Jason Boudrias's List: Investing-Stock Pickers & Newsletters-Reviews & Comparisons

• The six newsletters were evaluated by monitoring the performance of the "buy" recommendations they offered either in January, 2006, or in their annual forecast edition. An imaginary $100 was invested in each recommended stock at the start of the year, or on the specific dates the newsletter issued its picks. Stocks were held for the entire year, unless a specific "sell" recommendation was issued.

• First place: Stock Pickers Digest

   

  Number of picks: 14

   

  Return: 26.1%
• Sixth place: Internet Wealth Builder

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• Rating the newsletters
  
  For the past three years, the Portfolio Strategy column has tracked the stock picks made each January by several major investing newsletters. Here's a review of the results:
  
  Average 12-month return for Jan. '07 picks* Average 12-month return for Jan. '06 picks* Average 12-month return for Jan. '05 picks*
  Internet Wealth Builder 17.90% 2.10% 25.20%
  The Investment Reporter 6.40% 15.80% 17.50%
  NA MarketLetter 8.60% 10.80% 12.90%
  Stock Pickers Digest - 9.2% 26.10% 40.90%
  The Successful Investor 14.80% 11.40% 26.30%

• Here are 4 principles we use to select stocks to recommend in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for aggressive investing:
• 1.    Limit aggressive holdings to 30% of your overall portfolio.
• An investor with a longer time horizon or without the need for current income from a portfolio can invest more money in aggressive stocks. But we think 30% is a good rule of thumb.
• 2.    Focus on investment quality when looking for aggressive stocks with the potential for large returns. When we look for aggressive investments, we zero in on companies that have established a business and have at least some history of building revenue and cash flow. We also look for companies that stand to benefit as the economy continues to improve, and have proven management and long-term growth plans.
• 3.    Hold a diverse aggressive portfolio. As with your more conservative holdings, we recommend that you cut your risk by spreading your aggressive holdings across the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities). Compared to a conservative investor, you may choose to invest more heavily in Manufacturing and Resources, the two riskiest sectors. If so, take care to spread your money out across the many industries within each of these sectors. That way, you protect yourself from an unforeseeable industry downturn.

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• Baffinland exploded and served up 54.4% gains in just 3 weeks!
• • DundeeWealth—Shot up 39.0!% in just six weeks.
   
  • Wyndham Worldwide—Exploded a whopping 445% in just over 5 months!
   
  • European Goldfields—Exploded 194.3% in just 4 months!
• What makes these winners great is “buying before breakout.” It’s the single most effective profit strategy for any investor willing to take on a little more risk.

• n June 2001, I issued an urgent “Buy” alert on NovAtel. My signals screamed of opportunity that simply hadn’t caught public attention yet. Look what happened after I gave the news to my readers…

   

  NovAtel skyrocketed from $1.62 to $48.37—a 2,986.4% winner!

• Here are some more example of the eye-popping gains my readers have seen.

   
   
  • Symantec shot up 558.3% A $10,000 investment would have grown to $65,830!
   
  • Home Capital Group mushroomed 2,015.5% A $10,000 investment would have grown to $211,500
   
  • Janna Systems grew 4,111% A $10,000 investment would have grown to $421,100!
• In my advisory, I limit my “buy” picks to only the few undervalued stocks that I believe are set for lower-risk, dramatic gains.

• Of course you would. But you also should be delighted with stocks I’ve picked posting more “modest” gains like these…

   
   
  • Zhongpin Inc.—Shot up 103.7% in just over 6 months.
   
  • Breakwater Resources—Skyrocketed 138.1% in 6 months.
   
  • Fortress Paper—Jumped 106.8% in less than 7 months.

• ow I quickly zero in on stocks that could deliver on my 50% profit objective.

   

  The answer lies in finding stocks with hidden value—value that’s missed by other advisors and makes stocks appear far riskier than they actually are. 

   

  This kind of value (and here is the important part) has not yet appeared on the big market’s radar screen.

   

  Someone has to find these stocks first, and that’s what I do so successfully for my readers.

    

  It takes some sleuthing and digging to find these gems…but when I find them, I keep a tight lip, validate my results and then pass them on to you first.

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• Benjamin Graham Value Report

  Warren Buffet and other successful investors have credited the Benjamin Graham methodology for much of their success. J. Royden Warden has formulated the Graham time tested guidelines in designing a computerized model to identify the market's most undervalued, quality stocks most likely to yield investor's "homerun" long term appreciation. 1 Yr, $149 (An Email address must be provided to receive this newsletter)
• • Special Investment Situations - On Hulberts Interactive (it`s ok)
    Each issue offers a specific, detailed recommendation of a promising low-priced growth stock possessing extraordinary price appreciation potential.

  • The cheap investor - No knowledge of it but sounds good
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  • • Benjamin Graham Value Report - Not covered by Hulbert
• Cheap Investor, The

  Since 1981, this outstanding newsletter recommends quality stocks under $5 with profit potential of 50-100% or more.
• Ferree Market Timer

  Invests in ETF's, following a timing model termed the Timing Formula. Timer Digest's Timer of the Year for 2004, top timer over the past five years (2004-2008).
• Morningstar StockInvestor

  Gives you strategies and screening techniques for finding undervalued stocks every month.
• No-Load Fund X

  Ranked #1 for the 15-year period ending 4-9-07 among over 150 newsletters monitored by a leading market letter performance tracking service, this highly regarded newsletter was the #1 best performer for both stock and fund picking newsletters. Remarkably, it was also among the best performers in every other time period in which newsletters were ranked! 5, 10, and 15 years.
• Pay For Profits

  Focuses on IBD quality stocks poised to breakout BEFORE they make their big move. Short-term holding period averaging less than a week with profit targets of 5-20%.
• Price Perceptions

  Bill Gary's Price Perceptions, established in 1968, is devoted to those who trade for large moves. Each issue takes you past the obvious with a rare combination of technical and fundamental analysis.
• Risk Factor Method of Investing, The

  Evaluates long, intermediate and short term risk indicators for both individual stocks and the general stock market to recommend and rate those stocks most likely to appreciate and which carry little downside risk.
• Special Investment Situations

  Each issue offers a specific, detailed recommendation of a promising low-priced growth stock possessing extraordinary price appreciation potential.
• Stock Prospector

  Uncovers under-valued companies that offer outstanding potential for quick substantial profit.

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• By Steven Goldberg, Contributing Columnist, Kiplinger.com

  February 22, 2005

• The Top Fund Newsletters

   

  Indeed, the top newsletter of the past ten years (through the end of 2004) is No-Load Mutual Fund Selections and Timing. It has returned an annualized 10.3%, compared with 11.9% for the broad-based Wilshire 5000. But it has produced those results with 54% less volatility than the index.

     

  Editor Stephen Mckee has added value both through shrewd timing moves and good fund selection, Hulbert says. His recommendations have never lost more than 7% in any 12-month period.
• Ranking second is Investment Quality Trends, which focuses on big, dividend-paying stocks. It has returned an annualized 14.2% over the past ten years with 25% less volatility than the Wilshire.
• Third is No Load Fund*X, which switches into funds with the best short-term results. It has returned an annualized 19.3% over the past ten years with just a bit more volatility than the Wilshire. I wrote about this and other fund-momentum newsletters in Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine last year (see "They Ride the Hot Funds," March 2004).
• Bob Brinker's Marketimer is in fourth place. Although Brinker's fund picks have slightly lagged the market on average, his timing moves have put him ahead of the market. Over the past ten years, he's gained an annualized 13.2%, with 19% less volatility than the market.

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• Best investment newsletter resources

   

    Posted on June 27, 2010 by Zack Miller
• Investment Newsletter Benchmarking

• Hulbert Financial Digest: Mark Hulbert has been following the performance of top newsletters for heaven-knows how many years.  He publishes a newsletter himself of his findings on which newsletters exhibit top performance — and which don’t.

   

  Investimonials: Users submit their own rankings on many of the industry’s leading investment newsletters.

• Crowdsourced Trading Strategies

   

  Zignals: Not sure why more people don’t know about this Irish firm but they allow users to publish trading strategies and investors to subscribe to them.

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• What is “Turnaround Investing”?

   

    Turnaround investing is the process of looking for investment opportunities in down-and-out companies that are poised to rebound:
• resulted in The Turnaround Letter being ranked by Hulbert Financial Digest
• as the second best performing investment newsletter over the last 20 years. 

• Isn’t Investing in Turnaround Situations Risky?

   

    On the contrary, our approach minimizes risk as we believe there is much less risk in a "troubled" stock that has already been hammered down by the market than in a "hot" stock that is trading at 30 or 40 times earnings. The hot growth stock will come crashing down if there is just a little bad news (or perhaps even good news that wasn't quite as good as Wall Street expected), but a stock that is already perceived as troubled may hardly budge on more bad news.
• A little more bad news is unlikely to affect them.

• the key to turnaround profits is separating those companies that will recover and return to favor from those that won’t.

   

    The Turnaround Letter brings you stocks of large, well-know companies. We look for a solid core business that they can rebuild around plus a good brand name or franchise, low debt, decent cash flow and good dividends. 
• Additionally, turnaround situations often can move independently of market trends, giving you opportunities for substantial profits in bull or bear markets.

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• The monthly CANADIAN EDGE serves up the latest news and analysis on income trusts, including “High-Yield Picks of the Month,” the updated Conservative and Aggressive Portfolios, and a special feature—rankings of dozens more income trusts that show promise but haven’t yet been examined in depth.

• To recap, here’s what Canadian trusts and U.S. equities give you:

       

  U.S. Stocks     Yield less than 2%, including so-called “income” stocks   Prices high and volatile   Dividends flat, even falling   Vulnerable to swings in U.S. economy   Long wait for dividend checks—3-6 months

  Canadian Income Trusts     80%-85% of earnings flow to you (sometimes more!)   Some trusts tax-exempt … forever   Prices at rock-bottom lows   Less volatile than U.S. blue chips   Well-run businesses offer double-digit yields with near-perfect safety   Soaring Canadian dollar is like getting an extra dividend   Dividends usually paid monthly

• • RioCan, Canada’s largest REIT, gained 21.1% in 7 months after I recommended it in January 2011. The S&P/TSX was down 4.6% in the same period.
   
   
   
  • In June 2011, I recommended Pembina Pipeline, a western Canadian pileline operator at $24.55. Less than 5 months later, it was up 19.4% and still rising.
   
   
   
  • Newmont Mining, one of the world’s largest gold-mining companies, rose 28.3% in just 6 months after I recommended it as a buy in May 2011.
• [1] Real estate investment trusts (REITs). REITs invest in income-producing real estate, such as office buildings and hotels. High-quality REITs can make attractive, lower-risk additions to your portfolio. Best of all, most REITs, including our recommendations, are exempt from the new 2011 tax on income trust distributions.

• REITs for income — and growth

   

  With interest rates still at near-historic lows, it’s tough to find high-quality investments with a yield of at least 7%. Yet amazingly, as I write this, there are income trusts and REITs trading on the TSX that are yielding 7% or more.

• Now the rules have changed. Ottawa’s new tax on income trusts came into effect on January 1, 2011. Almost all of our income-trust recommendations have already converted to conventional corporations in response to the new tax. Others will continue to operate as trusts.

    

  Note, however, Ottawa feels the income-trust business structure is appropriate for REITs, so it has exempted REITs, including our recommendations, from the new income-trust tax. REITs resemble income trusts, but with a key difference: REITs invest in income-producing real estate, such as office buildings and hotels.

    

  That exemption is making REITs’ high yields more attractive as trusts convert to corporations or cut their distributions in response to the new tax. Our REIT recommendations have all moved up, but we still think they offer attractive long-term returns at relatively low risk.

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