Fleckenstein Capital

Average Subscriber Review:

Daily column and Q&A section, contrarian market commentary.

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Posted by James on Mar 28, 2011 @ 12:58 pm

Quite minimal commentary in daily market summary form. Often poor feedback with sophmoric questions in daily “Ask Fleck” column, typically answered with short quips and his “cute” nomenclature. Generally the same fodder about precious metals and the Fed., although never anything specific.
The daily market wrap could be attained from numerous business info sites for free and the balace of questions yields little. I was disappointed after joining to see what was given. Just read his MSN column if you want, I will not renew.

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Posted by Professional Investor on Feb 17, 2011 @ 8:33 pm

I took a class at University of WA and Fleck taught a class for his friend, the regular teacher had a Hawaiian vacation and offered Fleck as his substitute. I bought gold, silver and avoided the ATM housing bubble because of that class. The gold, silver and avoidance allowed me to purchase a small rental at the beach that has doubled in value, even with the real estate collapse because I was not caught up in the hype of borrowing and paid cash. The newsletter has made clear the confused government and the madness of the crowd and I’m glad he has kept the price affordable for those of us that don’t run hedge funds. I serve the retirement wannabes in protecting and growing what assets they’ve managed to scrape together and I find Bill’s ethics match his intellect and that alone is worth the price of admission. He responds personally when I ask something sensible and the deal is this, if I can get 120 dollars worth of comedy, intelligence, insights, see the future, the past and the present from anywhere else, I would sign up. KUDOS and keep on teaching, there are some of us that appreciate you and your work.

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Posted by Parag on Jun 16, 2010 @ 5:32 pm

Bill Fleckenstein offers a fantastic service for pennies. I’ve been subscribing since he started the site and I am certain that I will be a subscriber as long as he offers his service. My wife and I were not only able to avoid the damage that so many others absorbed in 2008 – we in fact profited handsomely. He doesn’t spoon feed ideas but instead helps you build a filter which you can then use for yourself. He has always been courteous with his time in responding to my emails and he’s generous to boot – matching contributions to his favorite charity each year.

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Posted by Nicole on Jun 6, 2010 @ 10:33 pm

“To be exact, paying subscribers are lucky if they receive a paragraph of information nightly. The vast majority of this paragraph consists of a very superficial over view of the day’s market action, and for those that watch the market all day every day the information is pointless.”

First of all, is this not what the point of a “daily rap” is? A daily commentary about what happened to the stock market over the course of the day. So, what else would you expect from him besides a nightly review over the events of the day. No one thinks fast enough to post an in-depth review of everything that happened across the stock market over the course of the entire day the minute after the market closes.

Also, your grammar is horrendous. “Asking him a question via his “ask fleck” commentary is pointless, as his answers are generally very short and curt and often do not answer the persons question. Your fortunate to receive a stiff yes, no, I don’t know, or a curt response that makes one feel like an idiot for even bothering him.” Two points with this one: First, it’s “you’re” if you mean “you are” fortunate to receive a stiff yes, no… etc. Second, you’re quoting just one of the potentially thousands of emails that he may receive per day regarding his previous posts. If you were in his position (which I presume you are not, considering that you are spending so much time discussing such a situation), would you write a five paragraph, college worthy essay to every email you received in response to your last rap? NO. No one in their right mind would (notice the correct and appropriate use of “their,” different than “they’re” and “there”).

Never fear, I’m not quite done. You add in the crucial excerpt from a reader (of course, not yourself, since you’ve already established you are apparently a cry baby, not someone interested in the dangerous life of selling stocks short. i guess you are the one that has to sit in the corner when you mess up because you bought high and now you have to sell low. hence, cry baby):

Dear Fleck,

I’ve been a subscriber for years. I like to sell stocks short when appropriate, but I’ve had a terrible time trying to find a brokerage which offers me shorting opportunities.

Can you please recommend a couple of brokerages which are short-friendly?

Thank you very much in advance,

(Fleck’s reply)

• Sorry, to be brutally honest…it sounds like you are new to this and I’d suggest extreme caution…

I’d like to see a reader who voluntarily asked for advice from Fleck be displeased with the fact he stressed extreme caution in short selling, as any person in their right mind knows how dangerous shorting is. In fact, the only kind of selling I’ve known is short sales, and that’s since I could write, and answer phones, at Bill Fleckenstein’s office. Oh, I forgot to mention- this is his daughter. I’m not even a finance, let alone a business major, yet I can refute all of your arguments more eloquently than you can pose them. If you have any other questions regarding his apparent shortcomings or wrongdoings, especially over the measly $120 you spent learning from “his superficial overview of the market action,” I’m sure I can find more fitting synonyms to call you than just “cry baby.”

You also stated, “Moreover, he rants about and berates CNBC and the likes calling them “bubble heads on bubble vision” that spew inaccurate and useless information yet he appears on these very same shows often, even after expressly stating that he will no longer do so.” Well, I have never known any show on CNBC to be anything other than “Bubblevision” and I am not sure I will ever know what even happens on that channel. I’m fairly certain big bad Bill Fleck goes on this alleged “bubble vision” channel to first- show off his famous hair, and second- to correct the bubble heads ON bubble vision about the accurate pronunciation of the name “Fleckenstein.” Under no other circumstances would he waste such time actually giving out valuable information on a channel he so amicably refers to as “bubble vision.”

Just to finish, Bill happens to leave his office early because he’s from the West Coast. If you would use your brain, you’d realize the time different is -3 hours. That would mean that even though he “technically” leaves his office at noon or so, it’s at least 3pm or later in New York, and past the close of the market. Oh, not to mention- he might not update in a few days because he has a life. Have you NEVER ditched out early or came in late from whatever god awful job you have?

Thanks for waiting until your subscription expires. I think your “wasted money” just bought me a new pair of jeans.

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Posted by Alex Thornton on Feb 17, 2010 @ 9:05 pm

I have been a subscriber to Fleck for almost seven years. I am careful not to part with my money especially on newsletter services that are commonly run by pump and dumpers. So why have I kept my subscription?

I get insight into the mind of a seasoned investor. He helps me cut through a lot of the bad information coming from the media and brokerage houses. The previous commenter stated that Fleck criticizes CNBC – they are bubble heads!

Fleck does not give many stock recommendations. He gives you big picture thought processes. At times, maybe it sounds like a broken record but that has actually been one of the most beneficial aspects of his service – conviction. When I start to waver about a position he helps me cut through the noise and stick with my positions.

He’s saved me a bundle over the years and has massively helped me become a better investor.

I’ve also made money with his mortgage finance short ideas and with his gold thesis.

He’s not a market timer or a chartist. If you actually want to learn how to fish he’s a wonderful teacher. If you want someone to just spoonfeed you investment ideas – Fleck is not your man.

Fleck can be tough on dumb questions but that previous reviewer is a cry baby.

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