Review by Bbo Grievews, February 14, 2009

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+++++

Review by Stan, February 15, 2009

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I subscribed to this a long time ago. I took it for at least one year. He seems like a smart and successful man, also very reasonable and honest. He’s just too conservative for me. He always shoots for 10 to 12% per year return. Of course, I would have loved that kind of return last year, but other years, I wouldn’t like that. He’s not creative.

One thing I do like about him is that he really tried to teach people his investing philosophy and approach. He doesn’t just recommend stocks and mutual funds.

Review by Steve, February 23, 2009

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The Intelligence Report is a very comprehensive publication, providing a great deal of technical analysis to supplement the market commentary. Despite this, I ended up deciding not to renew my subscription for one primary reason: I grew tired of being forced to read through Mr. Young’s extremely conservative views (to include telling his subscribers of the disasters that await if one were to vote for a candidate or issue that would be Republican Party approved) before getting to the solid investment advice. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an infrequent occurrence; rather, it appeared in practically every issue. If the editor would avoid insulting half of his subscriber base, I would likely subscribe again.

Review by Kurt, March 7, 2009

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I have been a subscriber for over 10 years, and plan on continuing with this newsletter as long as he keeps writing.
My single biggest success with him was Harley Davidson, of which he writes often. My cost basis after splits was in the single digits and at it’s peak I was up about 1400% or more after perhaps 10+ yrs. I sold as he advised, but foolishly I choose to not sell not all (for tax reasons). In 2007 he wrote that for many people 2008 would have the feel of a depression, which was another prescient call.
I have subscribed to many other newsletters over the past 10 - 15 yrs and have found Young’s consistency to be very solid.
His investment style is often too conservative for me, but in retrospect had I stuck solely with him I would be much more financially secure today.
As for the political commentary, he includes this as part of his overall teaching and as an explanation of his views on economic trends, risks, and opportunities.
He believes that his intended audience is comprised of business owners, investors, savers, and other productive members of society, not left leaning, big government advocating, welfare enthusiasts. If your political views slant left then he may be offensive to you at times, but he always uses a wealth of facts, figures, and other data to back up his positions.

Review by Bud, March 20, 2009

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Interesting to Read/Educational	Not Rated
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Value for the Money

The publication is ok and usually right on the money. He is a thorough researcher but I can’t stand his right wing drivel. So far as he is concerned, if you aren’t a right wing republican you are just plain ignorant. I would have hated like hell if he were a senator when Joe McCarthy was calling everyone a Commie Pinko socialist.

Review by Oliver Vandagriff, March 21, 2009

Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Reports
Overall Rating: 3 stars
Performance of picks/advice: 2 stars
Consistancy: 4 stars
Interesting to Read/educational: 5 stars
Customer Service: 3 stars
Value for the money: 2 stars

I have subscribed to the Intelligence Report for six months as of March 09 (cost $59/yr). Young is a very engaging and passionate writer and seems to know a lot about all venues of investment. I really like the research charts and graphs on his website, http://www.richardcyoung.com. However, His etf and fund picks suck. All of the domestic etfs and mutual funds he recommended are down 7% or more. I invested in BDV (Blackrock) and VFIIX (Vanguard) and lost money in both (BDV -$1,302 and VFIIX -$330)after keeping both for about five months. And they were the two top recs at the time. I have done much better with my own picks. Timing is important, of course. Also, he was pushing investing in the financials and car companies and until recently (for financials). I disagreed with him and I was right. Early on I did invest in Ford (F) preferred stock and sold out two weeks later, making about 8%. But I wouldn’t touch it now.

Review by Levi, March 21, 2009

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If you are nearing retirement, or in retirement with a fair amount of moolah to invest, this is a very good choice to look at for good ongoing advice. Of course he isn’t always on the money, but he openly admits when he has misjudged a situation. He is very right wing in his opinions, so you have to keep some perspective on what he says, but more often than not he gets it right with his economic outlook, and with his analysis of sector opportunities. He can be a little stubborn re giving up on some of his stock/fund picks. Very good advice in support of retirement planning!!

Review by Pete, March 25, 2009

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As someone nearing retirement, I like Dick Young’s conservative, consistent investing approach. His right-wing political views rub me the wrong way, but I manage to ignore them. His advice about the importance of building wealth through the compounding of interest and dividends has altered my thinking. His ideas on future market trends are an interesting read.

Review by Dave, April 18, 2009

Dick’s smug “I-am-all-knowing-and-I’m-doing-all-you-twits-SUCH-a-favor-here” attitude can be at times reassuring, but is also often annoying. Since his most recent diatribe against the Chinese stock market (worst-performing in 2008 having declined more than 50%, and he asserted that despite China’s economic growth their stock market may well not recover and was not worth investing in) the Chinese market has risen about 50%. To his credit, his losses have been less than those of some other newsletter writers.

Review by tony c, May 2, 2009

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i have been a subscriber for about ten years right when i started investing what little money i had at the time and wanted some expert advice that i could afford. after researching several letters i picked his, for the most part he has given me some winners unp,plc,pny to name a few but also some losers lately with ge bing my biggest loss on paper as i haven’t sold it yet but bought in the mid 30’s as recommended tadeing at about 12 now but i guess even he couldn’t see this train wreck coming, but thats why i paid for some advice to warn me, so much for that. don’t like is right wing view’s wish he would spend more time writeing about the market maybe he would have seen this wreck. not sure if i’ll renew i can lose money on my own without having to pay.

Review by Ray, May 13, 2009

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Richard Young’s Intelligence Reports has ben a favorite with me for over 8 years.A conservative philosphy both financial as well as editorial.Most of all,a consistenly good read.Fundamentals for recommendations have generally been first rate.His weakness for me is that stocks are removed from the list without comment.Did I hear “caveat emptor”

Review by henry, May 30, 2009

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I took this letter for a year or two, and found it not particularly good,especially the fund recommendations. Although some of his diatribe was interesting, it became so right wing I was disgusted with it and did not renew my subscription. I signed up for investment advice, not political rantings.

Review by chick, June 14, 2009

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I used to subscribe to this newsletter quite awhile ago, and dropped it for reasons I will explain later.

The format of the newsletter was to recommend stocks, but never offer guidance as to entry and exit points. There was no portfolio to track so it is hard to say whether a person would make or lose money if they had purchased his stocks when he recommended them. No portfolio, no portfolio performance record, no accountability. Hmmn.

A novice (as I was) would probably find the ’special reports’ good reading. He would lay out some rules for certain investments, and give rationale for the rules. Generally, the rules would seem very logical, but …

When I started subscribing, he had a hard and fast rule: *never buy a bond mutual fund* with very plausible rationale about why bond funds were inferior to and more expensive than individual bonds. Suddenly one issue, with no explanation for the switch in philosophy, he started recommending … bond mutual funds!

He recommended divesting of gold and PM related investments at what turned out to be pretty much the bottom for gold.

Fortunately, I did not buy most of his (tech heavy) stock picks; if I had, I’d have been wiped out. Well we know what happened to tech; he held on til the top which he totally did not see coming. Then (when it was too late to avoid tremendous losses) abruptly switched to materials, land and commodities. The funny thing is, he never admitted he goofed; he still kept spamming my mailbox with claims of what a safe investor he is and how he never loses money. I got disgusted and dropped my subscription.

Review by H, August 11, 2009

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The newsletters used to be a decent source of information. But now between the lack of portfolio, research/documentation, the political rants, and the wealth of other e-newsletters and online sources, it was no longer worth it.

Review by Rhoads, October 14, 2009

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I love Dick Young and I enjoy his political views as they pretain to the market. I think he is correct to asess politics as they relate to the market. I like his newsletter and his reccomendations. it is very conservitive, and you would not lose a huge amount of money if you follow his advice.

Review by John, November 30, 2009

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I think the reviewer Chick (June 14, 2009) hit most of the high points of this newsletter. Young seems like a honest (albeit right of Atilla the Hun) investment advisor. However, he offers nothing most investors could not figure out themselves. When I had the subscription he was constantly recommending the Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund. Really, do I need a newsletter to advise me to buy an Index fund? Also, he cleverly never keeps track of a portfolio return of his recommendations. I guess all that messy housekeeping would give an unwanted, accurate view at his real investment returns. He is also lacking in man-ing up to mistakes and just ingores them with new recommendations. Not the worst newsletter but you can do better for $99.00. If you are a right-wing nut you might enjoy the commentary.

Review by Dave, December 16, 2009

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Value for the Money

I am starting to worry that Dick has inhaled too many fumes from his Harley. He is now touting something called the HydroPhi Car Engine, which appears to me (and I am not an expert in evaluating these things, so this is my opinion only) to be an automotive variant of the old perpetual motion scam. The gist appears to be to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen and then recombine them to liberate energy to run the car. Problem is, it takes more energy to do the initial water breakage than is provided by the subsequent re-joining of H and oxygen, so all the energy produced (plus some extra) has to be used to do subsequent breakage, and nothing is left to move the car. The extra bit (to offset losses inherent in all energy interconversions) needs to be provided by fuel or a battery, and still no car movement. What’s the advantage? Dick is claiming the car will drive across the US with no refueling. Well, given enough fuel to start with, that may be possible, but I don’t think that’s what he has in mind. Perhaps the problem here is that Dick was a Finance major and may not have needed a physics class to graduate. Or perhaps I am missing something.

Review by JRM, January 2, 2010

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I have subscribed for several years. Advise has always been solid. I haven’t always followed it, but I wish I had. I very much like his editorial comments - I don’t see anything wrong with being conservative and right wing. He spends too much time on Harley Davidson - just ride the bike and forget the rest. I too have problem with his eliminating certain stocks and not explaining why. Overall it is o.k. - I will most likely continue unless I can find better advise elsewhere - anybody have any suggestions?

Review by John, January 4, 2010

Hey JRM,

I have tried about all of them including the Intelligence Report. The best as far as I am concerned for low maintenance and effective portfolio management is the Chartist for individual stocks and/or Chartist Mutual Fund Letter. Totally missed the 2008-early 2009 meltdown by being in cash. Got back into stocks in July 2009. Not perfect all of the time, but pretty darn close. It does time the market with analytical tools. This letter is always rated high in Hulberts. You can still read Dick or watch Fox news for the Liberal “bad” and conservative “good” propaganda.