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Session Descriptions
Saturday Morning
August 18, 2007
Saturday, 9:15 AM – 10:25 AM
Pacific III
There IS a Time to Sell
Mary Ann Davis
Topic: Portfolio, Intermediate
The Portfolio Management Guide (PMG) and Portfolio Evaluation Review
Technique (PERT) reports tell you when to sell. We’ll turn the
clock back to the year 2000 and see examples. You will also learn
to establish and read price charts in multiple time frames to identify
trends, and learn how to use this information to your advantage when
making sell decisions.
Pacific IV
Common Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them
Philip J. Keating, CFA
Topic: Judgment, Personal Finance, Basic
All investors make certain common, often unconscious, decision-making
mistakes. Building on the findings of several Nobel Prize winners,
modern behavioral finance highlights cognitive, emotional and social
factors, such as framing, anchoring, herding, loss aversion, overconfidence
and compartmenting. The central paradox of investing is that investors
consistently act to buy high and sell low. These irrational behaviors
provide opportunities for disciplined investors to profit handsomely.
Several recent stock case histories will be reviewed including Cisco
Systems, Coca Cola, GE, Home Depot, JDS Uniphase, Lucent and Pfizer.
Emerald I
Introducing Stock Central
Joseph Craig
Topic: Computer/Internet, Data Source, Basic
StockCentral is a new subscription service that provides tools, data
and insight to long-term fundamental investors. Learn how to
use the online Take Stock software, the screener, the datafiles and
other features at StockCentral to improve your investing skills.
Emerald II
Influence of Economic Indicators on the Stock Market
Bart Womack
Topic: Other 20%, Judgment, General, Advanced
This session examines10 important economic indicators to determine
what effect they have individually and collectively on the economy
as well as their impact on the stock market. We will access an internet
site to retrieve the most recent numbers that draw a picture of today’s
economy and the stock market.
Emerald III
Portfolio Centered Decision Making
Mark Robertson
Topic: Portfolio, Intermediate
Portfolio design and caretaking can be compared to “staying
between the lines.” Steer well and discover answers to
what seem to be the most challenging questions of portfolio management. Listen
to your portfolio and respond to what it needs.
Saturday, 10:35 AM – 11:25 AM
Pacific III
Toolkit Tips and Tricks
Irving Roth
Topic: Software, Basic/Intermediate
Discover the undocumented short cuts and functions in Investor’s
Toolkit. This session demonstrates how to get the most out of this powerful
stock analysis software.
Pacific IV
Portfolio Management Made Easy
Ellis Traub
Topic: Portfolio, Software, Intermediate
Portfolio management can be easy and fun. This session dispels all of the
reasons and excuses we have for either procrastinating or not doing our portfolio
management tasks at all.
Emerald I
Check Out the Competition: Select the Best with the SCG
Louise Sechler
Topic: Judgment, Software, Basic
Identify companies within the same industry and use Investor’s Toolkit’s Stock Comparison Guide feature to select the BEST of the group. Analysis is reviewed for growth, management, and price plus several other criteria for up to five companies selected by you.
Emerald II
Exploring Exchange Traded Funds (repeats
Sunday, 9:10)
Jerry Pillans
Topic: Personal Finance, Portfolio, Basic
Are these funds for you? Learn about one of the newest tools for investing. This session covers the basics of ETFs and how to investigate and invest in them.
Emerald III
Dynamics of the SSG
Brian Altschul
Topic: Data Source, Judgment, Intermediate
Learn about the impact of judgment decisions on Stock Selection Guide
(SSG) studies through the eyes of two different investment club members. Discuss
why multiple versions of an SSG are useful and why it makes sense
to come to different conclusions. Basic knowledge of the SSG
is beneficial for this session.
Saturday, 11:35 AM - 12:25 PM
Pacific III
Weeding and Feeding Your Portfolio: Buy or Sell (repeats Sunday, 10:10)
Phillip J. Keating, CFA
Topic: Judgment, Portfolio, Intermediate
Learn to cut the “weeds” and feed the “flowers” in your portfolio by applying the principles of good portfolio management, including prudent diversification. Use Investors Toolkit’s many reports to categorize stock holdings, to spotlight issues that need attention, and to rank holdings on key fundamental factors. Learn why and when to sell and how to use the “Challenger” to find the best candidates as replacements. Session includes sample portfolios with examples and case studies.
Pacific IV
A Psychological Look at Portfolios with Dr. Maury
Dr. Maury Elvekrog
Topic: Basic Portfolio
Finding good stocks is one thing, but putting them together in a portfolio that produces all the benefits of diversification as well as individual company results is another. Your portfolio will benefit from Dr. Maury’s comments on attendee-submitted portfolios.
Emerald I
Exploring Your Inner Geek
Joseph Craig
Topic: Computer/Internet, General Audience
What's new in tech? This is a fast-paced quick look at new, fun, and possibly important tech developments. We'll explore the range of current tech developments from digital media to new ways of accessing the Internet and sharing information.
Emerald II
Techniques for Managing E-Mail and Simplifying Your Life
Randy Wilkes
Topic: Computer/Internet Basic
Virus protection. Firewalls. Cluttered in-box. 18 different passwords. Spam. After this session, you’ll be in control of your computer and have time to do what you really want.
Emerald III
Don’t Just Sit There - Manage Your Portfolio
Seymour Zeenkov
Topic: Portfolio, Software, Basic/Intermediate
Use the Investor’s Toolkit 5 portfolio management process to improve the value of your holdings. This analysis program alerts investors about under-performing stocks and diminishing expected returns. Do not just sit and watch your portfolio, actively manage it.
Saturday Afternoon
Saturday, 2:35 PM – 3:45 PM
Pacific III
Advanced SSG Topics: Judgment Aids
Bob Adams
Topic: Judgment, Intermediate
Judgment decisions can be uncomfortable, but this session will raise your comfort level. Judgment decisions can be augmented with quick but helpful hints about a company and its financial condition. We’ll discuss more effective use of P/E ratios, low price selection, determining the future growth rate, and what to do when the company is solid but the price is too high.
Pacific IV
Don’t Gamble: Invest in the Best Growth Companies
Phillip J. Keating, CFA
Topic: Judgment, Screening, Intermediate
What kinds of companies would you want at the core of your portfolio if you couldn't sell for five years or more? This session uses the latest investment research of Jeremy Siegel and others to develop several stock screens to identify the most promising candidates for long-term investors to consider. Common outstanding characteristics of great companies are identified and illustrated. Several case studies and examples are used to illustrate the concept of “built to last” companies with high “franchise value.”
Emerald I
Evaluate Management: Dissecting Pre-Tax Profit
Gretchen Hurt
Topic: Judgment, Intermediate/Advanced
Learn to determine whether decreasing pre-tax profit margins indicate a buying opportunity or a sell signal. We will take a close look at Section 2A of the SSG to learn how to analyze the causes of diminishing pre-tax profit margins and consider how the causes impact judgment decisions.
Emerald II
Introduction to Portfolio Manager
Matt Willms
Topic: Software, Basic
Designed by professional money managers, and used by investors worldwide since 1985, the Portfolio Manager’s purpose is to help you better understand and manage your investment portfolios. For a seasoned investor or a novice, Portfolio Manager is a comprehensive, easy to learn and use portfolio management software tool. We’ll review introductory features to help better manage your investment portfolios: creating portfolios, entering investment transactions, and reviewing reporting and graphing tools.
Emerald III
How to Recognize and Avoid Fraud
John McCreery
Topic: General
Learn about investment scams so you can avoid them without losing time and money. From advance fee fraud, to ponzi schemes to affinity fraud, if you study the patterns, you can spot them before they have an effect
on you.
Balboa II
Don’t Do That! Avoiding the Worst Practices in Club Accounting
Daniel Abraham
Topic: Computer/Internet, Software, Basic
You've taken a Club Accounting class or you've been trained by the previous treasurer, and you know what to do. But do you know what NOT to do? From ICLUBcentral’s Technical Support files, here are the most common mistakes and how to avoid them. Whether you are a new treasurer or know all the tricks, this session is a great introduction or refresher on keeping your club's books tuned up.
Saturday, 3:55 PM – 4:45 PM
Pacific III
Follow Your Stocks: A Monthly Analysis Tool
Bob Adams
Topic: Portfolio, Basic/Intermediate
This session uses a simple computer spreadsheet tool that helps follow the progress of each stock in your portfolio. The tool provides four "buy more" indicators, and five "take profits or sell" indicators, and all the data is transferred directly from the SSG--no computations, just copy the data. Each month, enter the price and be kept up to date. The form has been updated and now provides additional information to help follow a stock
Pacific IV
Small Company Discovery (repeats Sunday, 4:30)
Mark Robertson
Topic: Portfolio, Other 20%, Intermediate
Why are small companies important to our portfolios? Is it really possible to select smaller companies without greater risk? This session makes the case for shopping for small companies and the positive impact that small companies can have on our portfolios.
Emerald I
Demystifying Judgment (repeats Sunday, 4:30)
Ellis Traub
Topic: Judgment, Basic/Intermediate
In this session you will learn that, by reducing it to its simplest terms, the decision-making process involved in the Stock Selection Guide is merely a matter of common sense, well within anyone’s ability to do it confidently.
Emerald II
Select the Best: What You Must Know When Buying a Bank Stock
Herb Barnett
Topic: Industry, Other 20%, Intermediate/Advanced
If you've ever tried to prepare a Stock Selection Guide on a bank stock, you know the metrics that apply to "normal" companies don't apply to banks. This session explores the numbers that do apply to banks,
what they mean, and how to make informed decisions about investing in bank stocks.
Emerald III
Industry Studies: The Fundamentals
Dana Garoutte
Topic: Industry, Other 20%, Basic/Intermediate
Investors enhance their ability to evaluate companies when they understand the characteristics of the company’s industry. Learn how to diversify a portfolio by industry and find the top-of-the-industry companies. The session highlights selecting an industry to study and how to research the industry.
Balboa II
Don’t Gamble Away Your 401(k)
Jerry Pillans
Topic: Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Basic
Are you making the right investment decisions with your 401(k)? Learn how to use information and tools to make the best decisions for your 401(k) plan.
Saturday, 4:55 PM – 5:45 PM
Pacific III
In and Out of Fashion: Understanding the Retail Clothing Industry
Douglas Gerlach
Topic: Industry, Other 20%, Intermediate/Advanced
Hemlines rise and fall as frequently as stock prices. Learn how to understand the retail clothing industry, from the importance of tracking same store sales to how fickle fashion trends can affect growth.
Pacific IV
Origins of Manifest Investing: Role of Quality
Mark Robertson
Topic: Computer/Internet, Judgment, Other 20%, Software, Basic/Intermediate
Quality matters. NAIC founder George Nicholson told us so. How does paying attention to quality guard us during bear markets? How is Benjamin Graham’s “coefficient of quality” related to P/E ratios? Can the challenge of investing be reduced to defining quality and projected returns?
Emerald I
Introduction to Cash Flow Analysis
Bart Womack
Topic: Other 20%, General, Intermediate
This session explores the contribution of cash flow analysis to proper stock selection. Many analysts believe cash flow is a better measure of stock value and potential than earnings per share. You will learn how to perform broad interpretations of the statement of cash flow and use those interpretations in conjunction with the Balance Sheet and Income Statement in stock selection
Emerald II
Good Company! But Is It a Good Investment? What
the Stock Selection Guide Tells Us
Herb Barnett
Topic: Judgment, Basic, Intermediate
This session is for everyone who wants a better understanding of what the Stock Selection Guide indicates about a company and its investment possibilities. Even if you don’t prepare your own SSG with confidence, this will help you understand the studies that others present. For those who know the basics of preparing an SSG, you can brush up on your evaluation and analysis skills, and become more comfortable with your interpretation of stock studies.
Emerald III
Introduction to Diversification and Asset Allocation
Matt Willms
Topic: Portfolio, Basic
Diversification and asset allocation decisions are some of the most important decisions that can be made when constructing a portfolio. This session will review Portfolio Manager’s diversification and allocation tools and the importance diversification and allocation play in long-term investing success. We’ll also review how an investor must consider both taxable accounts and non-taxable accounts to get a true measure of the overall portfolio allocation in order to identify rebalancing adjustments consistent with long-term goals.
Balboa II
The Flavors of Take Stock
Seymour Zeenkov
Topic: Software, General Audience
Take Stock has gained acceptance by new, experienced, and SSG-resistant investors. There are currently two styles of this easy-to-use stock selection software program in use. Both versions will be explored in this session.
Sunday Morning
August 19, 2007
Sunday, 9:10 AM – 10:00 AM
Pacific III
Using Portfolio Manager with Other Software Tools
Matt Willms
Topic: Computer/Internet, Data Source, Software, Basic/Intermediate
This session reviews several features provided by Portfolio Manager for interacting with other software tools, such as Investor's Toolkit, Stock Analyst, and S&P Stock and Mutual Fund Data Services. Portfolio Manager also utilizes data provided by AAII’s Stock Investor Pro software for improving portfolio management decisions. This session provides an overview of using Portfolio Manager with these other software tools.
Pacific IV
SSG Judgment Step-by-Step
Bob Adams
Topic: Judgment, Portfolio, Basic/Intermediate
Do you sometimes question your judgment when completing the SSG? Using readily-available Internet data and simple guidelines to support your judgment, we'll step through each section of the SSG and review limits. We’ll take a quick look at the PMG and PERT-A for further confirmation of judgment decisions.
Emerald I
Screening for Winners
Douglas Gerlach
Topic: Screening, Software, Basic/Intermediate
Learn to use stock screening tools to find quality growth stocks for your portfolio. With StockCentral.com's screener or Stock Prospector, you can search for stocks that meet your criteria, thereby finding reasonable candidates for study. Learn how to build a screen, create custom criteria, evaluate results, calculate and review industry averages, and more.
Emerald II
Exploring Exchange Traded Funds (repeat)
Jerry Pillans
Topic: Personal Finance, Portfolio, Basic
Are these funds for you? Learn about one of the newest tools for investing. This session covers the basics of ETFs and how to investigate and invest in them.
Emerald III
Social Security’s Future – Winds of Change
Bart Womack
Topic: General, Judgment, Personal Finance, Intermediate
Learn to understand and evaluate the current social security system. This session examines why some economists believe that important changes to the system might mean a much higher payout to retirees in the future and why some economists believe the current system is in trouble.
Sunday, 10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
Pacific III
Economic Castles with Unbreachable Moats
Dana Garoutte
Topic: Industry, Screening, General Audience
Learn what separates bad companies from good ones, and good companies from great ones. In some industries, great companies build an “economic moat” or competitive barrier. The session discusses the types of economic moats and characteristics of companies with economic moats, and identifies some companies in various industries that have economic moats.
Pacific IV
Weeding and Feeding Your Portfolio: Buy or Sell (repeat)
Phillip J. Keating, CFA
Topic: Judgment, Portfolio, Intermediate
Learn to cut the “weeds” and feed the “flowers” in your portfolio by applying the principles of good portfolio management, including prudent diversification. Use the many reports of Investors Toolkit to categorize stock holdings, to spotlight issues that need attention, and to rank holdings on key fundamental factors. Learn why and when to sell and how to use the Challenger” to find the best candidates as replacements. Session includes sample portfolios with examples and case studies.
Emerald I
Improve Your Portfolio with PERT
Gretchen Hurt
Topic: Portfolio, Intermediate
Learn how to use the Portfolio Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) to enhance the overall performance of your portfolio. This session is suitable for intermediate and expert investors who understand the SSG.
Emerald II
Exploring Take $tock with Its Developer
Ellis Traub
Topic: Computer/Internet, Data Source, Judgment, Basic
Regarded by some as elementary or simple, Take Stock is no lightweight when it comes to implementing our investment methodology. Enjoy exploring its depths with its developer.
Emerald III
Automating Your Stock Studies
Joseph Craig
Topic: Computer/Internet, Data Source, Basic
Explore the world of free and/or low-cost software, data, and tools to help automate your stock studies. We will explore the entire gamut of available resources, on and off the Internet, that can help you become more efficient in studying stocks and managing your portfolio.
Sunday, 11:10 AM – 12:00 AM
Pacific III
Anatomy of a SSG
Douglas Gerlach
Topic: Judgment, Intermediate
Attend a live, interactive dissection of a company using the Stock Selection Guide—researching the company, projecting growth, adding judgment, and determining if a stock is a buy, sell, or hold. Learn what’s important (and what’s not) when analyzing a stock using the SSG.
Pacific IV
Advanced Judgment
Mary Ann Davis
Topic: Judgment, Intermediate
Would you like to feel more confident about adding judgment to your SSG? If so, this session is for you. Learn to use the preferred procedure, graphs and the importance of trends, the PERT-A Graph, judgment audit, and notes. We will also compare the performance of a stock in the SSG study to the S&P 500 using a price chart.
Emerald I
Basics of Mutual Funds
Jerry Pillans
Topic: Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Basic
Learn the basics of how mutual funds work and how to research funds on the Internet.
Emerald II
Armchair Quarterbacking Your Portfolio
Matt Willms
Topic: Portfolio, Basic/Intermediate
Are you effectively managing your portfolio(s) as a general manager does a sports team? If you divide your portfolio into 3 groups or ‘squads’, you may find the process of managing your holdings more easily accomplished. This session will review how to divide your portfolio into a practice squad/injured reserve, core starters, and all-stars. We’ll review characteristics of these groups, and how to use tools such as the Portfolio Manager and Investor’s Toolkit software programs to identify when former ‘starters’ are falling onto the injured reserve and may need to be replaced by potential new core players, or when practice players have the fundamentals to become all-stars.
Emerald III
How Much Do You Need for Retirement?
Bart Womack
Topic: Other 20%, Personal Finance,
Intermediate
Learn methods to help ensure that you won’t outlive your retirement dollars. Topics include calculating how much you will need for retirement, the advantages of annuitization, and how to compute appropriate portfolio outflows once you reach retirement age.
Sunday Afternoon
Sunday, 2:10 PM – 3:20 PM
Pacific III
Judgment Day – You Are the Judge
Louise Sechler and Seymour Zeenkov
Topic: Judgment, Intermediate
It is judgment day and you are the judge in this interactive session. Take the challenge and make Stock Selection Guide judgment decisions on SSG studies prepared with five-year-old data. Compare your judgment decisions with those of your fellow investors and get immediate feedback based on five years of actual performance. Application of an active portfolio management process will be discussed,
Pacific IV
Financial Reports 101
Shanna Rendon
Topic: Other 20%, General, Basic
Follow the money to learn about a company. A startup company leads us through the basic items on the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement to demonstrate the structure, purpose and interrelationships of the reports.
Emerald I
Safer Computing by Using Good Online Practices
Randy Wilkes
Topic: Computer/Internet, General
Increase your awareness of the online dangers of using a computer and learn about online practices such as firewalls, viruses, and anti-virus software. This session will discuss the pitfalls of neglecting to take measures to protect your computer and identity. We will cover techniques used to decrease spam, discuss spyware, adware and sneakware and offer suggestions to help protect you from identity theft.
Emerald II
Using Investor’s Toolkit 5 to Analyze Stocks
Irving Roth
Topic: Software, Basic
An in depth journey through the SSG using Toolkit 5
Emerald III
Advanced Investing Techniques with Stock Analyst 3
Douglas Gerlach
Topic: Software, Intermediate/Advanced
Stock Analyst is the most powerful software available for analyzing stocks. This program provides advanced judgment options, custom graphing, and comparison tools that help you make better stock selections. Learn to use the advanced features of Stock Analyst software to gain additional insight into a company by studying the balance sheet, cash flow and more.
Balboa II
Evaluate Management: Understanding Return on Equity
Gretchen Hurt
Topic: Judgment, Intermediate/Advanced
Warren Buffett has said that he feels Return on Equity is the best
indication of superior management. We will discuss why Return on Equity
(Section 2B of the SSG) is so important, and how to interpret changing
trends.
Sunday, 3:30 PM – 4:20 PM
Pacific III
Analyzing an Annual Report….Made Easy
Bob Adams
Topic: Other 20%, Judgment, Basic/Intermediate
If you find the information in the Annual Report daunting, this is a session for you. Only minutes are required for the entire analysis. Find out what to read, what’s important, and what’s not, and how to analyze all those financial numbers. Enter a ticker symbol, the form is completed automatically, and you’re ready for the analysis. In addition to the automatic data feature, the form is updated to include information on competitors, the industry, and five year graphs for comparing important selected data.
Pacific IV
Urban Myth Busters: International Investing
Mark Robertson
Topic: Industry, Other 20%, Intermediate/Advanced
International investing is evolving. Thomas Friedman is right: the world is getting flatter. This session tackles a couple of myths about international investing. The bottom line is that investing globally is no different than studying and owning your favorite domestic companies – and the drivers are the same, too.
Emerald I
Making Use of Internet Investing Tools
Marvin Kohn
Topic: Computer/Internet, Screening, Basic
We will explore some of the more popular Internet sites for investing and examine how to use them to obtain information on your investments. We’ll visit sites that allow you to input your portfolio so that you can examine the performance of individual securities. In addition, we will examine some free online stock screening services and also list fee-based services.
Emerald II
Spying on Your Companies
Joseph Craig
Topic: Computer/Internet, Other 20%, Intermediate
It has been said that 80% of everything that you need to know about a company - from an investing point of view - can be gleaned from basic fundamental analysis, such as the SSG or TSSW forms. What is the "other" 20%? Is it important? How do you find it?
Emerald III
Psychology of Investment Success with Dr. Maury
Dr. Maury Elvekrog
Topic: General
Investors have their feelings pulled sideways by emotions that distort thinking and then decisions. Dr Maury Elvekrog, a licensed psychologist as well as a columnist for Better Investing and chairman of a firm managing a quarter billion dollars, will help us identify and understand these emotions and how to deal with them for better investing results.
Balboa II
SSGs Too Good to Be True
John Tonsager
Topic: Judgment, Intermediate
Learn how to proceed when a Stock Selection Guide analysis seems too good to be true. This session uses features in Investor’s Toolkit 5 software to make conservative adjustments to an optimistic SSG study. Topics include data outliers, Upside/Downside ratio, PEG ratio and Preferred Procedure.
Sunday, 4:30 PM – 5:20 PM
Pacific III
SEC Website
John McCreery
Topic: Basic/Intermediate
Learn what information is available for free form the SEC. Our investor information section offers calculators, podcasts, claims funds and investor alerts. You can also learn what forms are important to investors, such as annual reports, prospectuses, and where to find them.
Pacific IV
Small Company Discovery (repeat)
Mark Robertson
Topic: Portfolio, Other 20%, Intermediate
Why are small companies important to our portfolios? Is it really possible
to select smaller companies without greater risk? This session makes the case
for shopping for small companies and the positive impact that small companies
can have on our portfolios.
Emerald I
Demystifying Judgment (repeat)
Ellis Traub
Topic: Judgment, Basic/Intermediate
In this session you will learn that, by reducing it to its simplest terms, the decision-making process involved in the Stock Selection Guide is merely a matter of common sense, well within anyone’s ability to do it confidently.
Emerald II
SSG -- A Tool to Help Solve the Investment Puzzle
Louise Sechler
Topic: Judgment, Basic
Learn to use each piece of the Stock Selection Guide to complete the stock analysis puzzle and determine if a company should be in your portfolio. Each of the five sections of the SSG will be discussed in detail.
Emerald III
Sudden Wealth: Managing a Windfall
Philip J. Keating, CFA
Topic: Personal Finance, Portfolio, General
Learn how to cope with the unexpected responsibility of managing a “large” amount of money whether from an early or full retirement payout, insurance or divorce settlement, inheritance, royalty or other sources. This session examines the common financial, psychological and emotional pitfalls as well as the opportunities presented by a sudden windfall. Topics include checklists for taking stock, hazards to avoid, the first steps in taking control, how to develop an investment policy, basic asset allocation and diversification. This session is appropriate for all investors, but especially retirees and windfall recipients.
Balboa II
Analyzing Insurance Companies
Gretchen Hurt
Topic: Industry, Intermediate/Advanced
Analyzing insurance companies provides special challenges for the investor. Many things in the industry, from how they make money to the terminology used, are unique. In this session, we demystify insurance companies as investments.
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