Director of Playhouse 1960, Board Member of Starmakers of the Northwest, and coach for numerous youth sports and leagues around Houston. John was also on the Board of Directors for the Palisade
Palms.

An Alumnus of the University of Houston and Southwest Texas State University, Mr. Bott lives in Pearland with his wife Debra. They have 7 children, numerous grandchildren.

“I pride myself on not only having been and continuing to be a student of the business, but in learning every day to be a better broker for my client’s sake. My idea of the successful broker-client relationship is when the broker fully educates and the client fully understands the investment, whether or not the client ends up buying.”

John has a Series 7 (General Securities), Series 24 (Principal License), Series 63 (Blue Sky License), and Group 1 (Life & Health Insurance).

William T. Payne

Financial Economist

As president of Tri-Star Financial, Bill Payne has led his company from a one-person firm to one which now has over 20 employees, and which services thousands of clients and manages millions of dollars.

His client list includes bankers, credit unions, pension funds, foundations, corporations, life insurance companies, municipalities and many, many valued individual clients.

Mr. Payne’s career spans over 20 years in the financial services industry. His firm offers CDs, general securities, fixed income and insurance products. Although Bill is president of his corporation, he spends most of his time handling the every day needs of his valued clients. He insists that his clients are what make the business interesting and challenging. He is proud that there has never been a complaint filed with the NASD from any of his customers. In today’s market, that is something to be proud of!

Bill has a series 7 (General Securities) series 24 (Principal License) series 53 (Municipal Principal) series 63 (Blue Sky License) Group 1 (Life & Health Insurance).

Jon C. Vaughan

Financial Economist

Mr. Vaughan graduated from Baylor University with a double major in Finance and International Business. He has 15 years of experience in the fixed-income markets in trading as well as sales. His areas of expertise include: Mortgage-Backed Securities, Collateralized Mortgage Obligations, Corporate and Municipal Bonds and Government Agency Securities. Mr. Vaughan works with Institutional Customers, Individuals and Retirement Accounts with an emphasis on investments that have principal protection.

He is Series 7, Series 24 and Series 63 licensed and earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1997.

Brenda Cheney

Co-Host

Brenda Cheney, is currently the Director of Marketing for Tri-Star Financial and What’s Working Now radio show on Business 1110 AM. She also plans and coordinates Special Events, Luncheons, and Seminars.

Since graduating from Stephen F. Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Major in Marketing, she has colored her career with various jobs, such as a Flight Attendant with Continental Airlines, Sales for the Houston Rockets, Marketing Director for Mann-Berkeley Eye Center even a Marketing Director for a landscape company. She is very active in the community as a Board Member for the Galleria Chamber, Board Member for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and a Committeeman for The Special Children’s Committee with The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.

A net worker at heart, her diagnosis with Hodgkin’s Disease in 1997 at the age of 34 was a life changing experience. She went through 3 months of Chemotherapy and 3 months of Radiation at MD Anderson.

“I really never appreciated the life God had given me until faced with cancer at that moment I reversed gears and went forward with a more positive attitude on life my family, friends and career come first all the rest is icing on the cake.”