Old-School $$ Newsletters
What's your take on (traditional) financial newsletters / services?
Timothy L. (longtime paid-up subscriber) asks:
"First off, I want to say thank you for the information provided in M4 [now Rogue Money Research].
I'm interested in your take on other financial newsletters or services if you are aware of them. Services such as Agora Financial, Bonner and Partners, etc. Are these usually scams and should I stay way?"
Barry responds:
First, you are very welcome. We do indeed strive to provide information that isn't so 'traditional' in approach.
But, then again, the traditional approach — i.e., a niche-specific, editor-driven buy-hold-sell advisory — does still have its value in the marketplace.
Certainly, the products that the big boy financial publishers sell are by no means "scams." They produce a lot of great 'on Wall-Street' (not alternative) research.
And, yes, I am very familiar with the name of the publishers you asked about.
And I admire their business model, quite frankly. However, we have just chosen not to dive into the 'gloom 'n doom' and/or nefarious political aspects of their marketing around those products / services.
Brad and I talk about that in detail here...
And, in regard to a "secret tool" I have been using since 2010 to keep track of their research through a man who has dedicated his life to keeping tabs on the myriad of public picks that are published via these (often high-priced) newsletters…
...you can see/hear my show 'n tell perspective of that tool via a 7-min video that will soon be housed under the ETC section of Rogue Money.
This may help too. This is a modified version of a notice I sent to our paid-up subscriber a few years ago:
The other day, a member asked us why he hasn't seen any solo email endorsements from Brad or I, helping drum up business for another newsletter.
First, we had to explain that we're NOT a typical financial “newsletter” — one where in-house buy-hold-sell picks are churned out, even when the editor doesn't or can't have their own funds in those very picks.
⚠️ If you've yet to see our spiel for what we do, please read this…
Second, we know there is no one-size-fits-all, must-have-this advisory or newsletter, and this sector of the investing / trading world is nothing more than idea fuel; insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
In other words, if there wasn't any such avenue, any reality, to somebody showing you their model portfolio, or their ideal way to do X, Y, or Z with your money, ideas for you would still flow freely.
And, ideas in this day and age of online databases, smart-money reporting sites, and social investing media aren't hard to come by.
Yes, you can use a newsletter advisory to filter them down. Yet, if you're going to spend your research dollars on an editor, spend them on multiple editors who provide buy-hold-sell recommendations in areas of investing that are congruent with your goals.
For instance, if you understand the value in higher-reward / growth stocks; or if you desire breathing room for 'speculation;' you wouldn't just go buy a newsletter that is superconservative, focusing only on low-yielding, cash-rich companies, and just rely on that newsletter's ideas and advice.
Yet, we've seen countless times when a publishing outfit's marketing machine has sucked people into the fantasy for "it" (their mental decision-making) being done for them.
There's a world of possibilities, when it comes to GROWING and PROTECTING your investment dollars.
Just keep in mind a few points:
#1) You can't, and shouldn't, attempt to protect what you first don't have available to protect. You first have to master GROWING your digital fiat money BEFORE thinking you should learn about protecting what still isn't worth putting into a long-term 'saver' bucket.
We've spent countless hours talking about points related to the above, over the past decade, so I won't say any more other than tell you to read some of our Archives.
#2) Trading, investing, and saving are three different animals, requiring three different sets of understanding, nurturing, and strategy to feed. Speculating is close to trading for me, as it is a very viable and valuable way to speed up what you CAN have available for more conservative investing or saving.
#3) If your portfolio isn't big, and you've got years left on your lifespan chart, learn how to overvalue return and undervalue risk for a larger percentage of that portfolio.
#4) Most index funds, and now even actively-managed ETFs, have been shown to beat the returns of 90% of financial newsletters. However, there are a few editors, publishing their research and picks through a "newsletter," that do have sustainable, superior track records.
When (and if) we find those editors, we'll continue to list them under the ETC section and/or in other appropriate sections of Rogue Money Research.