Howard Weil

So I’m heading down to the Howard Weil conference in New Orleans. I’m passing Laurel, MS right now. This will be the first time I am attending as a hedge fund manager rather than a stodgy old long only investor. Do I think there are any bargains in energy? Not really. The OSX just broke through 200 recently, still below its high of 240 but no bargain either, especially after one company after another misses guidance – with HAL and NBR being the latest. They certainly aren’t value stocks.

So why am I going then? Well aside from the sumptuous food and drink, I feel like I am getting a little out of touch with the market and what is going on. Now this might come as a shock since I do despise the sell side but they are good at providing information and getting clues as to professional investor psychology. This may be of limited use as most of the positions in my hedge fund are too small or esoteric to be covered by Wall Street.

Another first for me is that I don’t have any one on ones set up at the conference. These are meetings with management that are the true purpose of the conference, as the presentations are just holding pens for institutional investors in between meetings.

I also tried to no avail to set up a meeting with the Biloxi Marsh Land Company (BLMC). I emailed them several times and called once but was ignored. It’s too bad because the company continues to fascinate me. Aside from its acreage position in Louisiana, the company has several cryptic entries on its balance sheet, i.e. short term and long term investments that may be carried at historical cost.

They also have some relationship with the Lake Eugenie Land Company (LKEU), another pink sheet company that is even more obscure than BLMC if such a thing is possible. I can find nothing on the Lake Eugenie Land Company, not even a market cap.