Premier Exhibition Joins the Big Leagues

Premier Exhibitions To Join Russell 3000 Index & Russell Microcap Index

The information has been available since June 15, but the news release was today. PRXI has steadily marched upward since the end of May, which coincides with the Russell evaluation period. Russell prides itself on the objective measures for index membership. Also, membership is evaluated annually so stocks get to hang around for a while. To view other changes go here: Russell Reconstitution Central

In some ways this is positive reinforcement and validation of PRXI's prospects as a company. But more importantly, I look forward to all those index funds forced to buyin. The buying should be pretty violent too (if it hasn't been already), as most of them want to reduce tracking error. Makes me curious if any hedgies or traders would make plays around index changes as this creates a forced structural change in valuation, as opposed to a fundamental change.

CNBC "Fast Money"

Hey gang

In case you are interested, I will be on CNBC this Friday at 8 PM during the show "Fast Money". I will be part of a segment called "Grade the Trade" where students from various b-schools explain how they would respond to hypothetical situations. Check out the link for a clip of a previous episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D2xK694MN8

A Moment of Calm

I just finished taking the Level 1 CFA exam this weekend. I wasn't as prepared as I would like, but we'll see what 3 weeks of study can accomplish. I'm hoping to take the next week off and slowly decompress a bit from the continual run of activity from GMO in January, throughout this entire semester, and concluding with CFA prep. There are a lot of things on my to-do list, but mostly I want to just absorb new information, digest and do some independant thinking. I was restless the other night, thinking about some possible tweaks to financial theory dealing with asset leverage versus personal leverage. I hadn't done much synthesis or creation in a while, and the past year has been heavy on memorization and recall. Things I want to explore:

1. Finish "The Focus Investor"
2. "More Than You Know" as well as other writings by Mauboussin. I absolutely love his mind.
   
3. Finish "Of Permanent Value" as well as all of the original source Berkshire annual letters. I need to dissect and completely understand Buffett's thinking and motivations behind past acquisitions for the upcoming trip.
   
4. Catchup on Value Investor Insight reading. I think I'm behind on 4-5 issues already.
5. Finish Damodoran's valuation webcasts.

Sometime, it might also be helpful to figure out what I want to do after graduation in a year. I could try to aim for some large corporation, mentor for a smaller shop, or even go a more entrepreneurial route. I was talking to someone from my school's Career Management Center, and she told me I was one of the most promising people she had ever met. It was encouraging, but I need to remain vigilant that I live up to those expectations, as well as avoid any self-destructive hubris.

Another thing you have to do, of course, is to have a lot of assiduity.
I like that word because it means: sit down on your ass until you do it.
-- Charlie Munger