The last few blog entries talked about BetterInvesting National Convention. We looked at several of the tracks being offered. We have touched on tracks for newer investors, special interest tracks and some tracks that are a collection of more general ideas.

In this entry we want to focus on two more of the twelve tracks being offered on Thursday and Friday. This time we are going to focus on the topics that help you maintain your portfolio and help you with diversification. We will also talk about one of the special features of the convention, the Sunday workshops.

Portfolio Concepts: Having trouble with your portfolio? We have pulled together BetterInvesting's best and brightest to help you improve your skills. Join NIA Board members Diane Amendt, Sue Jensen and Cy Lynch, and guests Doug Gerlach, Brian Lewis, Peggy Schmeltz, Matt Willms and a panel featuring Ken Janke, Phil Keating and Ken Lightcap as they cover what you need to know about portfolio management. This track begins on Thursday morning with sessions looking at portfolio concepts on diversification. Thursday afternoon the sessions will look at portfolio concepts related to a specific stock. Friday we start off with portfolio management ideas in the morning and then focus on selling in the afternoon.

The sessions in this track are:

PC-1 Understanding Portfolio Diversification
PC-2 Armchair Quarterbacking Your Portfolio
PC-3 Monitoring Your Portfolio For Better Results
PC-4 Comparison Shopping For Stocks
PC-5 Portfolio Evaluation Review Technique For Stocks
PC-6 A Defense/Offense Approach To Portfolio Management
PC-7 Portfolio Management Workshop
PC-9 Stock Selling Guide
PC-10 When To Sell - Panel Discussion

Industry Track (& Sunday's Industry Workshops): Something we have been dreaming about for a few years. What if we had sessions on how to study companies with special requirements, such as an unusual industry? And what if we followed some of those sessions up with a workshop where the instructor and a company representative went through preparing an SSG on one of those companies. Well, our dream became reality in 2005 and has expanded to include ten workshops for 2006. Join our instructors Gary Ball, Amy Crane, Henry Curtis, Brian Lewis, Cy Lynch, Joe Smith, Don Spindel and Jim Thomas as they show you how to analyze special companies. Join us on Sunday as we have workshops preparing SSGs on a drug distribution company, software company, retail company, a bank, insurance company, REIT, pharmaceutical, restaurant, and energy company and utility stock. Most of the workshops will be led by a BetterInvesting instructor and a representative of the company.

The sessions in this track are:

IT-1 Analyzing The Drug Distribution And PBM Industries
IT-2 Analyzing Banks & Thrifts
IT-3 Analyzing Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Industries
IT-4 Analysis Of The REIT Industry
IT-5 Analyzing Retail Companies
IT-6 Analyzing the Energy Industry
IT-7 How to Analyze the Software Industry
IT-8 Analyzing the Restaurant Industry
IT-9 How To Analyze An Insurance Stock
IT-10 Analyzing Utility Sector Stocks

Sunday Industry & Other Ideas Workshops: These workshops follow up specific classes. Each workshop will analyze a company using BetterInvesting's Stock Selection Guide (SSG). Most of these sessions will be led by a representative from a company in the industry and a BetterInvesting instructor. The sessions follow up ten sessions in the Industry Track and two other special situations which are covered in the Other Ideas Track.

The sessions in these tracks are:

IW-1 Case Study: Analyzing A Drug Distribution Company
IW-2 Case Study: Analyzing Banks
IW-3 Case Study: Analyzing Pharmaceuticals
IW-4 Case Study: Analyzing REITs
IW-5 Case Study: Analyzing a Retail Company
IW-6 Case Study: Analyzing an Energy Company
IW-7 Case Study: Analyzing a Software Company
IW-8 Case Study: Analyzing a Restaurant
IW-10 Case Study: Analyzing A Utility

OW-1 Case Study: Analyzing a Slower Growing Company
OW-2 Case Study: Analyzing an ADR

For a full list of the classes offered visit: http://www.betterinvesting.org/articles/web/6084

If you want more information, or to register online, please visit: http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?5S,M3,7c633539-4c49-46b0-8425-ee2ff6749727

If you want to expand your investing knowledge, or are struggling to really understand BetterInvesting methodology, BINC 2006 is the place to be.

The last few blog entries talked about BetterInvesting National Convention. We looked at some tracks specifically targeted to helping newer investors become comfortable with BetterInvesting methodology, and then looked at two tracks that delved in depth to specific topics, Financial Statements and Financial Planning. The convention is coming up in Columbus, OH from September 7, through September 10, 2006.

In this entry we want to focus on two of the twelve tracks being offered on Thursday and Friday. This time we are going to focus on the General Topics track which consists of a potpourri of interesting sessions and some exceptional computer oriented sessions in our Computer track.

General Topics - This track consolidates a variety of sessions covering areas of interest to many investors and includes many of the best received classes from previous years. The track includes sessions on working with financial planners and disaster planning, as well as a presentation by a speaker from the Securities and Exchange Commission on topics related to investor protection. Don’t miss sessions called Point Counterpoint and Every Picture Tells A Story, and much, much more. Join NIA Board members Mike Berman, Chris Curtis, Avi Horwitz and Cy Lynch and guests Henry Curtis, Doug Gerlach, Anne Uno, Don Spindel, Ellis Traub and Lori Schock from the SEC as they cover assorted topics related to investing. We are especially honored to have Ken Janke and special guests join us to tell the story of the Mutual Investment Club of Detroit.

The sessions in this track are:

GT-1 Finding & Working With a Financial Planner
GT-2 Point Counterpoint
GT-3 Every Picture Tells A Story
GT-4 Disaster Planning
GT-5 Secrets Of Wall Street Analysts
GT-6 Why Investing Our Way Works
GT-7 Different Types of Investment Scams
GT-8 Stock Analyst: Friend or Foe?
GT-9 66 Years In The Life Of An Investment Club
GT-10 Youth Investing: Is it Ever too Early to Start?

Computers - Join software developers, Doug Gerlach and Irving Roth, NIA Board member Mary Enright and special guest instructor, computer guru Jim Thomas as this track helps you get acquainted with and learn to use BetterInvesting software and provides tips and tricks to make better use of the computer in studying stocks. This track kicks off with a session on how to determine which software is right for you, and has sessions on power tips for users of Investors Toolkit, using spreadsheets, looking at Take Stock! to help understand investing the BetterInvesting way and a session looking at finding an online broker. This track is on Friday, September 8, 2006 and consists of five sessions.

The sessions in this track are:

CP-6 Which Software Is Right For You?
CP-7 Toolkit 5: Power User Tips
CP-8 Finding and Using an On-Line Broker
CP-9 Take $tock Of Investing The BetterInvesting Way
CP-10 Using Spreadsheets to Supplement Your Stock Studies

And for those of us who are really computer geeks, we have something very special in our Sunday morning sessions, a brand new class, SS-4 Geeky Tools For Stock Study, taught by Cy Lynch. I-Pods, podcasts, HDTVs, laptop computers, wireless networks, digital cameras, Skype...sound greek to you? Like expensive toys? Would you believe stock study tools? Join Cy for a hands-on demonstration and exploration of how you can use these and more to add interest and efficiency to your club meetings and individual stock studies. Don’t miss this brand new class. It will be interesting to say the least.

For a full list of the classes offered visit: http://www.betterinvesting.org/articles/web/6084

If you want more information, or to regsiter online, please visit: http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?5S,M3,7c633539-4c49-46b0-8425-ee2ff6749727

If you want to expand your investing knowledge, or are struggling to really understand BetterInvesting methodology, BINC 2006 is the place to be.

The last blog entry talked about BetterInvesting National Convention and looked at some tracks specifically targeted to helping newer investors become comfortable with BetterInvesting methodology. The convention is coming up in Columbus, OH from September 7, through September 10, 2006.

In this entry we want to focus on two of the twelve tracks being offered on Thursday and Friday. Last time we focused on tracks for specific levels of investors, this time we will focus on tracks focusing on a specific topic.

Financial Planning - If you want to begin to understand what the process of financial planning is all about, this is the place to start. This ten-session track takes a look at Financial Planning from A-Z. Join NIA Board members Gary Ball and Allen Holdsworth, guests Jennifer Evans, Phil Keating and Anne Uno and guest instructors from the local financial community in Columbus, Ohio, Janine Aquino, John Bownas, Marlo Lebedda and Kelly Montgomery, as they look at various aspects of successful financial planning. Topics covered include portfolio allocation, retirement plans, trusts, elder care, estate planning and investing in retirement and more.

The sessions in this track are:
FP-1 Becoming Financially Fit
FP-2 Portfolio Allocation
FP-3 Money for the Future
FP-4 Trusts: A Basic Primer
FP-5 Estate Planning
FP-6 Evaluating Risk: Eldercare
FP-7 Will My Funds Last A Lifetime?
FP-8 Distribution and Taxation of Retirement Plans
FP-9 Investing in Retirement
FP-10 Assessment Of Life's Investments

Financial Statements - So you want to know what the numbers mean. There is definitely help available at BetterInvesting National Convention. Introduced at BetterInvesting National Convention 2004, this track, consisting of ten sessions dissecting financial statements, remains one of the most popular and highly rated series. Join NIA Board members Avi Horwitz and Arlene Skaggs and guest instructors Ron Bruyn and Bonnie Reyes as they take you on a journey deciphering financial statements. The major financial statements will be covered, as well as footnotes. The series also includes case studies, tools to make your study easier, using financial statements to select winning stocks, a look at core earnings, and one of the most popular sessions in 2005 will be repeated, Hidden In Plain Sight: Potential Company Problems. Many attendees stayed straight through all the sessions in this series, but feel free to attend any individual session.

The sessions in this track are:
FS-1 The Annual Report: Getting A Beat on the Company
FS-2 The Income Statement: Is This a Money Maker?
FS-3 Core Earnings
FS-4 The Balance Sheet: Are We Solvent?
FS-5 Hidden In Plain Sight: Potential Company Problems
FS-6 Cash Flows: What Is The Company Doing With My Money?
FS-7 Footnotes: Finding The Hidden Message
FS-8 Using Financial Statements to Select Winning Stocks
FS-9 Case Studies in Financial Statements
FS-10 Putting It All Together: Tools to Simplify Your Analysis

For a full list of the classes offered visit: http://www.betterinvesting.org/articles/web/6084

If you want more information, or to regsiter online, please visit: http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?5S,M3,7c633539-4c49-46b0-8425-ee2ff6749727

If you want to expand your investing knowledge, or are struggling to really understand BetterInvesting methodology, BINC 2006 is the place to be.