Review by wrpark, June 30, 2009

Overall Rating
Performance of Picks/Advice
Consistency
Interesting to Read/Educational
Customer Service
Value for the Money

i have been using mcdonald’s bond trader since september, 08 having bought 30 of his recommended bonds to-date. i have also sold 6 of the bonds realizing annualized returns from 7% to 123% (roi’s 3% to 34%). if i sold all my bonds today, i would realize about 15% annualized return.

the major drawback to buying these corporate bonds is that i must buy a minimum of 10 bonds through my online broker. i must also pay $25 for each buy or sell order transaction (that is NOT $25 per bond).

since mcdonald gives the specific cusip, you are able to order just the actual bond he recommends at or near his suggested price. there have been a few instances where i was unable to get the bond due to price and/or lack of availability, but buying has really not been an issue (nor selling at my requested price).

mcdonald uses a staggered maturity date for the bonds and usually doesn’t go out more than 3 to 4 years from the current date, thus negating the inflation issue.

i don’t mean to be a shrill for this service but it has been by far the most worthwhile service that i have subscribed to.

Review by Goldbug, September 1, 2009

Overall Rating
Performance of Picks/Advice
Consistency
Interesting to Read/Educational
Customer Service
Value for the Money

This service is the reason I paid $5K for the lifetime service from the wealthsociety as this is one of the few services that trades bonds and it is the best one. Steve tracks the bonds to make sure they gain and this service produced only a few losses out of a hundred bonds. However, to trade bonds you need at least $1K a bond unlike stocks which can trade less than a dollar a share to as much as $100 a share.
Overall I made gains with this service and am pleased.

Review by Goldbug, September 9, 2009

wrpark,

I would not use your discount broker as they make you load up on too many of one bond. I would switch your money over to one of the brokers Steve recommends as I can trade as low as 2 bonds instead of 10. I had $10K now $11K with this service within 8 months of investing (yes, I mean investing because you are waiting for maturity and could sleep at night unlike volatile stocks). The $11K is in 5 different bond types, 2 of each using Ron McCoy.

Review by Ronald, September 15, 2009

I subscribe to his little sister publication - Sound Profits. 95% stocks, usually 1 bond a month. It’s solid advice, minus emotion which is what is needed during any time really. I’m happy with the service and picks.

To the above - who does Ron McCoy work for? I’ll open an account if I find out…

Review by Goldbug, September 15, 2009

Ron McCoy started his own firm with his own rules called Windmere Financials. He is one of the 3 that can put in smaller orders. The platform he uses is Brokersxpress.

Review by wrpark, September 16, 2009

goldbug, thanks for your input. it would be a real mess for me to transfer my account for the bonds. i trade these in ira’s and i don’t desire to have too many accounts spread over too wide a range. if i was just doing a margin account, i would definitely look into mcdonald’s recommended brokers.

Review by Ronald, September 27, 2009

Thanks, Goldbug

Review by Portfolio Man, October 5, 2009

To anyone that is a subscriber,

Since interest rates are at a low and can only go up from here, bonds usually go down in that environment. Just wondering, does he only offer bond picks and/or stocks as well? Just wondering before I decide to subscribe.
Thanks,

Review by wrpark, October 13, 2009

portfolio man,

normally, mcdonald only recommends relatively short term corp bonds. however, recently he did recommend the purchase of TBT, which, of course, is related to the bonds market.

Review by Portfolio Man, October 14, 2009

Thanks wrpark,

I am not sure if I should subscribe as interest rates can only go up from here and bond prices will go down. I was just wondering if they are able to address that problem or if they traded equities as well.

Thx again