Friday, January 9, 2015

The Oboe Reed Index

*The Oboe Reed Index (ORI)


Oboe Reed Graveyard I
Oboe Reed Graveyard II

Oboe reeds are the very life blood of an oboe player’s career. A processed piece of oboe cane is a potential new reed waiting to be tied onto a staple, the tube that fits into the oboe, and then hand carved into a new oboe reed.

When I was a boy, a processed piece of oboe cane, ready to be tied onto the tube or “staple” that fits into the oboe itself, cost ten cents. The tube cost twenty five cents. Now the same piece of cane costs $2.50 to $3.50 each and the tubes run from $2.50 to six or seven dollars. I am sure you can appreciate the lost opportunity here in oboe investments.

 The following scene might be played out on a popular TV investment show:

DAVE: Booya, Jim!

JIM: Booya, Dave!

DAVE: What do you think of this new oboe reed index, Jim?

JIM:BULLISH NOISES)

I like it, Dave!! This market is undervalued. It’s jet-fueled by demand that’s on fire and constantly frustrated. The suppliers can sell all they can get, even when the quality slides.

In this market, supply just can’t keep up with demand, and the demand is locked in.  Where else you gonna go to get this stuff? I’ve seen oboe players and oboe students on street corners and in parking lots slipping each other supplies and finished reeds in brown paper bags. These consumers are desperate, Dave!

And the beauty part is that if the reeds are any good, they’re already dying, and the players are wondering where their next good reed is going to come from. You can see the pressures on the supply side. 

DAVE: Booya, Jim

JIM: Booya, Dave!


JIM: Oboe Reed Index*



*Historical price increases and profits are no guarantee of future returns. As with all investments, do your own research and due diligence before investing in the Oboe Reed Index (ORI)