Review by Larry, January 30, 2009

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I have been a subscriber for over a year or so. His long recommendations are value based stocks, which he is willing to hold for years, while employing stop loss points (sometimes trailing, sometimes hard) as one of his sell strategies. His recommended portfolio has about 18 positions, plus or minus. He does sell short on occasion- more on that below.

Let me first get to the negative- which is you have to tolerate the writing style of Porter Stansberry. He can rub some the wrong way. You have to be willing to hear about the new luxury car be bought, or his new vacation home, etc. He has no problem telling you how great he thinks he is and how stupid other people are. Generally I would agree with his position- just most people would use a little more humility and tact in their writings - so be forewarned. Also- be ready to receive 3 emails a day from his company promoting his and his other editor’s newsletters.

But I am one who does not have a problem with people saying how good they are if they can back it up. With the devastation to the Dow this year - his 2008 recommendations are down less than 2% over the year.

He did this by employing a strict stop loss philosophy, selling covered calls to generate some income and shorting some stocks which he correctly predicted were going to fall. He wrote about the demise of Freddie and Fannie weeks before the news hit the papers and he has had other successes on the short side. He does a good job of preaching money management via position size and selling a stock who hits its stop-loss target, or whom he feels has had a material change in the fundamentals of the company.

He gives specific entry and exit points, which I think is a must for anyone to say how their recommendations have performed. He does a good job of telling subscribers to limit their risk and actually rates his recommendations from the safest to the riskiest. Each letter shows every open position, the entry point, and dividends received and current price- so he is fairly transparent- which I like.

He has had his misses, and has stopped out of a number of positions, but he has had his wins as well -and how many of us would like to be within 2% of where we were on 1/1/08? I’m not sure if his personality is one whom I would like to go spend a vacation with - but I would gladly listen to his point of view - you may not agree with all of his ideas on the market and economy - but those you do not- you at least have a reasoned position to balance your own view against. So as long as you can get past his ego- his service is worth the money.

Review by JJ, February 16, 2009

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I am a current subscriber and have had good fortune following Porter’s advice. Reviewer Larry correctly mentioned Porter’s tendency to brag about his wealth, luxury cars, the extravagant party he threw, etc. However, just as I would not trust a skinny chef or a hairdresser with an ugly haircut, I would not subscribe to a financial newletter written by a pauper.

Overall Porter’s advice is conservative and geared to the long term investor. One of his recent short recommendations, DHI, has been a great money maker for me. I am a trader as well as a long term investor, and I have shorted and covered DHI 3 times since he made the short recommendation, for a 30% profit each time.

Porter accurately predicted the demise of Freddie and Fanny, as well as GM’s troubles, and the collapse of the financial system. His political views are bluntly obvious, yet I have a hard time arguing with the man.

Overall his service is certainly worth the money.

Review by SageNot, February 16, 2009

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When he was “The Pirate Investor” yes, but only briefly since those late ’90’s. $99./yr is chump change if the overall record is good, & I’m told that it has been, even through most of 2008.

Porter was, & still is, a Libetarian, whatever that is. He has a potty mouth if you’ve ever been to one of his conferences. I agree with taking advice from wealthy investors beats the heck out of doing otherwise.

But he’s been a copy-cat with the use of options to increase your yields & has a Put Option Advisory that is $2,500./yr. Why would you want a costly put option service here at the market’s bottom? Good luck in getting an answer to that question.

I give Porter high marks for nailing GM, FNMA & FreddieMac, + the Goldman Sach’s acctg mumbo-jumbo, but then how come his total service was barely profitable? Hint: those 25% stop losses add up, & at times are very poor safeguards for a trade reversal TA. He hates us TA folks, just ask him about me as SageNot going back to his Pirate Investor days.

Review by Stan Arvkarian, February 21, 2009

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He’s interesting to read; I’ll give him that.

However, his picks are too volatile and inconsistent. Lots of dogs along with winners, and its hard to tell which will be which.

My main beef with him is he hypes a lot of stocks when he does not have inadequate knowledge about them. He will say he visited the company in person and his “analysts” have done indepth research, etc. Take this with a huge grain of salt. I got burned for around $50K on his Vaxgen pick back in the day when he along with “Dr.” David Lashmet touted this anti HIV drug company.

Also, Porter was sued by the SEC (Google that one up).

Porter is rich because of his newsletter business. I doubt he made his money through his stock picking prowess.

Buyer Beware!

Review by Carl, February 23, 2009

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I’ve been a subscriber for several years and have consistently made money except for this most recent total market ‘dump’ where hardly anyone has gone unscathed.

Review by .L.L, February 24, 2009

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Far too technical and too full of self praise. Not for the cautious investor.

Review by Rob L., March 21, 2009

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I have to hit this with one star on the “interesting to read” category, because unless you are planning on joining the Montana militia (or are already a member), all the talk about throwing the government out and how we’re disgracing the founding fathers’ original intent gets real old, real fast.

Having said that, the picks tend to be better than not, and the trailing stop strategy has saved me a lot of money. Before implementation, there were plenty of times that I would watch a stock make a “round trip” on me…from $25 a share to $40, then back down to $25 and beyond. Using trailing stops (not just stops) has really helped my investment results, and was well worth the price of subscription.

Review by JPA, March 21, 2009

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Porter has some interesting picks and some not worth a damn. His mouth is mostly his worst enemy and his constant bashing of the administration makes you wonder if his last name should be Bush instead of Stansberry. Enough already. Give the Obama people credit for at least attempting to revive this decrepit economy instead of constantly berating them. Who made you the spokesman for the American public. Ironically, some of his picks are good, some not so good, and some downright ugly. He appears to be more of an options guy than a long-term investment guy. To each his own. I may renew, I’m not sold yet

Review by M Martiz, March 21, 2009

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I love all 5 products from Stansberry, however, it’s geared to investors who have a great deal more to invest than I do so I don’t usually get in on some of the very good items. What I do enjoy the most, is the information provided, well in advance of the actual event. My husband reads THE NATION regularly, and each time I share something from one of my 5 Newsletters, he reads about it a few months later, and THE NATION is really on top of things. Just need more money to make the kinds of results reflected.

Review by NYCguy, March 22, 2009

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I have been a subscriber for about a year. Since I have libertarian leanings, I usually don’t mind Porter’s rants. His calls on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM, DHI, and a number of other companies that were essentially bankrupt but hiding it from the public have been worth way more than you pay for this newsletter. His call on silver was premature, and he stopped out with a 25% loss. His call on gold has been good, and his views on the economy have been well thought out. I can’t say that I agree with his market timing. I would rank his newsletter as one of the better ones I read. But always do your own due diligence.

Review by SteverJ, March 23, 2009

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I have traded securities for 37 years and been a securities broker for a significant portion of that time. What you need to respect about Mr. Stansberry is his understanding of the big picture. That is the governments’ role and corporate manangements’ role in creating and nurtering these economic train wrecks by their self-serving motives. If you do not have an ear to hear, then save your $99. If, on the other hand you are willing to learn, you will profit by his wisdom.
As far as his specific investment recommendations, his track record is far superior to the grossly overated and overpaid fund managers.

Review by johnK, March 23, 2009

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Me thinks PSIA is confused with S&A Digest. The D is free. It is written by whichever editor is available (usually Porter) and Porter has a tendency to, well, brag, rant, call everyone in government stupid, blundering, corrupt (my word, not his). Great stuff.

I am disappointed that the Great Madoff ponzi scheme hasn’t sparked Porter to rake the biggest Ponzi scheme in the world over the flames of his witty rhetoric. (If you think Madoff is a crook explain the difference between The Social Security System and Madoff)

As for PSIA: great advice, great analysis, great picks, sound reasoning, diversification, everything you need. I made some money. I lost some money. Overall I am UP.

Everyone should subscribe to PSIA just to get the free copy of The Digest. I love Porter.

Review by Bob S, March 25, 2009

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I was a subscriber for 2 years. I just recently canceled my subscription after losing too much money on his recommendations. I did it more to avoid the temptation to enter another of his trades. I’ve always found it to be a good read, however his consistency is poor, and of those I followed, I stopped out of every one for a 25% loss. He did have some great picks last year, like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM, etc. as others have mentioned, however those weren’t the ones I traded :-<

Review by newowl, March 25, 2009

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I lost a very large sum of money to this organization when I was foolish enough to pay for the name of a stock that just had to go up etc. It turned out to be a uranium stock which at the time was not something I would buy for reasons of conscience. I immediately called their service dept. and explained that I had not received any information that was actionable by me but they refused to give me even a partial refund.
I think that they lack integrity which nowdays results in an unoriginal newsletter.

Review by Bob S, March 26, 2009

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Just a quick update to my review yesterday. The latest recommendation from this newsletter (now a couple weeks old) was to short Continental Airlines when it was about $7.00 per share. It closed today at $10.26. Another big loser !

Review by Bernie Krantz, April 16, 2009

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You either like him or hate him. There is no middle ground You do not get to be the biggest publisher by not recommending good stocks. If people cannot handle the truth, then they do not need to purchase this service. What is in the past is in the past, so why dredge it up, I noted what some of the subscribers have stated and I wonder if they have set foot in Church. I have discovered what goes around come around. I have made more money with this service than any other service and I have been around the block a few times. What ever you do, please do not chase the stock. I call him Sir Porter because he tells you about the good and the bad. Actually, if you bother checking his figures for all of 2008, you will discover he broke even while the market took a dive.I shot the moon on two stocks and lost 30 percent of my portfolio, never ever invest more than four or five percent in one stock. Never ever invest 60 percent of your portfolio in two stocks, I learned my lesson the hard way. Everyone needs to voice their opinion on a subject, just make sure you have all the facts. Remember engage brain before opening mouth. Porter publishes many news letters and some were creamed worse than 70 percent but not PSIA.

Review by SageNot, April 25, 2009

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, my wife just took out a subscription together with another Stansberry editor. She’s not very impressed with either letter, but this isn’t a kind market so we’ll see.

I must correct a few mis-understandings listed above:

1.) You don’t need to subscribe to PSIA to get the FREE S & A Digest. Any Stansberry letter by one of his editors gets you the FREE S & A!

2.) A poster above claims that Porter didn’t honor a cancellation, period. That’s never happened to me or the many dozens of subscribers to his publications that I personally know. I think that poster might’ve meant the Agora Publication, who underwrites Porter’s work. Porter may be a lot of things, but he’ll never not honor your right to cancel & send you a partial return of $$, or 100% return if you cancel within that time period offered.

His Put strategy is too pricey & I told him so, so by coincidence he’s reduced the cost by $1,000. for the time being. If you’re tempted to subscribe to that Put Strategy, make sure you understand the VIX ratio. Readings under 40 won’t be as profitable as readings north of 40, Porter will tell you that himself.

Review by Mark Johnson, June 1, 2009

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Value for the Money

I have been a subscriber since the first of this year, and have several open trades that are home runs, and likely have more to go. There have been a few losers, but they were cut short by the trailing stop, some moved in my direction initially before reversing, and I got out at break even.

Overall I have been very satisfied with his service, more so than the others his company offers. In terms of the advertising they send out, it is how they market their products. The majority of these are free dailies also provide some FREE insights into the markets. Well, FREE in terms of no monetary exchange, but since the do contain advertising, perhaps they are not truly free. However you can unsubscribe from these free daily emails if you like.

I prefer to jump over the ads, though sometimes they do hook me, and at least get me to check them out. In terms of marketing, the teasers do a good job, and I find that I can learn a great deal about marketing by studying their sales letters, then use what I learn in my own business. This way I am making the most of what they send out, and if somethign sounds good and has a 100% refund policy, I might even check it out, though that doesn’t mean I’ll stick with it if it doesn’t live up to the hype.

Sure he’s rude and crude at times, and he ads personal comments that may discourage some people from buying his services, but that’s not a big concern to me as long as he delivers, and so far for me, he has been right on!

Review by pinkotter, June 15, 2009

Overall Rating
Performance of Picks/Advice	Not Rated
Consistency	Not Rated
Interesting to Read/Educational
Customer Service	Not Rated
Value for the Money

I signed up for Porter Stansberry’s investment advisory, about two weeks ago, since they were giving a substantial reduction of fees for readers of your newsletter. It is my understanding that they will charge me about $39 for the whole of next year if I don’t cancel it within a month.
It is too early for me to comment on the performance of their picks, but it provides interesting reading and appears to base their conclusions on reasonable assumptions.
However, I keep getting e-mails inviting me to subscribe to other very expensive newsletters, which is really irritating. I wish they stop doing that, and advertise on their website so that those readers who are interested can read them. Thanks.

Review by Jake, July 10, 2009

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I find it refreshing to have an honest point of view once in a while. There are wayyy too many newsletters that will tell you to buy GE. Porter has an interesting view of the investing world that sometimes leads to large payoffs. Sure, he’s not always right, but always interesting to consider. I find his honesty to tell things as he sees them refreshing and even if I don’t agree, he is entitled to his own opinion. I have subscription to about 15 newsletter, but he is probably either #1 or #2 along with dan amoss’s strategic short report which costs 10 times as much. For those people who were harping upon the put strategy report without having ever read it, this report has been wildly successful and average picks are up about 80%

Review by Portfolio Man, July 10, 2009

Does someone have the link for the $39 yearly subscription? The only one I see is for $149? Any help is appreciated.
thx

Review by Kaaren W, July 11, 2009

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I have been with Porter close to one year now. I also subscribe to a number of other Agora publications. I am doing it as an exercise while I am studying to become a professional trader in both stocks and options.I like to compare their advice to what I am learning. I have found Porter to be quite refreshing in his honest opinionated approach. I feel he truly “cares” about his work and what he is recommending. He has nothing to hide, all his current trades and new recommendations are included in his newsletter. He’s not always right, but he is ahead and on top of his game. If you are educating yourself whilst reading his newsletter, then you can do your own due diligence, stick to your own trading rules, puts your stops in place, not necessarliy the 25% he recommends. If you remain disciplined, then I feel Porter has a lot to offer. I think I paid $99, which is peanuts compared to all the insights you gain from reading his indepth reports. I like that he is successful and I don’t feel he brags, he speaks the language of any successful person. It’s no big deal to drive a Mercedes or enjoy an expensive bottle wine at an “up town” restaurant. At the end of the day, Porter is excellent value for very little cost.

Review by MB, July 12, 2009

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Porter Stansberry’s Investment Advisory is the mouthpiece of a radical libertarian whose picks are right about 50 % of the time. Better off flipping a coin. I’ve been a reader for a year.

Review by bill, July 30, 2009

I have subscribed to several of Stansberry’s newsletters and can verify that he stated that GM would be bankrupt when it was selling for $39.00 per share!!!! Also called Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac correctly.I have been very satisfied with his picks.Try him, it only costs $99 per year for his newsletter. What a bargain!!Bill Brown

Review by J.P.L, August 2, 2009

Response to SageNot, February 16, 2009.
Sagenot indicated that Porter “has a Put Option Advisory that is $2,500./yr. Why would you want a costly put option service here at the market’s bottom? Good luck in getting an answer to that question.”
I believe the strategy is to sell naked PUT options, which is essentially a bet that the underlying stock won’t go down, or down not too much. So, when the market is at the bottom, that would be a great strategy to use.
I too asked them to reduce the price from $2500. Now that it’s less, I’m considering subscribing.

Review by FlatironsJR, August 18, 2009

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I first subscribed to an S&A newsletter focused on penny stocks that Dan Ferris edited. That newsletter had a bad performance. Porter ended the penny stock newsletter because he did not like the performance, even though it was one of his best revenue generators. He then gave each subscriber a full year of PSIA. I have been a subscriber since then. I currently have 10 stocks in my portfolio from PSIA and the returns range from +34% to -6%, with only one stock in the red.

I am a Personal Wealth member, so I also receive 3-4 other S&A subscriptions. I am pleased with all of them. I think the value cannot be beat.

I have recommended Porter’s advisory to friends and colleagues.

Review by Saltaway, August 20, 2009

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I’ve subscribed to the PSIA newsletter for about 6 months now. He’s not always right, but who is? I love his rants (although I only agree about 1/2 the time.) and always learn something from what I read. He is paranoid about Obama and the federal government and you should know that before reading. As a libertarian myself I appreciate what he has to say. He’s helped me make some good $$$ this year, he’s entertained me, I’ve learned from him and he’s pointed out some good investments that I never would have found. What else can you ask for for only $99 ? Great value. Worth reading.

Review by JTW40, August 31, 2009

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Performance of Picks/Advice
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Value for the Money

I initially subscribed to Steve Sjuggerud’s publication, which I still like, and then decided to join the “Pirate Alliance,” since — after an initial hunk of money — cost the same as simply continuing the SS subscription. I still like my decision, but as I have learned more, I have realized how ideological PS and his colleagues are, and I realize that the newsletters are better for articulating positions I disagree with (politically) than they are for steering me into good investments (economically).

Porter is the most angry and the most doctrinaire of his stable of writers. His advice has cost me badly about 80% of the time, but the other 20% came close to making up for it, so I just about broke even with him. I don’t like his rants, I think the SEC is entirely within its rights to go after him, and I don’t think it does any good to be implacably opposed to EVERYTHING that Government does.

Porter is lively, I grant him that. He is delighted to insult you if you disagree with him. He is probably the Ultra-Libertarian, if I understand that mean-spirited philosophy correctly. But I have simply stopped reading his economic advice. His “investments” have been wrong too often, and his “speculations” are not appropriate for my IRA.

I would not trust him, even if you agree with his “right field” (it’s hard to see home plate from there) philosophy.

Review by J Laurent, October 8, 2009

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Overall, more winners than losers, and despite his sometimes fringe views on things(which for the most part i agree with), his investment strategy is pretty sound and value based. If you follow his recs as written and dont try and improvise, you will come out ahead in my experience.

The only other negative is the email spam you will get drilled with as a subscriber.

Review by STUNG, October 21, 2009

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If you subscribe to any of the SA newsletters you will be bombarded with promotions for other newsletters within their group. Today’s headline was “860% if you’re in by tonight!” These offers will claim to have a sure bet, that will double, triple or better if you subscribe to yet another service. Don’t believe it! I just invested in one which had was represented as a carefully research recommendation from Porter’s best friend, he felt so strongly about it he recommended allocating 25% of your portfolio to the stock and said that you’d be an idiot not to buy this stock. The claim was that a coming announcement was so significant, the stock would increase 50% in a matter of hours, but of course he couldn’t say what the announcement was. What actually happened was the stock tanked, down 16% in a matter of hours. There was not an “announcement” other than that revenues increased a mere 3%! Imagine a professional believing in a modest sales increase would cause the stock to rise 50% in a matter of hours and making it sound like there was much more. These promotional letters are a daily ritual with Stansberry. Do not believe them, you are not missing out on anything! Save your money and keep your money safe by not listening to his promotional letters-they are a waste of time and money.

Review by Gumshoe Fan, November 2, 2009

Not submitting a review for this newsletter in particular but just a general comment as a reader of many newsletters…

Regarding the comment above by “J Laurent” on October 8, 2009 where they said: “The only other negative is the email spam you will get drilled with as a subscriber.” I would think that if you’re saying you’re a “subscriber” then by definition it’s not spam. Perhaps the quantity of emails you might receive from newsletters you subscribe to is a separate issue.

And to the point of the person who said they “refused to give me even a partial refund” while I can’t speak to that specific situation I agree with another reviewer who said they were skeptical that this was in fact the case. I have not seen this with any newsletter publisher or seller of goods online in general as most if not all companies offer full/partial refunds.

Review by JPL, November 3, 2009

Hi, Gumshoe Fan,
I definitely have to agree with “J Laurent” on October 8, 2009.
S&A does send a lot of unsolicited teasers about subscriptions, subscriptions that a person already has, and does not have. One would think that they should know enough not to send teasers to those already subscribed. The emails really are a turn-off.
If spam is not the correct terminology, then “junk-mail” would definitely apply.
.
Take care,

JPL
11-3-2009