The MavenTown.com website
Newsletter Review Score: 99/100
This is by FAR the best newsletter service for an investor that I have come across. I could cancel all my other subscriptions and live on this one alone. It is really quite different than the standard “newsletters” for several reasons. Continue reading
The Motley Fool Website
Newsletter Review Score: 65/100
There are several “premium services” available on Motley Fool for you to subscribe to. I decided to try out two that are on different sides of the spectrum. The “Income Investor” newsletter and the “Hidden Gems” newsletter. I have belonged to both of these services for a few months now (I bought the year subscription) and I have to admit… I wish I bought it monthly, so I could have cancelled by now. Let me describe how the information is, in these two paid services. Continue reading
Options Trader Website
Newsletter Review Score: 73/100
The Options Trader newsletter is written by Lawrence McMillan, an author. He wrote Options as a Strategic Investment, which has sold 200,000 copies. He also is a portfolio manager at a hedge fund, so I DO like the fact that he’s not just a journalist like so many of the newsletter writers are. Despite these credentials, I did find this newsletter lacking for a couple reasons, we will discuss below. Continue reading
RealMoney Pro website
Newsletter Review Score: 47/100
This is the so called “Professional” space for the street.com. How the subscription works is this: You start at the street.com for free and they leak articles or great calls for RealMoney well after the calls were made. This is done to entice you to pay for the next level of service. Then you subscribe, only to find out that to get the real so called “good” ideas you need to subscribe to the next level.
Newsletter Review Score: 57/100
In the beginning, I really liked the Minyanville website, so I was excited to include them in my experiment of trying and reviewing financial newsletters. However, after the original writers left (Scott Reamer and Bennet Sedacca), the content of the website, and more importantly, the paid newsletter (Buzz and Banter) seems to have gone WAY down. Continue reading
the Action Alerts Plus web page
Newsletter Review Score: 69/100
Obviously, as an investor who watches a fair amount of financial TV programs, I had heard of Jim Cramer. Between his show, “Mad Money” and his frequent appearances on CNBC, his Action Alerts Plus service (From thestreet.com) was one that I HAD to review, in order to see just how good the information was, and more importantly, how TIMELY the information was. After a month of using the newsletter, frankly, I was disappointed.
One of the newsletters offered by MarketWatch
Overall Newsletter Review Score: 67/100
Marketwatch.com is a web property owned by the Wall Street Journal. So, naturally, they have plenty of journalists who can write articles on financial and investment topics. The free website is full of news information and opinion articles. It’s the same type of content you get on any financial news website like cnbc or thestreet.com. Basic, but a high quantity of articles. Continue reading
Newsletter Review Score: 55/100
This newsletter by Robert Powell is for people who are retired or about to retire. In face, the service breaks down the readers into two categories… those who are already retired, and those who are 5-10 years away. I had hoped that this newsletter would be more about which stocks to buy, in order to save and earn dividends in retirement, to augment my income, but unfortunately, it really isn’t. Continue reading
MarketWatch Proactive Fund Website
Newsletter Review Score 67/100
Bill Donoghue is the author of this newsletter. He was a New York Times best-selling author for 40 years and a self proclaimed mutual fund expert. He certainly is well known in the industry, after writing for so long, in such well-read publications. My concern however, is as usual… why would I pay for the investing advice of a JOURNALIST instead of an actual investing professional. Continue reading
Newsletter Review Score: 68/100
This is another paid service offered from Jim Cramer and the Street.com. The claim of the service is market insight and actionable trading ideas from Wall Street pros. It was the original paid service from the street.com after they went public 10 or so years ago. They claim to have 1000’s of investors subscribing. But I have to be blunt here, I don’t see the value in much of the information posted by the 70 or so writers. Continue reading
