Hulbert has been rating the performance of investment newsletters since 1980, when he founded his monthly, the Hulbert Financial Digest , which monitors nearly 400 services such as Dow Theory Letters and Systems and Forecasts. This book describes and analyzes over 120 top-performing newsletters, using clearly defined rating criteria like clarity and degree of risk. A wealth of statistical data are presented in tables and graphs. Newsletters are ranked on the basis of their total returns and risk-adjusted performances from mid-1980 through mid-1992 and on their ability to time switches into and out of the stock, bond, and gold markets. This useful work is highly recommended for libraries serving investors.
- Leonard Grundt, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, N.Y.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
In 1980, when Hulbert first appeared on the financial scene, investment newsletters were viewed with such skepticism that the
Wall Street Journal would not even accept their ads. Now there is the recognition that some are good, some are bad, and the critical factor is selection of one that meets readers' needs.
The explosion in the number of individual investors who play an active role in managing their portfolios has been accompanied by growth in the number of advisory publications available to them. There are many books and periodicals that describe and/or promote investment newsletters; most are mere directories. The Hulbert Guide to Financial Newsletters is different. In addition to basic information for more than 120 top financial newsletters (address, telephone number, frequency, subscription rate), the description indicates whether a telephone hotline and/or money management are included in the price, and each entry reproduces the front page of the newsletter in question. The useful introduction discusses the wide range of options when seeking investment advice. Hulbert describes the pros and cons of newspapers, television, and the financial press; personal or business acquaintances; stockbrokers; and investment newsletters.
The distinguishing feature of The Hulbert Guide is its statistical analysis of the past performance of the newsletters. Each newsletter analysis includes a graph showing its portfolios' performances compared with the market as a whole. Accompanying tables also show the newsletters' performance over various periods of time, including quintile rank among all newsletters tracked for that period.
Appendixes provide tables that rank newsletters on the basis of their total returns and risk-adjusted performances over different periods of time. Separate tables rank mutual funds newsletters. Finally, a newsletter directory lists trial subscription prices.
Readers familiar with earlier editions of this book and with the monthly newsletter, "Hulbert's Financial Digest," are aware of the straightforward approaches of each and with the statistical analysis that backs them both. They have proven their usefulness over the past 12 years, and it is almost unthinkable that the business section of a public or academic library would not purchase the latest edition of The Hulbert Guide.
