So the blog is one day old and already we have had a few requests asking us what does a newsletter or service have to do in order to get a passing grade from us. We felt it was a good question so we figured we would get it out of the way right now.
The first thing that we require is that the returns are positive. We don't require home runs but we do want a positive return over a one year or longer period. Yes, we understand that everyone has a losing month now and then and occasionally even a losing quarter. As long as these losses are relatively small we are OK with it and in fact expect it. Any trader or service that claims to never lose is full of shit. We have been in this business for long enough to realize that losses happen, it's how traders deal with the losses that counts. This brings us to our next point.
A newsletter must have solid risk controls. If the people writing the newsletter do not practice risk management then they can not be expected to outperform. We can't stand writers who double down time after time because they are "right." The market is right not you. If you don't use portfolio level risk management, industry risk management, and individual position risk management you are a fool and should not be writing an advice letter to anyone. Position sizing, stops, and just general risk structuring are all very important concepts for any would be successful trader to understand. If the writer doesn't use it then we find it almost impossible to take them seriously and an even harder time following their trades.
Finally the letter or service must have a logical and consistent thought process. If they are changing their methodology every day, week, or month then we are left asking what on earth is their edge? We don't always agree with our approved list of services but we do like that they are consistent in their thinking and trading process.
If you have any questions please e-mail us at InvestmentNewsletterReviews@Gmail.com
Trade Hard,
Newsletter Reviews
Friday, April 17, 2009
Attitrade.com
One of our favorite overall services is that of Attitrade.com They are a relative newcomer to online newsletter, educational, and investment tools space but they have made a big splash lately with some of their new tools and additions to their newsletter lineup.
Attitrade.com has three primary sections to their website. They have tools which includes charting, stocks and option scans, volatility charts, news, and several other things. They have their educational area where they have courses with manuals and videos for option trading, stock trading, technical analysis, and who knows what next as they continue to add new modules to the service. Finally they have the pro picks, which as you can probably tell are their newsletters.
In their tools section we have found their scans to be extremely useful. Their option scans are extensive enough that we were able to drop our subscription to Option Vue and their volatility charts are so good that we were able to cancel our subscription to IVolatility. This was a really big deal for us as we used both of these services all the time prior to joining Attitrade.com In addition they have a huge and growing collection of stock scans that look for a myriad of differentprice based setups. All in all their tools section is one of the best that we have seen for option and technical traders.
As we mentioned earlier they also have a great educational section. Right now they have three courses and are adding more strategies every few weeks. We have seen other programs that have less educational content, crappy tools, and cost thousands of dollars a year that have about half as much content. Attitrade.com seems like a bargain in comparison.
Finally Attitrade.com also has three newsletters that are very useful. Their longest running newsletter trades options and in 2008 generated a return of over 260%. Will this happen every year? Probably not, but their results are not as important as the way in which they achieve those results. Instead of buying calls and puts, Attitrade.com relies primarily on different spreads. This makes the gains more consistent and the losses very negligible. What would you rather do hit singles, doubles, triples, and the occasional homerun, or hit a homerun, strike out ten times, hit antoher home run, stike out ten times, etc? Most people can handle consistent gains far better then they can the huge losses associated with leveraged option gambles.
All in all we obviously like Attitrade.com and reccomend it to both the budding amateur and the skilled professional. You can get ideas, generate your own ideas, and learn how to trade with the different tools offered for just $199 a month or $499 a quarter.
Trade Hard,
Newletter Reviews
Attitrade.com has three primary sections to their website. They have tools which includes charting, stocks and option scans, volatility charts, news, and several other things. They have their educational area where they have courses with manuals and videos for option trading, stock trading, technical analysis, and who knows what next as they continue to add new modules to the service. Finally they have the pro picks, which as you can probably tell are their newsletters.
In their tools section we have found their scans to be extremely useful. Their option scans are extensive enough that we were able to drop our subscription to Option Vue and their volatility charts are so good that we were able to cancel our subscription to IVolatility. This was a really big deal for us as we used both of these services all the time prior to joining Attitrade.com In addition they have a huge and growing collection of stock scans that look for a myriad of differentprice based setups. All in all their tools section is one of the best that we have seen for option and technical traders.
As we mentioned earlier they also have a great educational section. Right now they have three courses and are adding more strategies every few weeks. We have seen other programs that have less educational content, crappy tools, and cost thousands of dollars a year that have about half as much content. Attitrade.com seems like a bargain in comparison.
Finally Attitrade.com also has three newsletters that are very useful. Their longest running newsletter trades options and in 2008 generated a return of over 260%. Will this happen every year? Probably not, but their results are not as important as the way in which they achieve those results. Instead of buying calls and puts, Attitrade.com relies primarily on different spreads. This makes the gains more consistent and the losses very negligible. What would you rather do hit singles, doubles, triples, and the occasional homerun, or hit a homerun, strike out ten times, hit antoher home run, stike out ten times, etc? Most people can handle consistent gains far better then they can the huge losses associated with leveraged option gambles.
All in all we obviously like Attitrade.com and reccomend it to both the budding amateur and the skilled professional. You can get ideas, generate your own ideas, and learn how to trade with the different tools offered for just $199 a month or $499 a quarter.
Trade Hard,
Newletter Reviews
The Macro Trader
The Macro Trader launched in November of 2007 is one newsletter service that we feel gives us a lot of value. The price is relatively inexpensive at $395 for a year or $125 a quarter and that gives you a weekly newsletter, access to the members section of the website, and any updates that are sent out throughout the week.
So why do we like the newsletter? The main thing that we have noticed is that The Macro Trader cares far more about not losing then it does about knocking the ball out of the park. In fact in 2008 where the SP500 lost about 50% The Macro Trader was able to sidestep it all and generate a positive return of 1.16%. Nothing to flashy but it was done with extremely low drawdowns.
We also like that instead of showing a few trades that you could have taken they give us an entire model portfolio. Many services will tell you that you could have made 87% if you had traded XYZ, or 32% if you had traded ABC. What they don't tell you is that many of these same letters would have helped you to lose your money in a very consistent manner. Any service worth their weight in crap should be honest and let you in on the actual returns you could have/would have made.
Looking back at some of our back issues of The Macro Trader we can see trades that would have made you 20% or more almost each month. Of course they were sized in a risk controlled manner to the model portfolio and there were also losers. They could lie and say that you could have made 22% in a week shorting EWI a few months ago but that would have been misleading.
So now that we know how The Macro Trader reports returns what do we think about their analysis and commentary? Well as the name suggests The Macro trader focuses on global macro trading. Right now they only trade ETF's but are looking at possibly adding in options, as they use them extensively in their own trading to help improve the risk to reward of the majority of their trades.
We find the commentary very useful and their bullish, neutral, and bearish posturing is possibly as good as their actual trade ideas in the model portfolio. The are a very model driven newsletter and use several models for each asset class that they trade. Which brings us to the next thing we like which is that they trade more then just stocks. Via the ETF's they trade US Stocks, Foriegn Stocks, Bonds, Commodities, and Currencies.
So how do we use, and recommend using The Macro Trader? We take many of their trade ideas as is and just trade the ETF's. Many times we also go in and if they like the MOO-Agribusiness then we will look at some of the different agribusiness stocks and see if we like the even more then the sector in general. After doing that we will look to see if we can create an even better risk to reward scenario via options and occasionaly even using futures.
All in all we think that The Macro Trader gives one of the best bangs for the buck out of the many services that we subscribe to and have subscribed to and wish them the best of luck going forward.
So why do we like the newsletter? The main thing that we have noticed is that The Macro Trader cares far more about not losing then it does about knocking the ball out of the park. In fact in 2008 where the SP500 lost about 50% The Macro Trader was able to sidestep it all and generate a positive return of 1.16%. Nothing to flashy but it was done with extremely low drawdowns.
We also like that instead of showing a few trades that you could have taken they give us an entire model portfolio. Many services will tell you that you could have made 87% if you had traded XYZ, or 32% if you had traded ABC. What they don't tell you is that many of these same letters would have helped you to lose your money in a very consistent manner. Any service worth their weight in crap should be honest and let you in on the actual returns you could have/would have made.
Looking back at some of our back issues of The Macro Trader we can see trades that would have made you 20% or more almost each month. Of course they were sized in a risk controlled manner to the model portfolio and there were also losers. They could lie and say that you could have made 22% in a week shorting EWI a few months ago but that would have been misleading.
So now that we know how The Macro Trader reports returns what do we think about their analysis and commentary? Well as the name suggests The Macro trader focuses on global macro trading. Right now they only trade ETF's but are looking at possibly adding in options, as they use them extensively in their own trading to help improve the risk to reward of the majority of their trades.
We find the commentary very useful and their bullish, neutral, and bearish posturing is possibly as good as their actual trade ideas in the model portfolio. The are a very model driven newsletter and use several models for each asset class that they trade. Which brings us to the next thing we like which is that they trade more then just stocks. Via the ETF's they trade US Stocks, Foriegn Stocks, Bonds, Commodities, and Currencies.
So how do we use, and recommend using The Macro Trader? We take many of their trade ideas as is and just trade the ETF's. Many times we also go in and if they like the MOO-Agribusiness then we will look at some of the different agribusiness stocks and see if we like the even more then the sector in general. After doing that we will look to see if we can create an even better risk to reward scenario via options and occasionaly even using futures.
All in all we think that The Macro Trader gives one of the best bangs for the buck out of the many services that we subscribe to and have subscribed to and wish them the best of luck going forward.
Investment Newsletter Reviews
Welcome to investment newsletter reviews. We are active investors and manage our own money. We also subscribe to many different services in order to help us find great investment opportunities. Over the years we have found that a lot of services flat out suck and are just hype machines. On the other hand we have found several services that do offer value and help us to generate positive absolute and risk adjusted returns.
Because of this we have decided to start this blog and give reviews of what we like and what we don't like. We consider ourselves objective students of the markets as the only thing we really care about is generating positive returns in every market.
Stay tuned for reviews where we tell you what services are good, what services suck, and which ones are decent.
Trade Hard
Newsletter Reviews
Because of this we have decided to start this blog and give reviews of what we like and what we don't like. We consider ourselves objective students of the markets as the only thing we really care about is generating positive returns in every market.
Stay tuned for reviews where we tell you what services are good, what services suck, and which ones are decent.
Trade Hard
Newsletter Reviews
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