Deep Thoughts from the Valuex Vail Conference

In the four articles to come, I’ll share my detailed thoughts from the conference. (There is no way for me to cover every presentation; therefore I’ll focus on the ones that twitched my writing muse.

Valuex Vail is over. The three days of this investing conference, which I organize, are probably the most stimulating three days of the year for me. This year a group of roughly 40 die-hard value investors assembled in beautiful Vail, Colorado. This is not your typical, garden-variety conference. All the attendees deserve to be there. I intentionally keep the conference small, and it is an event that is not for profit but for learning. Participants have to apply to attend, they are hand-selected by yours truly, and all the content of the conference is attendee-generated. For three days Vail turns into a place where value investors come to share ideas and learn: 21 presentations over three days provide a lot of food for thought.

We only have room for one idea per two attendees and every attendee has to be willing to present (this is the cost of admission). As a producer of the conference, I get an interesting look into the stock market, because I get to pick the 21 best and most diverse ideas.

This year, as the conference was approaching and the market was hitting new highs, I heard a lot of “Here is my least bad idea.” With the present global macro backdrop, it is becoming increasingly difficult to put together a diversified portfolio of stocks that has an appropriate margin of safety.

To learn how to apply to attend VALUEx Vail 2014, click here

Please read the following important disclosure here.

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