"Industry specific newsletters...have a conflict of interest. Their only reason for existence is to recommend going long so they will always ramp companies even when the trend is downhill."
I suppose you could, at least in theory, create a newsletter that recommended shorts as well as longs. However, flows of information - and conceivably other things - to the newsletter from shorted companies would probably tend to dry up, making the newsletter-writing job harder. Much of what is presented in some newsletters seems to be regurgitated company hand-outs.
I used to value a certain portly pronosticator's global views (as opposed to recommendations about individual companies). However, his or her assessments of global markets also seem to have a strong perma-bull bias, in which being sidelined is anathema. Unaware subscribers can be badly misled by unflagged biases of this kind.
The takeaway message might be "hold" equals "sell", and "sell half" means "go short boots 'n all"!
Besides, it grates with me if a newsletter writer advises buying cigarette company stock long with no apparent qualms. I think that buying shares in death ain't a good idea. Plus, if the writer, or his or her sub-writers, displays the moral rigidity of a slinky regarding ethical investments, they seem likely to apply the same "anything goes" approach in their dealings with me.
Just my personal opinion, and I'm no expert.
Grav
PGI Price at posting:
9.0¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
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