Content area
Full Text
Don't let your clients bet the ranch on investment newsletter advice. Most stock market and mutual fund newsletters picks have underperformed the market average over the past several years, according to Alexandria, Va.-based Hulbert Financial Digest's mid-year report.
Publisher Mark Hulbert has been tracking newsletter performance for 12 years. Over that time, he says, only four out of 21 newsletters beat the market. And over the last 10 years, the Vanguard Index 500 Fund outperformed 81% of all mutual funds.
"Overall the lesson of the ratings is that the market remains a stiff competitor," says Hulbert. "About a fifth of the mutual funds and a fifth of the newsletters have beaten the market over the long term."
Here are the top-five performing stock market investment newsletters over the past 12 years ended in July 1992. During that time. the Wilshire 5000 stock market index registered a cumulative total return of 433.7%. T-bills gained 159.4 %.
* The Chartist gained 665.3%.
* Value Line Investment Survey gained 620.7%.
* The Zweig Forecast gained 608.7%.
* Value Line OTC Special Situations gained 498.5.
* The Prudent Speculator gained 428.9%.
Mutual fund newsletter advisers also underperformed the Wilshire 5000 over the past five years. Only six model portfolios out of 47 total...