Grant's Fall 2008 Conference

The market continues to grind lower, and the Fund and my family accounts continue to be heavily weighted in cash-- in excess of 50%.

Last week, I had the pleasure of traveling to New York to attend the Fall 2008 Grant's Conference. Alex and I flew up together, and we got rooms at the Hudson Hotel. Since we didn't book any meetings other than the conference, we had Monday evening to goof off in Greenwich Village.

We took the subway to the Village and had beers at The Slaughtered Lamb and Jeckyl & Hyde pubs. Per Alex's suggestion, we took a cab to Keen's Steakhouse on 36th Street. Keen's was awesome. Established in 1885, it was adorned with 19th Century prints and political cartoons on the walls, and hundreds of clay pipes on the ceiling, which used to belong to the members of the private club back in the day. FYI, I had Mutton Chop, the house specialty, with a Brooklyn lager.

The conference was an all-day event at The Plaza Hotel on Tuesday, October 21. The highlight of the day was the first presentation by Jim Chanos. I also enjoyed Leon Cooperman's Kind Word for Equities.

Jim Grant has been busy in the media. He has appeared in two recent reports on 60 Minutes, talking about the credit default swap swindles.

As always, Grant was very generous with his conference attendees, giving away free copies of the new, 6th Edition of Graham and Dodd's Security Analysis, as well as his latest book of market commentary, Mr. Market Miscalculates.

Grant's a first-rate publication, and I'm a happy subscriber. I don't intend to miss any of his future conferences.