Try Zagging This Time

#investors

Who can say no to loading up on conferences after earnings? You can. Try zagging to hang back and work on idea generation and process improvement.

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Twinkies are delicious, and also not that good for you.

But as a simple, guilty pleasure – a Twinkie actually works. Think about eating it as the default snack next time you stop for gas on vacation. On a risk-adjusted basis, it is a superior investment choice at 2:30pm vs. the breakfast sandwich that’s been wrapped in foil in the warmer all day. Limit your downsides. A Twinkie literally never goes out of date. We zig right for them for a reason.

So yeah, Twinkies are okay. And yeah, conferences are okay too. And food-wise, if the spread you were expecting to have is a 4-course meal, with wine pairings and delicious desert options, then going to a conference and eating like Louis 14th is a likely outcome. Just don’t expect the conference content to be as filling as the dinner was.

Wall Street conferences bring down-time, network building, and maybe a chance for a solid nugget or two. You’ll also generate many boring maintenance CapEx notes that you could have generated from the office. The reality is that from a return on time standpoint, conferences are often a Twinkie. Unless you think of the time away as mental health. Almost like vacation days. Today’s zag is a recommendation that you take those vacation days with family or other interesting people in your life and bag the upcoming February/March conference-o-rama surrounded by investment nerds. There are better ways to spend your time. Because while a Twinkie here or there is relatively harmless....

Conference season might be diluting your returns.