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Enhance Performance With Value Investing Congress

Since 2004, value investors from across the country have converged on the Value Investing Congress, and this year our very own J. Royden Ward, editor of Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter, is going to attend. It’s taking place in New York City on October 6 and 7 (with a pre-conference workshop on October 5) and will be attended by value investors and money managers from around the world seeking to enhance their performance.

Before I get into the investing part of today’s Cabot Wealth Advisory, I wanted to share with you my recent travels to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

Earlier this summer, I wrote about my troubles with the airline industry (most notably Delta) but all was forgotten as soon as I stepped off the plane and saw the hulking Tetons looming above. Delta even let my friend and me check two bags each on the return flight because we booked our trip before the new one-bag-per-person rule went into effect.

We stayed in a cabin in the northeast part of Yellowstone, close to the Lamar Valley, where wildlife is abundant. We saw an incredible amount of wildlife during our stay, including a coyote, bears, moose, elk, deer, bison and wolves. The animals were all very impressive, especially when viewed from safe distances using binoculars, and we were happy not to encounter any in the backcountry.

Get Off the Beaten Path

We didn’t let the possibility of meeting a bear on the trail scare us, as we mostly took to hiking trails away from the crowded lookout points around the parks. We hiked nearly every day, leaving the crowds behind and finding ourselves in some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We trekked to glacial lakes, a petrified tree, meadows dotted with wildflowers and dense woods. One of the best days was when we took a boat across Jenny Lake in the Tetons and hiked along a stream into a canyon between the enormous mountains.

The thing I was most surprised to learn while on vacation was that only about 5% of people who visit the area get off the beaten path and into the backcountry. I’m glad we spent most of our time away from the main sites, as we saw some of the most beautiful landscapes in the backcountry and it felt the most peaceful.

One evening, we climbed a small hill with a paved path to watch the sun set on the Teton Mountains and Jackson Lake below. There we saw moose grazing in the meadow and sparrows swooping to catch bugs. There were only about five other people up there with us watching the sky turn pink and orange, the mountains turn purple and all of that reflecting on the lake below.

It was a thrilling, rewarding experience, and I hope that you too take the time to get off the beaten path, wherever you are. We at Cabot follow a similar mantra, found in a quote from Sir John Templeton on our blog at The Iconoclast Investor.

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Stock-Picking Criteria You Shouldn’t Ignore

Question: What would you say is your most successful fundamental stock-picking criteria?

Answer: If I had to pick just one, it would be triple-digit revenue growth. Companies that are growing that fast, especially if it’s because of a new product or service, often turn into big market winners. It’s important to make sure the 100%+ revenue growth is happening because of internal growth, not because of acquisitions.

If I had to pick one other, it would be a new revolutionary product, like Apple’s iPod, Crocs’ croslite shoes, Google’s paid search, and First Solar’s silicon-free solar panels--all of which were Cabot winners in recent years.

That’s Michael Cintolo, editor of Cabot Market Letter. While most investors are panicking, he’s currently readying the Market Letter’s Model Portfolio for a big buying spree. Mike anticipates buying the stocks of many companies with revolutionary new products once this bottoming process is finished. To learn more abut Mike and Cabot Market Letter, visit the link below:

https://www.cabot.net/info/cml/cmlib01.aspx?source=wc01

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Value Investing Congress

Since 2004, value investors from across the country have converged on the Value Investing Congress, and this year our very own J. Royden Ward, editor of Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter, is going to attend. It’s taking place in New York City on October 6 and 7 (with a pre-conference workshop on October 5) and will be attended by value investors and money managers from around the world seeking to enhance their performance.

Speakers at the Value Investing Congress, produced by Schwartz Tilson Information, Inc., will offer strategic and timely insights as they discuss their investing philosophies and favorite stock picks. Whitney Tilson and John L. Schwartz started the conference, now in its fourth year, to give passionate value investors a place to meet and learn from each other. Tilson is a well-known value investor and is co-founder of Value Investor Insight. Schwartz is the founder and former CEO of Continuing Medical Education, Inc.

The attendees are followers of the system invented by Benjamin Graham and practiced by Warren Buffet and David Dodd who come together each year in an attempt to achieve greater investing success. Roy told me that he is excited to attend the conference; it will be his first time there, and he looks forward to sharing what he learns with you.

Value Investing System

If you’re unfamiliar with Roy’s style of investing, here’s a quick rundown. As editor of Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter, Roy selects undervalued stocks that he believes will increase in value over time. Roy employs the stock selection criteria of Benjamin Graham, through a computer model Roy developed with his college professor, Dr. Wilson Payne, to pick the companies recommended each month.

The stocks are bought below a Maximum Buy Price that Roy sets using Graham’s criteria and usually are held for one to two years until they reach their Minimum Sell Price. This might not sound as sexy as accelerating growth but it works well in any market and has brought an annualized return of 20% since its inception more than 80 years ago.

At the conference, Roy expects to share his own investing experiences as well as learn from the experiences of others who share his philosophy.

Speakers at the conference include Bill Ackman of Pershing Square, Aaron Edelheit of Sabre Value Management and Jeff Matthews of Ram Partners LP, among many others of the world’s best-known and most successful money managers. The congress is a unique opportunity for other value investors to hear their views on the global economy, current financial markets and investment ideas. A full list of speakers can be seen at www.valueinvestingcongress.com.

Increase Knowledge to Become Better Investor

Warren Buffet has often stressed increasing your investing knowledge and at Cabot we agree that an educated investor is a better investor. By attending the conference, Roy intends to share his insights to help you achieve greater investing success.

At the conference, attendees will learn the principles that Benjamin Graham laid out and that his followers have been using for decades. The sessions will teach investors how to: assess intrinsic value to invest with a large margin of safety; avoid costly mistakes most investors make; detect “hidden” red flags in financial statements; uncover value in international markets; analyze and realistically value distressed debt and much, much more. The goal of the congress is to create a thriving community of value investors.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Value Investing Congress or attending, click here. Cabot Wealth Advisory subscribers are eligible for an extra $100 off the early bird rate, so register today.

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Stock-Picking Criteria You Shouldn’t Ignore

Question: What would you say is your most successful fundamental stock-picking criteria?

Answer: If I had to pick just one, it would be triple-digit revenue growth. Companies that are growing that fast, especially if it’s because of a new product or service, often turn into big market winners. It’s important to make sure the 100%+ revenue growth is happening because of internal growth, not because of acquisitions.

If I had to pick one other, it would be a new revolutionary product, like Apple’s iPod, Crocs’ croslite shoes, Google’s paid search, and First Solar’s silicon-free solar panels--all of which were Cabot winners in recent years.

That’s Michael Cintolo, editor of Cabot Market Letter. While most investors are panicking, he’s currently readying the Market Letter’s Model Portfolio for a big buying spree. He anticipates buying many great growth stocks once this bottoming process is finished. To learn more abut Mike and Cabot Market Letter, click the link below.

https://www.cabot.net/info/cml/cmlib01.aspx?source=wc01

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In case you didn’t get a chance to read all the issues of Cabot Wealth Advisory this week and want to catch up on any investing and stock tips you might have missed, we have links below to each issue.

Cabot Wealth Advisory 9/1/08 - Lower the Drinking Age?

On Monday, Timothy Lutts wrote about whether it might be a good idea to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. Recently, some college presidents said that the current drinking age of 21 is not working and asked for an unbiased discussion of the issue. Tim also wrote about Thoratec, a maker of heart pumps, which has appeared in Cabot Top Ten Report twice in the last month. Stock featured in this issue: Thoratec (NSDQ: THOR).

http://www.cabot.net/Issues/CWA/Archives/2008/09/Lower-the-Drinking-Age.aspx

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Cabot Wealth Advisory 9/3/08 - Beware the Ides of September?

On Thursday, Michael Cintolo wrote about Fantasy Football’s big draws: control and competition, and why people spend so much time focusing on that fantasy world and so little time on their own real investment portfolios. Mike suggested keeping a monthly spreadsheet of your portfolio’s progress to keep track of how it’s doing. Mike also wrote about why it might be a good idea to be cautious in the stock market during September, as it has historically been the worst performing month. Stocks featured in this issue: Charles Schwab (NSDQ: SCHW), TD Ameritrade (NSDQ: AMTD), T. Rowe Price (NSDQ: TROW) and Blackrock (NYSE: BLK)

http://www.cabot.net/Issues/CWA/Archives/2008/09/Ides-of-September.aspx

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Cabot Wealth Advisory 9/4/08 - The Drinking Age: Part 2

On Thursday, Timothy Lutts published many of the insightful letters he received regarding the drinking age after his article about it on Monday. Tim also wrote about Hurricane Gustav, which was supposed to be the mother of all storms, but ended up sparing much of the area that Hurricane Katrina destroyed. Tim discussed a leading biotech stock that has recently been featured in Cabot Top Ten Report. Stock featured in this issue: Isis Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ: ISIS).

http://www.cabot.net/Issues/CWA/Archives/2008/09/Drinking-Age-Part-2.aspx

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Editor’s Note: If you want to go on vacation and not worry about your stocks, Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter might be right for you. Benjamin Graham’s value investing system has brought investors 20% annualized returns for more than 80 years. If you like the idea of putting your money to work with a time-tested system that offers great gains then click the link below.

http://www.cabot.net/info/bgv/bgvir01.aspx?source=wc01

Until next time,

Elyse Andrews
Editor of Cabot Wealth Advisory

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Timothy Lutts is Chairman and Chief Investment Strategist of Cabot Wealth Network, leading a dedicated team of professionals who serve individual investors with high-quality investment advice based on time-tested Cabot systems.