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Oxford Bond Advantage

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33 Comments
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Lorne Cutler
Irregular
Lorne Cutler
July 28, 2012 3:40 pm

While I have no problem with you putting an ad like this on your newsletter (we all have to make a living), it would have been nice if it was a text ad rather than making us sit through 30 minutes of a sales pitch to find out his newsletter promotional rate is $995. The product could be easily guessed at in a minute or two even without a thinkolater. It didn’t however address the issue (for me at least) as to how easy it is to buy these products in Canada when you only have a Canadian brokerage account.

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Liz
Guest
Liz
April 24, 2019 4:21 pm
Reply to  Lorne Cutler

I agree this seems to be all geared to the American market.

Goldbug
Guest
Goldbug
October 1, 2012 7:37 am

I think that they should keep the $995 prcie especially for smaller users like myself with only $7000 to invest. Although Steve’s picks for bonds can easily make back the $995, I don’t think $4995 for normal subscription is a reasonable price. I will keep this service as long as it is $995 a year. I have worked with his Bond Trader in the past with great success and made about $2000 in profits with a starting investment of $5000 so now I have $7000. Steve keeps you informed of the general markets and keeps you up to date with his picks. His first pick is really his last pick from Bond Trader so i am keeping those bonds I bought before.

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moneypenny
Guest
moneypenny
October 6, 2012 12:13 pm

About 7 years ago I paid $5k to be a “chairman’s circle” member of the oxford club so all the VIP newsletters are now included in a $125 annual renewal. This latest, the Bond Advantage, is one of the best. This give me the opportunity to make very good money with quite low risk. I’ve bought most of his recommendations so far, all at par or a discount with the expected return on these short term bonds averaging about 8%. That is great in this environment. I like their perpetual income portfolio and the momentum trader as well and also have about 20 of the Trading portfolio positions. It is money well spent. The marketing hype gets a little wearing, but they at least produce.

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Michael A. Sanders
Guest
Michael A. Sanders
October 3, 2016 5:36 am
Reply to  moneypenny

Hey, moneypenny: Are you really bragging about 8%? Seriously? Wow! I can beat that wth an index fund. And, it didn’t cost me $125 yearly to find out how to do it, either.

MachineGhost
Member
MachineGhost
March 21, 2017 12:06 am

You hit the nail on the head.

Davis
Guest
Davis
June 11, 2018 3:17 am

how does an index fund work?

bvigorda
bvigorda
September 25, 2013 1:01 pm

I like Steve McDonald and I like his newsletter. Just do as he says and buy small positions and you’ll do well. For stocks I like James Stack’s Investech for getting me through all the scary times. He has called all the major trend changes and he helps me ride the rough patches that amount to nothing more than corrections. For stock picks I subscribe to The Dividend Machine and I am making money with this. I believe these are the only three newsletters any investor needs.

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Michael A. Sanders
Guest
Michael A. Sanders
October 3, 2016 5:58 am
Reply to  bvigorda

Hey Oxford Club employee (read TROLL), I mean bvigorda,

Is moneypenny your alter ego? By the way, small positions = small money. Bonds don’t pay much to begin with. That’s why they’re safer than stocks. If Mr. McDonald’s recommendations were all as successful as you suggest they are, provide proof, if you can. Sorry, but your comment doesn’t pass the smell test.

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daddyovb
Member
daddyovb
June 12, 2015 10:51 am

Beware of guarantees. Seems self-evident but really, beware!! New to bonds I believed the professorially delivered advice that “the MEAR is guaranteed.” Unfortunately, neither the MEAR nor the bond is guaranteed when you buy junk. A single bond default can quickly negate any amount of 5% yields. So, for my 3 – 4 year committment to Mr McDonald I have a net 0% yield. Bonds my *ss.

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Michael A. Sanders
Guest
Michael A. Sanders
October 3, 2016 5:46 am
Reply to  daddyovb

Hey daddyovb,

Thank you for your honest review. Mr. McDonald’s claims to have made such returns. But, we only have his word that he achieved the stellar performance he proclaims to have received in his portfolio. Where is the proof? Hey Mr. McDonald: either put up or shut up. Sorry, but I need more than his say-so to believe it. I don’t know him from Adam. But, hey. I get it. He has to sell subscriptions if he wants to keep his job at The Oxford Club. So, if he can sell one of of every 100 suckers who read his newsletters, it’s a good day for him, huh?

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Sher
Sher
July 4, 2016 3:22 pm

I have been a subscriber since 2013. He started out well, however his picks in the Coal and Energy industries have mostly turned out to be duds. 6 of his picks have all gone bankrupt. Losing 100% of your money on 6 recommendations, when the other 20 or so recommendations pay you roughly 7% ….means you need about 5 years …just to break even! So I am not that happy with the service.

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Michael A. Sanders
Guest
Michael A. Sanders
October 3, 2016 6:08 am
Reply to  Sher

Hey, A.S.,

Were you able to get your subscription fee refunded? All the online sales material I’ve seen state that refunds are offered if sought within the prescribed review period.

Also, did you follow up Mr. McDonald’s research with your own? Or, did you just blindly follow his recommendations because you were either too busy or didn’t have either the energy or the desire to research said recommendations?

I only ask because I would never blindly follow anybody’s advice without conducting my own due diligence. Anybody can make a recommendation.

And, if, like Mr. McDonald, one makes enough of them, then, one is likely to be right on occasion. Then, all one has to do is to publish the successful results in a newsletter and hide the failures. Then, one can start their own newsletter, like the self-proclaimed gurus at The Oxford Club did. Just saying…

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Sher
Sher
March 13, 2017 2:18 pm

No Michael,

I did not try and get my money back. I also did not do my own research, but I did blindly follow Steve’s advice. I also probably overloaded a bit on the coal sector (Peabody, Arch Coal, Walter Energy…) and did not diversify as much as Steve recommended. Even though, I did not expect so many companies to go bankrupt….

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Michael A. Sanders
Guest
Michael A. Sanders
October 3, 2016 5:33 am

He leaves out one critical detail from the income examples he cites in his promotional video: Over what period of time are the examples given? 42.96% is NOT impressive if it is over a period of 42.96 years. I don’t need to waste $995 (let alone $4,995) for information on how to earn 1% yrly.

I can beat that with the lowest-paying CD sold by my bank. Since he doesn’t tell us what time period he’s referring to, it could be anything. The fact that he leaves out said info. from what is an obvious promotional sales video is very telling.

If the returns were truly as great as he’s trying to suggest they are, then, why the vague reference about the length of time required to earn said returns? Hopefully, the federal government has some law in place to protect those consumers who blindly fall for this promotion, if it is a scam, as I fear it is.

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MachineGhost
Member
MachineGhost
March 21, 2017 12:16 am

I’ve noticed it usually happens within a year or two. Any corporate bond is going to return capital gains if bought at a discount to par, but those types of large double digit gains are usually from rebounding after a market or industry selloff or the company calling (buying out) the bonds. So it works like this… if you buy bonds when everything is frothy you’ll get the yield income; if you buy after the a serious correction, you’ll rack up the capital gains in addition to the yield. The trick is to avoid the garbage.

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roachs
roachs
March 9, 2017 10:14 pm

Buy $1K bonds, and make $63K guaranteed by federal law, well alright sign me up, $1.2K out of my own pocket no problem I make that back and more. I’m feeling good and riding the wave.
Hmmm, it says up to $63K, well my account is not huge but if I can get 10% of the $63K of that it’s still $6.3K, that still not so bad, I’ll be $5.1K on the plus side, besides its guaranteed by federal law, I’m still feeling good, No problemo.
Wait a minute, This is over a period of 2-3 years to make the 6.3K? at $1.2K a year for subscription fees that’s $3.6K minus the $6.3K calculates to $2.5K, my non huge account could use a nice boost of $2.5K in 2-3 years, ok I’m still interested. Not feeling as high or smart just numb.
Hold on! Bonds are not as liquid as stocks? My broker sells them in 5 or 10 lot and if they are trading in the secondary market around face value, that would be $5K or $10K that’s like %50 of my broker age account and I have to find a bond broker to get the 1 or 2 bond deals? Not feeling the love anymore.
Ouch!! 5%/year on a $1K bond, two payments at $25 each for a grand total of $50/yr for each bond, if I’m thinking 1 or 2 bonds that’s $100, the commissions would eat up all the earnings for the first year and I can’t even discuss the subscription.
OK, let’s get back down to earth and figure out how much it would take to make a profit from bonds and pay the yearly subscription and fees. Commission + yearly subscription is $1250, 5% face value bond pays $50/Yr. 1250/50=25 Bonds that are doing about 5% and if buying around face value (25*$1000) that’s $25K, dam not rich enough but it’s guaranteed by the federal law right? I can try real hard and put together a $30K brokerage account and after 2-3 years make $250 on top of that, that’s a 0.83% profit for those that are following. The bank savings account is looking real good at this time.
WTF! The Stock/Bond distribution is 40/60, hell I have trouble getting the brokerage account to $30K let alone $60K. I’ve got to get QWERTY off my forehead.
WTF2!! These are corporate bonds and the interest is taxable? Making very little money on the interest anyway but FEDs want their share and is still taxed at least 15%, this sucks and I’m Feeling like I need Obamacare. I’m taking my money and going elsewhere!!!
WTF3!!! The company filed bankruptcy and all the money is lost!!! I may get something from the courts in 5-6 years but only a fraction of the amount. AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Honey, I’m getting a second job, I know I won’t see you much and I regret that, Oh by the way, be sure to get one of those pitching nets for the kid because I won’t be around to throw the ball back.
P.S. Thank god I came across Stock Gumshoe before all this really happened, except for the $1.2K education. Oh and happy belated 10th.

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MachineGhost
Member
MachineGhost
March 21, 2017 12:26 am
Reply to  roachs

Very funny. Yes, its unfortunate that you need a lot of capital to play in the corporate bond sandbox, both for adequate diversification (20+ issues) as well as to afford yearly subscription fees. You can buy 1 or 2 bonds online at Vanguard and usually can get just one if it says otherwise if you call the bond desk. There are also mini-bonds at $100 par starting to become available. but it’ll be a long time before a lot of companies issue that. Is any of this fair? Of course not. But that’s how the cookie crumbles.

What you’re really missing by not buying individual corporate bonds is the double digit capital gains due to the way bond funds are structured (they must always be fully invested, regardless of what price they pay for). If you can get that effect in the stock market with a lot less expense, you’re not missing much other than the legal protection.

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blue cat
Irregular
blue cat
December 27, 2017 12:22 am
Reply to  MachineGhost

At eTrade also sometimes one can get 1 or 2 bonds. A lot of 5 is commonly available, 10 almost always. If the offer requires buying too many bonds, you can solicit a bid for the number you want. It takes about 10 minutes and the offer appears. There has been no need for me to open a special account just to buy Steve’s recommendations.

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darkseid1998
Guest
darkseid1998
August 25, 2017 11:04 am

I was a fan of Bond Trader and Oxford Bond Advantage until he picked some bonds that went into default. I made some money on the older bonds with a $10,000 portfolio which went up to $14,000 under the old Bond Trader with a net gain of $3000 considering the fact I had to subtract the $995 fee for the service. But then under the coal company collapse several of his bonds collapsed and then some of his other bonds collapsed from other industries. A total of 7 out of 16 of my bonds defaulted and I lost the gains and then some. My portfolio after the defaults is now worth only $6500 plus I had to pay the subscription fee of $995 so my portfolio is worth only $5500. He did do the sensible thing in recommending what to do after the default and whether or not to accept or reject the follow up offers to salvage what’s left but I was no longer able to stay with this service and continue to pay $995 to lose more money.

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Gordon Maddox
Guest
Gordon Maddox
September 4, 2017 9:41 am

PLEASE END MY SUBSCRIPTION to this service! Where do I return the DOCUMENTS you mailed to me? I am 87 years old, almost deaf and cannot perform as I would need to for this service.

grobb1934
November 28, 2017 3:36 pm

I like the Oxford Bond Advantage and Steve McDonald’s picks. The interest payments on the bonds are a welcome site when they hit your portfolio. The only problems I had was loading up too much on the cheap coal bonds. Lost a bunch on those. Keep purchases small and follow the percentages recommended for each rating and you will do ok with low risk.

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blue cat
Irregular
blue cat
December 26, 2017 8:38 pm
Reply to  grobb1934

I basically like bonds. My stock portfolio now has a bunch of growth stocks that don’t pay dividends; I have capital gains I don’t want to take right now for tax reasons. My bond portfolio gives cash flow. Steve does find some good ones. However one, clearly labelled speculative, bought at 20c on the dollar, defaulted before paying a single interest payment to me, although it had been paying for 3 years previously. After a couple days, however, I was able to get out with a small profit. However, Steve made the exorbitant claim based on incorrect arithmetic. When I bought, before the bond defaulted, I paid 4 1/2 months of accrued interest. When I sold, 3 months later and after the default, the bond was trading flat. Agreed, you don’t generally include accrued interest on bonds, but in this case it is not accurate to say people made 113% annualized. Everybody lost their accrued interest. Subtract that off and we didn’t do well. But despite the default I and other readers escaped with our heads.
In some cases there have been calls and tenders so that actual results have been better than the MEARs indicate. Is it worth $4995 a year? No way, and I have a bunch of positions. $995? Maybe. If I don’t renew perhaps they will come up with a better offer.
A lot of the recommended bonds mature in 2023. Before then there are only a few maturing bonds. This gives an unbalanced cash flow. I realize finding anything in this interest rate environment that pays a halfway decent coupon is tough. Would I like bonds issued by AAPL paying 2%? Nope! So the 4.5 to 7% yields with a 5 year maturity make good sense, and he or his staff obviously went to some trouble to find these. Could I do better buying stocks? In 2017, obviously. But I am pleased to have a substantial bond portfolio for the cash flow to keep my bills paid when the market takes a correction, long overdue. I have my stock portfolio for the capital gains, but do not want to be forced to sell a growth stock at the wrong time to pay my bills.

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Davis
Guest
Davis
June 11, 2018 3:14 am

I have bought a few of these services Oxford as well, and they all upsell you to buy, But the part that gets me meaning pisses me off is that they always have some other pitch not included buy this and get that info sounds great ill try then buy this for other info why am I not getting this info with my first subscription it’s coming from the same company and it’s only 1 or 2 picks. I have not made the kinda of money the sales pitch claimed. I have made a few dollars but I can’t buy a new car with it or a house or condo not even renovate a room in a house can’t pay a semester of college can’t buy a Mcintosh amp or receiver. they have good recommendations but in every case you have to have the money on hand to take advantage and I don’t have it on hand at all times so you will always miss out on some of the picks or not able to buy the amount that will give you the most profit unless you have a lot of money just lying around doing nothing.

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Barry Boughan
Guest
Barry Boughan
February 18, 2020 3:11 pm

They change the rules every time they change managers.(3 times in the last few months)When a bond in their portfolio has a corporate action they should make a recommendation immediately. They also do not respond to e-mails.

Chris
Irregular
Chris
February 19, 2020 12:03 am
Reply to  Barry Boughan

I am distressed about only bond pick from the new editor only has a ISIN number, not a CUSIP number. I cannot buy the bond from any of my brokers!

Hannibal Smith
Member
Hannibal Smith
February 19, 2020 8:38 pm
Reply to  Chris

CUSIP is in the ISIN. Its the 9 digits after the first two (country code) and excluding the last, twelfth digit (check digit).

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blue cat
Irregular
blue cat
February 21, 2020 10:13 pm
Reply to  Hannibal Smith

Thank you very much. I did not know that.

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Ken
February 21, 2020 10:01 pm
Reply to  Chris

Same here. E-Trade will not handle this ISIN. Don’t want to start having my investments all over the place either.
Steve’s been gone for a few weeks and only one recommendation with the ISIN I.D. Whats up with that.

blue cat
Irregular
blue cat
February 21, 2020 10:17 pm
Reply to  Ken

from my Merrill Lynch broker I learned that this particular TSLA bond is only available to institutions and cannot be purchased by an individual investor. So the new editor so far has produced zero useful new recommended bonds. Not acceptable.

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Hannibal Smith
Member
Hannibal Smith
March 25, 2020 3:46 pm

[DELETED]

Blue cat
Guest
Blue cat
March 25, 2020 3:52 pm
Reply to  Hannibal Smith

Apparently the last one did not work out. There was a recommendation today of bond hecsays is priced at 87. On ETrade when I asked for a quote the ask was 99.2. Só iam afraid at present this letter is not a good buy.

Hannibal Smith
Member
Hannibal Smith
March 25, 2020 3:49 pm

What happened? Another new editor! I had my doubts about a Wall Street alumni taking over, but its annoying we don’t get any inside scoop after all that ebullience.

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