The Live Return of Our Annual Stansberry Conference

The live return of our annual Stansberry Conference... A chat about America's broken education system... Three companies trying to shake things up... The power and payoff of 'non-consensus investing'... A former Super Bowl champion, a world-famous economic thinker, and more... Claim your online 'All Access Pass' today...

For the first time in two years, we're back in Las Vegas...

Regular Digest readers know that the 2020 Stansberry Conference was our first fully virtual event. We can thank travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic for forcing us to move away from our usual home – at least temporarily.

But this year, we're back... That's right, we've returned to an in-person gathering for our 19th annual Stansberry Conference and Alliance Meeting. This week's festivities are taking place at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas resort... We'll be here through Wednesday evening.

And yes, we're still being mindful of COVID-19... It hasn't gone away, after all. So we're taking the necessary steps to ensure that everyone remains safe and healthy at the event.

Following breakfast, where attendees mingled with our editors and others for about an hour, Stansberry Research founder Porter Stansberry opened the festivities in the main Encore Ballroom at just after 8 a.m. local time. He talked about some of his favorite "capital efficient" ideas before handing things over to our exciting list of presenters.

Over the next few days in the Digest, we'll share a bunch of event highlights with you...

Whitney Tilson got things off to a fast start in the first morning session with a sector that's close to his heart...

We're talking about education... and how we can make it better.

For those of you who don't know, Whitney is the founder of our corporate affiliate Empire Financial Research. And to the point of this discussion, both of his parents are teachers who met and married in the Peace Corps.

Whitney followed in their education footsteps... Before going to graduate school, he helped start the Teach for America nonprofit educational program with his friend Wendy Kopp. He co-founded a political advocacy group that pushes for education reform, and he has been on the board of KIPP charter schools in New York City for the past two decades.

In short, Whitney knows what he's talking about when he says that American education is broken. While we all can probably name a long list of things wrong with the current system, Whitney focused on a specific part of the overall puzzle during his presentation – the $1.7 trillion in outstanding student loans held by around 45 million Americans are Exhibit A... The average outstanding loan is a remarkable $38,000.

What's more, student debt will likely surpass $2 trillion in the next year as tuition hikes continue to outpace inflation... Today, tuition is at stratospheric average levels of $27,000 per year at public institutions and $55,000 per year at private institutions.

During his presentation, Whitney argued that the future of education is digital...

And more specifically, he recommended three stocks that he believes are best positioned to benefit from this long-term shift.

Textbooks only make up a small portion of the massive overall cost of higher education... But this niche market is showing the way to digitization.

And according to Whitney, one college textbook company is at the forefront of digital distribution... This approach is a lot cheaper – for everyone – than buying thick, expensive textbooks at the college bookstore.

In fairness to conference attendees, we can't give you the exact name and ticker symbol of the company that Whitney discussed. But just know that the company now generates margins in its digital distribution business that are twice that of its old-school way of selling textbooks.

Best of all, as Whitney explained, the company is only in the early stages of rolling out its model...

Last year, the company's digital distribution was available at just 12 schools, covering 43,000 students... It's in twice as many schools this year, serving 7 times as many students. But even after growth like that, it still has only gained access to just 5% of the more than 6 million college students who represent the company's total potential customer base. In other words, there's plenty of room to grow.

Whitney describes the stock as "incredibly cheap" from a valuation perspective... And he believes that it "definitely has multibagger potential."

Whitney also discussed a company that's one of the leaders in online learning...

Its platform is used by more than 150 colleges and universities that offer video lectures, course certificates, and, increasingly, degrees.

But according to Whitney, the biggest growth area is the company's enterprise segment... This is made up of businesses using this platform to train employees. The revenue from this segment jumped 69% last quarter.

Online learning is now enabling anyone ‒ anywhere in the world ‒ to earn an education that can lead to a wide range of jobs. And as a result of this growth potential, Whitney believes revenue at the company he pinpointed could more than double in the next two years.

Lastly, as his third recommendation, Whitney talked about a textbook-rental company...

It has developed a "Netflix-like subscription model," he says.

In short, it's making a massive shift toward providing textbook services for folks.

Just like Netflix, it charges a monthly subscription. And just like Netflix, it has seen astonishing growth... Since 2016, the revenue from the "services" segment of this business has grown at an incredible 40% rate.

Over the past five years, the company has beaten Wall Street analysts' revenue expectations every single quarter... And Whitney expects it to continue doing so, which should lead to a nearly 75% share price gain in the next two years.

In addition to editors from Stansberry Research and our affiliates, folks are hearing from other great speakers...

For example, just before lunch today, Ariel Investments Chief Investment Officer Rupal Bhansali discussed the power and payoff of "non-consensus investing." (She also wrote a book in 2019 on the topic.)

In short, as Bhansali explained during her presentation, success is created from "and," not "or." If you're correct and prove the consensus wrong, you'll thrive – just like Apple co-founder Steve Jobs or former Oakland Athletics General Manager (and Moneyball inspiration) Billy Beane.

And when it comes to investing, it's about higher returns and lower risk. As Bhansali noted, this approach can help investors get big payoffs for "upset victories" in the markets. But you must be careful... While you could get big payoffs if you are correct with non-consensus thinking, you could face big penalties for wrong answers. In the end, Bhansali shared a critical takeaway that should sound familiar to regular Digest readers...

In order to be successful, avoiding losers is more important than picking winners.

That's the key to this approach.

Earlier in the morning, RethinkX co-founder Tony Seba spoke about technology disruption... And the crowd listened to a presentation just after the first break from Marko Papic, a partner and chief strategist for alternative asset-management firm Clocktower, on why you don't want to finish last in the "race to zero."

Things didn't slow down after lunch, either...

To kick off the afternoon session, conference attendees heard from Stansberry Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Austin Root. Former Super Bowl champion Marques Colston and CrowdStreet Chief Investment Officer Ian Formigle presented after that.

Now, as we get this Digest off to you, we're preparing for the final session of the day... Extreme Value editor and frequent Digest contributor Dan Ferris will get that session started soon.

We'll be sure to share some of the highlights from the afternoon session in tomorrow's Digest.

And of course, the action promises to be just as exciting on the second day of this year's conference...

We're planning to kick things off tomorrow morning with valuable market insights from Mohamed El-Erian. He'll join Grant Williams – who regular Digest readers will recognize as a frequent guest at our annual Stansberry Conference – for a wide-ranging conversation on everything important that's happening in the markets today.

El-Erian previously worked as the CEO and co-chief investment officer at investment-management firm PIMCO. These days, the Egyptian-American businessman is the chief economic adviser at global financial-services provider Allianz, the corporate parent of PIMCO. He's also the president of Queens' College, Cambridge.

In short, El-Erian is considered one of the world's most influential economic thinkers. So we can guarantee that you won't want to miss what he shares during his presentation.

After El-Erian, conference attendees will hear from our own Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, editor of the True Wealth franchise. Then, WallStreetBets founder Jaime Rogozinski will take the stage... And that's just the first morning session on tomorrow's jam-packed schedule.

Other scheduled speakers for tomorrow include...

• Paul DePodesta, the chief strategy officer for the NFL's Cleveland Browns
• Joel Litman, founder of our corporate affiliate Altimetry
• Marc Chaikin, founder of our corporate affiliate Chaikin Analytics
• Alex Tapscott, capital-markets professional focused on emerging technologies

Of course, folks will hear from all of their favorite Stansberry Research editors as well... Gold Stock Analyst editor John Doody, Cannabis Capitalist editor Thomas Carroll, Crypto Capital editor Eric Wade, and Stansberry Venture Technology editor Dave Lashmet are all scheduled to present before Day Two of our annual conference wraps up tomorrow evening.

If you are in Vegas with us this week, we'd love to hear from you...

Share your thoughts about Day One by e-mailing us at feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

However, we understand that it's not always possible to attend conferences like this – especially in our new COVID-19-filled world. You might think it's too much hassle... or perhaps you just don't want to miss your kid's soccer game or you can't get time off at work.

For folks like you, we've come up with another option – our online "All Access Pass."

In short, it's a way for you to be "in the room" with all of us without ever actually leaving the comfort of your own home or office... It's a "ticket" to the livestream. You can just walk downstairs to your kitchen... make yourself a cup of coffee... and start learning from all the fantastic speeches and presentations that we've put together.

For a limited time, you can still claim instant access to the livestream of the two-day event with the online All Access Pass. And don't worry about missing all the action on Day One... Thanks to our conference video archive, you'll be able to go back and watch all the expert speakers as many times as you want for the next 60 days.

In exchange, we only ask you to pay a small fraction of what folks paid to join us in person. Plus, just for signing up, we're throwing in a special bonus gift valued at $500. Get started right here before it's too late.

New 52-week highs (as of 10/22/2021): Automatic Data Processing (ADP), American Express (AXP), AutoZone (AZO), Bath & Body Works (BBWI), Brown & Brown (BRO), CBRE Group (CBRE), Costco Wholesale (COST), CoStar (CSGP), Cintas (CTAS), Freehold Royalties (FRU.TO), Formula One Group (FWONA), Home Depot (HD), Intuit (INTU), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), SPDR S&P Regional Banking Fund (KRE), Motorola Solutions (MSI), Northrop Grumman (NOC), New Residential Investment (NRZ), Nestlé (NSRGY), Ryder System (R), TFI International (TFII), Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLK), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), United Rentals (URI), ProShares Ultra Financials Fund (UYG), Verisk Analytics (VRSK), Waste Management (WM), and W.R. Berkley (WRB).

Our mailbag was overflowing after Friday's Digest from our colleague Dan Ferris about former President Donald Trump's latest social media endeavor (and other topics). As you'll see, a lot of folks loved what Dan said... but not everyone. Plus, we received a nice note from a paid-up subscriber about Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig's life-boosting insights. As always, we love to hear from our subscribers at feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

"I've been a subscriber for 15 years. Yes, a decade and a half which has seen some crazy ups and downs in the markets.

"Dan's most recent Friday Digest had me laughing out loud multiple times. I can't think of an article by any of your writers that had satire, irony, and sarcasm all wrapped up within market commentary.

"This article was, in this reader's humble opinion, the best I've read from the entire Stansberry team. Maybe Dan even transubstantiated some of [Nassim] Taleb's work into this piece.

"Bravo Dan!" – Paid-up subscriber Stephen B.

"Thanks Dan! I really needed a good laugh. I wished you were my next-door neighbor and I had somebody to talk to that did not believe that the Wizard of Oz was really 'great and powerful'!" – Paid-up subscriber S.A.

"Laughed all the way to the end! The voice of sanity in another insane period of time." – Paid-up subscriber Mark Y.

"Dear Mr. Ferris – your article had me reduced to helpless laughter at 4:30 a.m. sitting in the kitchen reading your missive. Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. Thank you." – Paid-up subscriber G.R.

"Thanks for this award-winning article! Not only did I learn a couple of things, but it started my day with a laugh out loud, which I don't normally do. Really, really loved it!" – Paid-up subscriber Clare S.

"A message to Dan... I think you've missed a very important point in your article. You're looking at Trump's new social media venture purely as an investment with traditional return or trading criteria.

"But I think it's possible that many of the investors are treating it more like a donation to Heritage or Judicial Watch in that they want to help fund and create an alternative to [Facebook] and [Twitter].

"Given that Parler lost its access to the market with the loss of the app stores and servers, it's no doubt the case that the Trump team will have to put a huge amount of capital into creating the server network if this is going to work, and I think people understand that.

"That would explain the huge valuation and investment in 'a business that doesn't exist.' Something to consider." – Paid-up subscriber Scott B.

"The October 22 Digest was a perfect example of disingenuous hypocrisy (a feat in itself)... Mr. Ferris, you start the piece by stating 'I am not trying to be political here,' but then you go on a total political tirade.

"I became an Alliance member to read investment advisories, not biased political comments. You need to apologize to Stansberry subscribers and Porter needs to slap you on the wrist." – Stansberry Alliance member Andy E.

"Apart from making billions for nothing but his name recognition, owning a company in the stock market requires filing financial reports with the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]. These reports being public record, Trump can have an unfiltered venue for his 'truth.'" – Paid-up subscriber Darin A.

"Bravo! To Dan Ferris for his analysis in the Friday Digest on the 'World of Nothing.' Considering it was a discussion of 'nothing' – it had so much 'something' in it... I had to read it twice.

"I came away thinking that at least Pets.com must have had a cute puppy somewhere... which is more than Trump World will ever have over at TRUTH Social. And as a bonus, I think I learned more about Catholicism in that Digest than I did my entire year in third grade at Catholic School!" – Stansberry Alliance member Daniel Z.

"Great stuff, as usual Dan. You're on top form at the moment. Best regards." – Paid-up subscriber Martin P.

"Come on Dan, your 'Never Trump' is showing. The Guy spent years developing a product. The route to market for his product was destroyed. Why shouldn't an effort be made to reach the market with his product (himself and his opinions) be made with money legitimately raised. Do you really believe he can't build a website with $3.4 [billion]?

"Your weak argument that this is something for nothing is a pretty darn thin veil to cover what appear to be different motives." – Stansberry Alliance member John P.

Dan Ferris comment: I hate to even acknowledge the folks who accused me of "getting political" in Friday's Digest, because I have no reason to believe they'll be able to read my answer any better than they read what they were commenting on.

In brief, anybody who thinks one president is so terribly better or worse than another isn't paying attention. Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc... They're all the same. Decent people can't get elected. People who can get elected should be kept on the shortest possible leash, not given a bottle of whiskey and the keys to a Ferrari and told to have a good time.

Too many people are too supportive of the political establishment in this country, which is way too large and has gained way too much power. Too many people believe in political leaders, and in some mythical magic ability of government to work miracles with stolen money. Too few people are willing to tell the government to go to hell. It's almost like they don't understand that you can't be loyal to truth, decency, and liberty except by being unfaithful to every so-called political leader on the planet.

Getting your little feelings hurt when someone criticizes you for licking the heels of your shepherds is a bad way to convince the world you're not a sheep.

"Doc... I really enjoy your discussions, and share them with family, especially [on] Health and Wellness. It occurs to me that one of the things that 'accidentally' boosts life style and reduces stress applies to both stocks and life in general...

"Buy Quality.

"I don't buy cars, appliances, furnishings, or tools quite as often as those around me. Never have. I tend to spend less but go on higher quality vacations and trips than many. Always have.

"The trick? Really rather simple. I buy higher quality goods and services, not necessarily highest price. They tend to last me longer and not surprise me with the unexpected. Over time, buying Quality, both in Investments and living, makes it easier to live the basic premise of Wealth accumulation... 'Save more than you spend.'

"The bonus? It reduces the stress by not moving from crisis to crises." – Stansberry Alliance member Bill B.

Good investing,

Kim Iskyan and Dean Jones Jr.
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 25, 2021