What You Can Expect at Our Forthcoming Conference
by Charles Rotblut | September 23, 2021
We will be hosting our AAII Investor Conference 360 next week. Pre-conference boot camps will take place on Wednesday, September 29, and the conference will take place on Thursday, September 30 and Friday, October 1.
Ahead of the event, I want to give you a preview of what to expect.
The conference will be virtual. You will be able to watch it live from the location of your choice—anywhere there is an internet connection. The virtual format also provides you with flexibility from a scheduling standpoint. If you are unable to catch a particular presentation, you can watch it at a later time. All sessions will be recorded and available on-demand. This means you can watch presentations live, at night, over the weekend or whenever you have the time to do so.
You will also be able to access the conference from pretty much any device with a web browser. Cvent, our virtual platform provider, does suggest using Google’s Chrome browser on a PC or a Mac for the best viewing experience. (If you have a laptop, you could connect it to your TV to watch it on a bigger screen. This is what I did during High Holy Day services, which my wife and I attended virtually.)
Of course, the highlight of the conference will be the programming. We have three great keynote speakers. Former Vanguard CEO Jack Brennan will give some straight talk about using your portfolio to reach your goals. Selecting the best small-cap value funds will be the topic of financial educator Paul Merriman’s presentation. Syndicated personal finance expert Terry Savage will discuss how to make your money last throughout your retirement. We’ll also have a special plenary session featuring former Baxter CEO Harry Kraemer. He will discuss the importance of values-based leadership.
Two panel discussions will be held. Stock pickers and exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors will want to catch the Factor Investing panel. Larry Swedroe, Chris Pedersen and Jack Vogel will explain how factors can be used to realize higher long-term returns. Insights on investing for and in retirement will be shared by Christine Benz, Paul Merriman and Roger Young at our Retirement Investing panel.
In addition, there will be more than 20 breakout sessions. Topics include retirement, stock selection, income investing, cryptocurrency and more. In addition, CFRA Research’s Sam Stovall and Leuthold Group’s James Paulsen will each, separately, give their latest market outlooks.
As mentioned above, two boot camp sessions will be held before the conference. My boot camp on portfolio strategies will take place first on Wednesday morning. I’m going to share seven ways you can increase your wealth through actionable strategies—many of which are easy to implement. My colleague Wayne Thorp will provide a hands-on demonstration of how to analyze a stock on Wednesday afternoon. You will learn how to use readily available data to determine whether a stock is attractive or not.
If you attend, you’ll find the conference to be an interactive experience. There will be the opportunity to ask speakers questions during their presentations. You’ll also be able to interact and learn from other AAII members throughout the conference with an online chat forum.
The Cvent platform is easy to navigate. Conference attendees will be emailed a link early next week to access and familiarize themselves with the platform. We are also currently working with our presenters to have their slides available for attendees to view.
If you have not signed up yet, I encourage you to do so. The conference is going to be both engaging and educational. I hope to see you there.
- Conference keynote speaker Terry Savage discussed the benefits and costs of long-term care insurance last year in the AAII Journal.
- Robert Hagstrom will delve into Warren Buffett’s investment mindset at the conference. Our Buffett: Hagstrom Screen has one of the lowest risk scores of all our screens.
- Paul Merriman gives ideas about how to score a retirement home run in the current issue of the AAII Journal.
- You’ll also find guidance from Roger Young on how to determine whether doing a Roth IRA conversion will save you money in this month’s AAII Journal.
AAII Sentiment Survey
The results from the latest AAII Sentiment Survey show a strong rebound in bullish sentiment. In addition, the number of investors describing their outlook for stocks as “neutral” decreased significantly compared to last week’s results.
Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, rose 7.4 percentage points to 29.9%, but remained below 30% for the second consecutive week. This is the second consecutive week and the eighth out of the past 11 weeks that optimism is below its historical average of 38.0%.
Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will stay essentially unchanged over the next six months, pulled back by 7.3 percentage points to 30.9%. This decline follows two weeks of significant increases in neutral sentiment. The historical average is 31.5%.
Bearish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will fall over the next six months, declined by just 0.1 percentage points to 39.2%. This is the second consecutive week and the seventh time out of the last eight weeks that bearish sentiment is above its historical average of 30.5%.
At current levels, all three readings are within their typical historical ranges. Pessimism remains near the upper end of its range, however. The breakpoint between typical and unusually high bearish readings is 40.1%.
The return to normalcy from the coronavirus pandemic, monetary and fiscal stimulus and inflationary pressures are influencing individual investors’ outlook for stocks. Other factors include earnings, valuations and the Biden administration’s initiatives.
Bullish: 29.9%, up 7.4 points
Neutral: 30.9%, down 7.3 points
Bearish: 39.2%, down 0.1 points
Bullish: 38.0%
Neutral: 31.5%
Bearish: 30.5%
See more Sentiment Survey results.
September 16, 2021 How Often Should You Look at Your Portfolio?
September 9, 2021 Low Share Prices Do Not Imply a Low Valuation
September 2, 2021 The Advantages of Stock Screening
August 26, 2021 Put an Asterisk by Those Second-Quarter Results
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