Just like Readers Digest, they republish interesting articles, comments, and picks from a variety of newsletters every month, which is a good way to expose yourself to a large number of newsletters at low cost and see if anyone’s picks or “voice” seems to match up with your needs — that’s why I think this (or other digests) is a good place to start if you’re looking for interesting newsletters, without having to try out a few dozen at much higher cost or confine yourself to just toe 200 or so newsletters covered by Hulbert. A lot of the newsletters Davis digests are small and do little or no marketing, but you’ll also see excerpts from Stansberry, Navellier, etc.

Honesty requires me to state that I really have absolutely no idea what the market will bring, next month or next year. I tend to be an optimist, which is probably why I think we’re going to muddle through the current mess for a year or two, then return to some semblance of normalcy. Hopefully with less leverage all around, which could mean significantly lower returns for the average stock, all else being equal. I think we’ve had the total crash, personally, and at some point a big flood of money is going to hit the markets and drive up prices (and probably bring inflation, eventually) but that’s just my opinion.

I think there are a lot of newsletters that are reliable, in that they have investment styles and stick to those styles, and don’t try to rip you off. Lots of them are awful fits for any particular individual, however, and I can’t recommend one over another based on just their ads. I’d suggest subscribing to Hulbert’s newsletter or to a good digest like Dick Davis (Dan Davis? Something like that) to get a feel for a lot of different authors/editors so you can see if any of them rub you the right way.

And I would never, ever subscribe to a newsletter that didn’t treat you fairly and provide at least a trial period during which they’ll return your money. So test out a few of them, see if there are any that strike you as educational, informative, and a match for your personal needs.

If you don’t like getting lots of ads, stay away from the big publishing houses like InvestorPlace, Stansberry, Agora, Taipan, Street Authority and the like, they will cross-market you like crazy to upgrade you to their other letters (some small publishers rent their lists or cross market, too — not necessarily evil, but some people hate it).

And I think gold and silver are both reasonable holdings for a diversified portfolio, in small measures. Either could go up or down dramatically, just like stocks, though they don’t usually move in lockstep with stocks. Both are taking a beating in recent months, though less so than most stocks, in part because the dollar has recovered so heartily. I do think, however, that buying gold or silver bullion coins at the massive premiums many sellers are demanding right now is a bit crazy — I own some coins, and I’d rather sell now than buy, with the price so high above melt value.

Thanks again for reading. And remember, I have about a 99% accuracy record for sniffing out teaser stocks, but probably much worse than a 50% success record in picking market direction in any given year — the above comments are guesses and opinions.

Thanks for your honesty – regards