Recession, Or Not? Tuesday, October 14 • 9:15 am – 10:15 am Stalwart financial firms have failed or written down billions of dollars in losses as leverage continues to unwind. Home prices are falling as residential construction has collapsed. Dire warnings of recession fill the headlines of business news, and pessimism is rampant. Yet, the US economy continues to grow. Gross domestic product has not turned negative, the unemployment rate remains low, wages are rising, consumer spending is still expanding, and exports are booming. What should we believe—the fearful forecasts or the optimism of one of the nation’s best forecasters—Brian Wesbury, chief economist, First Trust Advisors, LP? Hear why he still thinks the economy is resilient and investors who remain steadfastly optimistic will reap large rewards. Behavioral Investment Counseling© Wednesday, October 15 • 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Advisors in general—and advisors coming to investments from left-brain technical disciplines such as insurance and accounting, in particular—wildly overestimate the analytical grounding in economics and the capital markets they need in order to serve their clients well. By the same token, they underestimate the decisive roles of (1) financial planning as the basis of all good investing and (2) behavioral counseling as a means to the enhancement of real-life client outcomes. A goal-focused, planning-driven, and essentially behavioral approach to investing always yields the best results, in a way that selection and timing do not, because they cannot. This talk, drawn from Nick Murray‘s forthcoming book of the same name, focuses on goals, plans, and behavior modification as elements of the effective advisor’s value proposition. How We Lost Our Way in Energy…How We Are Going to Get Back on Track Thursday, October 16 • 11:45 am – 12:45 pm Today’s energy crisis is different than the ones we experienced in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, when political issues were the underlying causes. The OPEC oil embargo in 1973, the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 all resulted in energy shortages. This time, we are faced with limits on cheap, easy-to-access oil supplies, coupled with higher demands from the US as well as the rapidly growing economies of China, India, and others. Renowned oil analyst Charles Maxwell, senior energy analyst, Weeden & Co. LP, will explain how we got into this energy straight jacket, paint a realistic picture of a future in which oil is a scarce and precious commodity, and outline how we can dig ourselves out of this mess.