Paying for Research

[billyjoe]

It's great getting free information on the web, but occasionally you might have to bite the bullet and shell out some $$$ to get the best data on stocks.
I'll admit to being a cheapskate so if I limit myself to $99 - $199 per year, who's got the best products? We're all looking for reliable, accurate information that is easy to understand, unbiased and up to date.
Let's list some sevices that have worked or not worked for you. I'll start with one that was highly disappointing.

Zacks Research - trial membership $199 per year-- this was a couple years ago. After signing up, I was inundated with hundreds of e-mails. Couldn't tell what was legitimate info. or ads offering more services. Had difficulty contacting a real person after they got my $$. Their alerts on earnings were routinely 24 hours late. It was impossible to qualify for the "money back" guarantee. It took me weeks of e-mails, phone calls, and letter writing to cancel the service and stop what I call unsolicited offers. Most of the information they offered could be found free elsewhere. Their ratings on stocks seemed to be self serving at times, somewhat like IBD's touted 100.



Anybody else with good or bad experiences? Thanks.

billyjoe

[Websman]

Poormans Investment Strategy is excellent. Only $25 per month and well worth it.
www.poormans.com

The VTP is also excellent but it's still in the developmental stages and is by invitation only for now.

[skiracer]

One of the best bargains for the money is Briefing.com. $24.95 a month for their platimum service an it gives you all the newsbreaks as they happen or come across the wires plus alot more technical stuff on stocks. I've made alot of money on just the early morning news before the markets open getting that head start on knowing that something happened during the pre-market.

[billyjoe]

Ski,
Do you find that with Briefing.com you can sometimes beat a big move that starts shortly after the market open? Kind of a delay on the normal gap up in pre-market.

billyjoe

[skiracer]

Ski,
Do you find that with Briefing.com you can sometimes beat a big move that starts shortly after the market open? Kind of a delay on the normal gap up in pre-market.

billyjoe

It's been getting harder to find the little tidbits that give you an edge before everyone else because almost everyone who's really into it subscribes to Briefing.com for just that edge. But I still do get info from them that helps out to a large degree pre-market, intraday, and after hours. They also give daily sector reports, the daily swing trader report, the technical take report, an a host of other valuable info. The guy that writes the daily swing trader column is a pro and he hits alot of winners long and short and provides several leads everyday. Plus the educational value of his technical analysis and charts is an education in itself. The technical take column is just as good as the swing trader for providing a great technical take on the markets overall on a daily basis. Great educational and learning tool.

[Lyehopper]

Poormans Investment Strategy is excellent. Only $25 per month and well worth it.
www.poormans.com

The VTP is also excellent but it's still in the developmental stages and is by invitation only for now.

I agree that the VTP will be the best value on the Web....

[mystiky]

Briefing.com

It's been getting harder to find the little tidbits that give you an edge before everyone else because almost everyone who's really into it subscribes to Briefing.com for just that edge. But I still do get info from them that helps out to a large degree pre-market, intraday, and after hours. They also give daily sector reports, the daily swing trader report, the technical take report, an a host of other valuable info. The guy that writes the daily swing trader column is a pro and he hits alot of winners long and short and provides several leads everyday. Plus the educational value of his technical analysis and charts is an education in itself. The technical take column is just as good as the swing trader for providing a great technical take on the markets overall on a daily basis. Great educational and learning tool.

I also agree that Briefing.com has many benefits. Their Trader service ($3K / year) is really top notch. Sure...its alot of money, but one big trade and you paid for it.

I use it, and also www.theflyonthewall.com

[Bean Stocks]

www.runstockrun.com was worth it but I only had a trial subscription about a year ago. www.floatanalysis.com was great while it was free. Don't know if this helps at all.

[scifos]

My father and I have split the subscription cost of www.spearreport.com for about 3 years. Its like 20 a month and the market commentary is always pretty good and they do an incredible job predicting market tops and bottoms and sector rotation. It also comes with a "buy list" which is so-so, and has a ton of turnover.

[studentofthemarket]

hey websman,

https://www.poormans.com

that's the guy over on the IBD forum right?

[IIC]

hey websman,

www.poormans.com


that's the guy over on the IBD forum right?

Yes it is...I know Bruce Internet-Wise anyway...He and I are on one of the same Chats...He and I have different philosophies...But IMO if you are looking for intermediate to longer time frame ideas...I think he is very good...But even more importantly, I think he is an upfront honest person...Don't find too many of those type in this biz...He's on vacation in Cancun right now...Best, Doug(IIC)

[Websman]

I changed my investment website a bit. I have decided to create a daily list of 25 momentum stocks. I select them by first determining which stocks on the market are within 3% of their high, and then remove the bottom three quartiles based on how high they are off their low. Then stocks which have low buyer interest day to day in recent weeks are removed. Stocks that are not well above their 50 day average are also removed. I also have a list of 5 etfs. Let me know what you think. It doesn't cost anything.

http://investorsite.tripod.com

Free is always good. I'll keep an eye on your site Cosmo...

[IIC]

I changed my investment website a bit. I have decided to create a daily list of 25 momentum stocks. I select them by first determining which stocks on the market are within 3% of their high, and then remove the bottom three quartiles based on how high they are off their low. Then stocks which have low buyer interest day to day in recent weeks are removed. Stocks that are not well above their 50 day average are also removed. I also have a list of 5 etfs. Let me know what you think. It doesn't cost anything.

http://investorsite.tripod.com

Keep up the good work Cosmo.

BTW...Nice Disclaimer...My standard disclaimer is: "Maybe they'll go up...Maybe they'll go down...But if they don't then they'll probably stay flat"...Have not been sued yet

[IIC]

Cosmo...I noticed you have ads like Google adsense ads at the top of your page.

Can you tell me where you sign up for those?...I am getting sick of Google contacting me all the time with threats because of some of my advertising methods. I see people do what I do all the time...However, I do know a couple of people that they banned. I found a couple of alternatives once...can't remember what they were...but they didn't pay much.


It's nice to get a check from Google every month...but I don't care who the check comes from.

Thanks, Doug(IIC)

[IIC]

My page is free which is why there are ads on it. I've been thinking about paying to get those off of there. I want to join a link exchange which pays some money from referrals, but my mom is a bit controlling which doesn't make sense because I would only be paying maybe 25 bucks a month to be on the link exchange and for the site. What are your advertising methods that you get threats?

I gotta run out now...I'll answer later...Doug