Author/Editor
Jeff Siegel
Description
Focuses on “green” investments, including energy and lifestyle stocks that are related to sustainability.
Overall Rating
Rating: 3.2/5. From 16 votes.
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3.1
Rating from 79 votes
If you’ve subscribed to Green Chip Stocks, please click the stars below to indicate your rating for this newsletter, and please share any other feedback about your experience using the comment box below.
Investment Performance
Rating from 29 votes
Rating: 3.2/5. From 29 votes.
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Quality Of Writing/Analysis
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Rating: 2.9/5. From 18 votes.
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Value For Price
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Rating: 3.0/5. From 16 votes.
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Customer Service
Rating from 16 votes
Rating: 3.2/5. From 16 votes.
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I,ve ben a subscriber around 6 mos or so. Signed up for the free book on renewable investing, a very good read, and expectations of the new administration. At $25 per quarter, the price seemed reasonable. Performance of his picks are about the same as everything else these days with a few well performing exceptions. I have received no new picks yet only updates on existing positions. It seems the emails are a little sparse in these tough times and the web site could be easier to navagate. I figure I’ll give it another year and go from there.
I subscribed to his service many years ago. His recommendations were usually below $2,50 a share. Naturally, most of the recos went down, a few did go up but it took so long, it wasn’t worth the wait. Would not recommend this newsletter to any serious investor.
What Siegel fails to note is that Green Chip was still aggressively urging a BUY @ $3.99 / share!
And there was never a SELL call made.
I subscribed at least 3 years ago because I was interested in the whole concept of Green Energy and made money on several picks including U.S. Geothermal., selling on my own initiative when i had over a double.
As I recall this service was started by Mike Schaeffer whose whereabouts i have not been able to trace, but he certainly presented an incredible track record. and was a personal investor in BIG CAT, a stock that was highly hyped but never went anywhere. Jeff Siegel and others now running the service came over from Agora where they apparently learned the art of upgrading, or at least attempting too. What annoys me the most with ALL of the Agora affiliated services is their bombardment with highly hyped promos for more expensive services by the very same analysts you thought yiu had already paid for. As someone else noted, all you get is updates, very few new picks and promotions for International Energy Trader and Pure Energy.
In fairness 2008 was a very difficult year and very few investors came through unscathed but my impression is that they were caught unawares like the rest of us and FAILED to get us out of their picks in a timely fashion because they were “in love with their stocks” a FATAL mistake. Unless something remarkable changes to cause me to reconsider, i will not be renewing hen my subscription runs out
I had Mike Schaeffer and the boy jerk that tagged along on his coat strings, aw yes, Mr. Hicks and his brutal picks. Schaeffer probably got run out on a rail or tared and feathered. More bad picks than anyone than I can remember. I lost more money on waiting for 90% of his choices from incredibly expensive services. I am a complete fool by trusting anyone with my money. Anyone, even from Agora, where they are probably stuck on stupid and smokin the gonja, are self serving rip offs. They will soon take the direction of Schaeffer who has lost himself up thar in the Wyomin desolation, away from anything practical. U could always see the buys and stock increases’ just after he put out his buys. Old Hicks and his hot licks learned the same tricks.
Tried this one a few years ago. He is very big on major themes, like alternative fuels and natural food. He concentrates on juniors and sub-juniors… got absolutely killed on his Ethanol company picks and bailed out. All the “big winners” he touted were from the beginning of the newsletter…. all the ones he picked afterwards went sidedays or down, fast. At least I got my refund fairly quickly.
I’ve only been a subscriber for six months or so and I will not be renewing. Was very interested in picks in the alternative energy sector. One thing I hate about newsletters is their inability to signal when to get out. What’s even worse are those who claim certain events will pull the stock out of its nosedive. That’s what happened on my first (and probably only) pick from Green Chip Stocks (Evergreen Solar). Was in around 9 and watched it crater to 1. Shame on me for not covering my ears on Siegel’s call that solar incentives were on their way back through Congress late in the year (2008) that was supposed to renew interest in the sector (when in fact, everything in the market was on its ways to new lows). But, you’re paying for professional advice. And that advice doesn’t protect your capital despite what these guys think (same thing applies to guys like Cramer who apologize for “not ringing the register sooner”. I can pick stocks at 9 and watch them crater to 1. I don’t need to pay Jeff Siegel for the privilege. Not only that, since the market tanked, there are really no recommendations coming out or even any new ideas that could be DD’d while you wait. I would not recommend this newsletter. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t recommend any newsletters. If their picks are that good, they should be multi-millionaire traders. They don’t need our money to get them there.
What are you people talking about? I joined last October. He recommended First Solar in November. Bought some on his recommendation. Got in at around $90. Doubled my money. He recommended Itron in February. Bought some on his recommendation. Got in around $48. He didn’t issue a sell, but I sold it at $58. I also like the fact that when I e-mailed him a question about smart grids, he responded. You people are nuts.
His picks haven’t been that great for me. Probably broke even so far. Don’t really like how he’s always talking about global warming. Probably won’t renew.
I’ve been a subscriber for a couple of years now. Made a lot of money on his picks in 2006 and 2007. Lost quite a bit in 2008. But he made some good calls this year, and I’m making money with him again. I know most of his picks tanked in 2008. But when it comes to green stocks, I have to go with Jeff. He’s one of the first guys that really pushed this market, and most of the stuff we’re reading now about solar and wind is stuff that he was writing about years ago.
My only complaint is that he doesn’t update enough. He only does about two per week.
I subscribed to Green Chip two or three years ago when Siegel was aggressively promoting solar (XSNX) and a hybrid engine that uses multi fuels (RGUS). I purchased both stocks but was never advised of a sell notification and lost money on both stocks. Siegel reminds me of a ‘pump and dumper’ Wouldn’t recommend his newsletter to anyone unless you have puppies you need to paper train or bird cage bottoms you need to line.
Paper bags are a lot less expensive though.
He usually only recommends to buy but hardly ever tells you when to sell. I do not recommend this newsletter.
I almost gave it 5 stars for consistency, since it was consistently bad, and for all the leaps most renewable energy stocks were making while I was checking out GreenChips, the ones they recommended consistently tanked.
2nd issue: they were almost all teaser. Motley Fool gives more info to the casual reader that Green Chips gives on its pseudo 30-day trial – if you actually want the stock named, usually you have to commit. (so maybe their successful stocks are the ones they didn’t name and that I couldn’t figure out)
3rd- I got one email all about shorting various renewables. I appreciate that not every investor is burning with make-the-world-better-place energy, but for somebody called Greenchips to recommend shorting these stocks seems shockingly hostile.
Thanks for your validation of my experience, Gumshoe.
I give Green Chip Stocks a B-. My only complaint is that he doesn’t play the market. He’s a buy and hold guy. In this market, that only works half the time. I’m up more than 100 percent on his two smart grid picks but I’m down more than 30 percent on Sunpower and more than 40 percent on Energy Focus.
I guess I shouldn’t complain. I bought four of his picks, and I’m up overall. But I just like to see more action.
I joined Green Chip Stocks a couple of months ago. I’m a little concerned by all the negative comments here. But I’ve made money with this guy already, so I have nothing bad to say. I also sent Jeff an e-mail and he responded. Didn’t expect that.
Green Chip Stocks
Positives:
This service is very reasonably priced, and they seem really interested in the market sector they specialize in. I would also say they are honest and diligent. They make mid – long term recommendations and are quick to advise by email any market changes.
Negatives:
I don’t think the green market is going anywhere quickly at the moment (Sept 16,2009), but then I’m not a pundit. I have currently two of their recommended stocks in my portfolio, one is OK, the other has done bad. Earlier on, during the market comeback, I did very well on all their recommendations, but I guess you could have stuck a pin in list of stocks then and made a correct ‘this one will grow’ prediction.
Sell order came in AFTER Jeff (I believe) sold everything he was into the stock for–bad form. Too many advertisements for extra reports/add ons to subscription. This sector should be hopping but not many picks. I did better researching on my own after reading some of Green Chips reports on alternatives.
Problem with this service is that it’s all too general and theme based. There is NO FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, just hype and hope, too often false hope. Then they ask you to pay even more to subscribe to their “premiere services”. I don’t think they’re terrible, I just don’t think it’s a true investment newsletter, it’s simply information and hype.
jeff siegels negative views on fossil fuels is very apparent in his reports.as a canadian living in a province with an oil industry even here there are wind farms and biomass power plants but only a few.i think alternative energy will play some role in energy production.his reports are very imformative and as good as any you will find anywhere in my opinion.the only question is how big a part?
I got into Greenchip stocks for a year and 4 months and have left it finally today on April 2011.
The thing is they send you these introductory emails claiming big scores in the 100% or more to get you to sign up. The reality is much more sobering.
When they say that their top stocks average blah, blah percent they are describing only their best stocks since they began.
So what do I think of them? Well…
Firstly, when they claim you could make blah blah perecent on this next stock by signing up; Most of the gains already occured before they sent you that newsletter. You find out when signing up, that the stock has already been in their portfolio for quite sometime.
That means as new subscribers you are just entering now and pumping up their stocks even further for the last crowd. That burns me up.
Secondly, I never bought their stocks at first, because they always went down shortly after they would suggest a buy. I suspect this might be because they or previous members of their elite services sell it after they suggest the buy to the rest of us.
Thirdly, if you have access to this service already, just check out their portfolios this year and all the past year ones. They did well some 3 or 4 years ago, but since then they have been mysteriously closing most positions at a loss, sometimes big. Only 1 or 2 stocks out of the suggested 10 stocks ever becomes a big winner.
Forthly, check our their average score for each year. On average their stocks barely make it over 5% a year.
Fifthly, they have a special porfolio for riskier stocks, but some stocks they own will be moved into that portfolio if the stock continues to slide. This is their risky portfolio. But wait a second, the stock you invested in didn’t start there. Now it’s considered a risky stock? Wow what a burn.
Sixthly, most of my money was made by dropping out sooner then they suggested, much sooner. That meant a conservative profit but it was better then tanking along with them.
Seventhly, I wish they would stop sending me spam email to join their other services, while neglecting to send me emails about sell positions half the time. Can you say spotty?
I have their Alternative Energy Speculator and it’s much the same circus, but at least, there, they are having better success with more double digit scores and then some big wins.