I have one relatively substantial portfolio change that I telegraphed to you last week, and which has been spurred by a recent dip in one stock and good news from another. I have sold about two thirds of my position in AIG 2021 Warrants following the trigger of a stop loss in that position (because […]
Author Bio
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Travis Johnson is an individual investor who founded Stock Gumshoe in 2007 as a way to air his dissections of overhyped marketing pitches... and to share the "secret" stocks that stock newsletters hype to get your attention and your subscription dollars. His thinking? If you already know what the "secret" stock is, you can make a much more reasonable and thoughtful decision about whether or not to commit to an expensive newsletter subscription. (And if you don't pay for the info, you'll be more free to think for yourself about whether or not the investment is worth your money.)In his charmed life he has been, among other things, a university faculty member, a fundraiser, a writer, and a world-champion ice-cream scooper. Now he runs Stock Gumshoe for you, allowing us all to discuss and dissect the latest overheated stock ideas... as well as review and talk about investment newsletters and enjoy the commentary and opinions of Stock Gumshoe's other special contributors and the discussion with our unusually attractive, erudite and polite readers. He lives with Mrs. Gumshoe and all their little Gumshoes in the wilds of Western Massachusetts.
Author Archives
Apparently, there’s some kind of profit window that “slams shut” on September 30th, according to Christian DeHaemer, and you have to buy this $3 “disruptive technology” stock before then. So what the heck is he talking about? Let’s investigate… The pitch is for Crisis and Opportunity (now being sold at $1,599/year), and it’s all about […]
August 23, 2017
Pure Energy Trader
Premium priced service with recommendations for “fast” ways to profit from volatile energy markets. Perhaps similar to the now defunct Pure Asset Trader from Ian Cooper (and the same publisher).
August 23, 2017
Keith Kohl’s “Blue Gold” Pitch to turn $1 into $10 or more
The latest Keith Kohl ad caught my eye, since I’ve been interested in cobalt for a while now and figured that “blue gold” probably means he’s teasing that metal … so what’s the story, is it cobalt he’s talking about, and what’s the cobalt-related investment that he thinks will make us 1,000%-type gains? Well, he […]
August 22, 2017
What’s the “Jupiter Engine” Being Teased by the Oxford Club?
This latest pitch from the Oxford Club has really caught the attention of Gumshoe readers — lots of questions about this “Jupiter Engine” that will “end global warming” and make all other power plants obsolete… mostly, of course, because it’s also supposed to give you “the retirement of your dreams” as revenue “surges by 4,130%” […]
We are always, always tempted by anything that promises hope to sufferers of Alzheimer’s Disease and their families… not just because we’re humanitarians and love people, and have seen the pain of this disease, but because Alzheimer’s treatment is by far the largest (mostly) unmet medical need in the US, both because the population of […]
Fridays are the day I write for you, my dear Irregular friend, so this time you’re getting a teaser solution that I’ve been inspired to write about today, plus a few updates on my Real Money Portfolio stocks. First, those (pretty minor) updates… One of the worst-performing stocks I own over the past year or […]
It’s been a long time since I looked at an Australian teaser pick, so this new pitch for the Motley Fool Australia’s Share Advisor (A$199/yr) caught my eye. The Motley Fool, well known as a US newsletter publisher and investment community/website in the 25 years or so since the Gardner brothers started their AOL chat […]
August 16, 2017
Motley Fool Share Advisor Australia
“Flagship” advisory for the Motley Fool Australia, recommends at least one ASX-listed stock and one US stock each month.
August 15, 2017
What’s that “August 28 ICO” pitch from Martin Hutchinson about?
“An entirely new digital currency will hit the net on August 28 “It will rapidly replace ALL current “crypto-currencies”… and then ring the funeral bell for the mighty U.S. dollar “Profits on this new currency are completely uncapped (unlike Bitcoin)… and based on past modeling, I predict they’ll be 1,000 times higher than we’ve ever […]
August 15, 2017
Crypto Alert
New cryptocurrency trading service launched in August 2017, aims to recommend 2-3 trades in cryptocurrencies per month based on the currency expertise of Martin Hutchinson. Sold on a no-refunds, up-front basis for $3,000 with recurring annual “maintenance fees” thereafter.
Today I’m looking for the first time at a teaser ad from Bill Shaw, who is the Senior Analyst for Stansberry’s precious metals service — that service is now called Stansberry Gold & Silver Investor, and it’s one of the “no refunds, get a portfolio all at once” services that Stansberry has been pushing lately. […]
August 11, 2017
Friday File — Checking in on some favored Mutual Funds
I don’t spend a lot of time writing to you about my mutual fund and other diversified holdings in my portfolio, many of which are effectively indexed to the S&P 500, but I wrote to you a little over a year ago about the “better mousetrap” fund from DoubleLine that tries to provide a “double […]
August 4, 2017
Friday File Unlocked: “Cash for Patriots” deteasification
This article is excerpted from a Friday File that originally ran on July 6, it has been opened up to all readers now but has not been updated or revised. –from 7/6/17– As we’ve just recovered from the rocket’s red glare of Independence Day celebrations, how about we look at one of the more absurd […]
Things will be a little quiet here at Stock Gumshoe for the next week or so — I’m off to do my big fundraising ride for Dana-Farber tomorrow, and will then be taking several days off to recuperate next week and spend time with family… I’ll be back with the Friday File next week, but […]
August 2, 2017
“Apple’s Secret Project Stuns Investors”
A few readers have asked about this recent Motley Fool Stock Advisor promotion, so I thought I’d take a quick look-see for you today… apropo for “Apple Week,” it was all about Apple’s next “secret project” and “3 stocks to buy before Apple unveils its next must-have product.” So what is it? Well, I’ll spare […]
August 1, 2017
What’s “Jeff Bezos’ Next Big Bet?”
This article, originally titled “‘Universal Voice Control’ and ‘The End of Google as We Know it,’” was published on May 11. The ads have recently been coming in hot and heavy for this service, with the new ads headlined “Want to Invest like Jeff Bezos” and “Jeff Bezos’ Next Big Bet”, so we’re re-running this […]
July 31, 2017
What’s the “Marked Stock” for an August 1 surge?
Lou Basenese has a new service over at Agora called The Takeover Alert ($1,750), and he’s all but promising that he can identify takeover targets in advance… and give you the chance to make $29,000 profits from stocks that surge dramatically in just a day. To which the first response from any reader should be, […]
July 31, 2017
Takeover Alert, The
New service that aims to use Louis Basenese’s “M.A.R.K.E.D” methodology to identify stocks that are on the verge of being takeover targets. Basenese had a similar newsletter called The Takeover Trader several years ago.
July 31, 2017
Dr. Singh Options
Monthly options trading service, includes classes and several recommendations each month, including some that he says represent a “Zero Risk Strategy.”
Recent Author Comments
Posted on September 5, 2024
Posted on September 4, 2024
Del Real is out pitching this story again, though with a preamble that one of the three stocks has been acquired for about $3 billion -- so that confirms that the copper stock that I did not unearth above was indeed Filo Corp (FIL.TO, FLMMF), which is bein[...]
Posted on September 4, 2024
Welcome aboard, Chet -- the pitchmen love to get us revved up about quick gains and juice those gambling urges... but sadly, one telltale sign of a great long-term investment is that you don't have to decide whether or not to invest within five minutes. S[...]
Posted on September 4, 2024
Those are the super-levered ETFs that are designed to either generate large options income or one-day levered gains to a single stock. The YieldMax ones are pretty prominent, but there are a lot of others that can let people bet on short-term moves or tak[...]
Posted on September 3, 2024
He's run similar ads all year, though I think he swapped out some of the "secret" partners in more recent ads. First time around it Was TSM, ARM and (maybe) SMCI... in later versions it looks like it was ANSS, ARM and maybe VRT, though they could have sha[...]
Posted on September 3, 2024
Interesting, new one to me -- thanks![...]
Posted on September 3, 2024
Not really, I handle situations on a case by case basis... there are some companies that I primarily own because I see a shorter-term opportunity to make a profit, and I might own that stock for just a few years (or even just a few months, in rare situatio[...]
Posted on September 1, 2024
Don't know anything about it -- are they planning to build a mine (PEA or feasibility study?), or is it just a discovery?[...]
Posted on September 1, 2024
$377 is still my preferred buy level, but it hasn't hit my preferred level very often over the years. My "max buy" is currently $463, which is my latest estimate of intrinsic value per share.[...]
Posted on September 1, 2024
The DNOPY ADR represents half of a share on the Warsaw exchange.[...]
Posted on September 1, 2024
Succession planning (make the portfolio easier for next CEO), likelihood of higher taxes, high concentration, or just a richly valued market Sparking him to remember his regret that he didn't sell some KO shares when it was trading at 50x earnings a couple[...]
Posted on August 31, 2024
For which stock?[...]
Posted on August 30, 2024
Depends on how T-Bills change over the next few months, mostly. The big reason to buy REIs or any dividend paying stocks is that the dividend can rise, which won't happen with a bond... but most REITs are under pressure and not raising their dividend much[...]
Posted on August 30, 2024
Thanks Shaun. A lot of investing is about accepting that a lot of your decisions are going to be "wrong" in the fullness of time... so when possible, especially when your level of certainty is low, make the decisions smaller.[...]
Posted on August 29, 2024
Haven't seen that ad, but if it's about investing it's probably one of Amazon's landlords -- a warehouse REIT like PLD on the e-commerce side, or a data center REIT like DLR on the AWS side.[...]
Posted on August 29, 2024
For now, at least, looks like ALAB bottomed out around when most newly public companies do... in the week or two surrounding the end of the six-month lockup period, when insiders began to do some post-IPO selling. We'll see how things settle down in the[...]
Posted on August 29, 2024
If greed didn't often overrule judgement, there wouldn't be many retail investment newsletters.[...]
Posted on August 28, 2024
I give up on trying to predict recessions, the economy is so different than it has been in the past... but I agree, the risks of a really bad stock market are more acute than they've been in a while. If only because valuations remain extended.Doesn't [...]
Posted on August 28, 2024
Well, they're also all a little desperate after subscriber numbers have plummeted over the past couple years -- everyone's hunting for a pitch that works to bring in new subscribers.[...]
Posted on August 27, 2024
Not very "AI," but a high end travel services firm. Seems tough to scale, In my opinion, but I've never looked deeply at Lindblad.[...]
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Haven't suffered through the latest Altucher pitch yet, but Credo was the stock he was similarly touting back in June. (https://www.stockgumshoe.com/reviews/luke-langos-innovation-investor/answers-apples-silent-ai-suppliers-who-are-luke-langos-three-tin[...]