Jeff Clark on Options TradingClaims to have proven success using Key secret to identifying Option Plays. Used to be money manager – San Francisco California. Currently publishes “Short Report” with Stansberry & Associates, with $3000 per year subscription. Anyone out there who can refute or validate his claims?
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Not at $3000 a subscription …
People, go back and read the comments on this site about Jeff Clark’s earlier incarnation of his option techniques under different secret names. One reader had the patience to back-test his trades for a whole year and discovered all was not as advertised, since he never mentions the losses or the difficulty of trading at his emailed price or various other problems that kept the track record in a pathetic state.
I know about Jeff Clark’s claims, and I have been wondering if anyone bothered to keep track of his option recommendations over the course of a year. I knew the results would not be good if he was objectively put on the record–it is clearly a scam.
I couldn’t find the comments you mention. Do you have a link?
My experience with Jeff Clark was a push. His winners made up for his losers but didn’t increase my bank account. The expectation when sending him $3,000 was that my earnings would increase,not flatline. After a few months I called and canceled. They were courteous and polite,didn’t try too hard to talk me out of it,and sent my refund quickly.
Bob, did they issue a full refund??
Less 10% refund fee. See my blog in September.
If you have any questions about Stansberry and Associates, please do not hesitate to call customer service at 1-888-261-2693. We would be happy to assist you. We are open Monday – Friday 9-5 EST.
Are you the Jeff Clark that came to our villa a year or so ago? If so, I am selling large picture books of Russia. Pleas contact me.
Jan McGary
Well, what’s the LATEST on this fellow?
Stansberry’s “tease” is complelling (they have great marketeer-writers) BUT they don’t REALLY give much INFORMATION: E.g., What SIZE portfolio is needed, and what LEVELs of Options Trading Permission are required to make full use of Clark’s techniques, etc. ?
BTW: The fee is now an exorbitant $4000! SCARY!!
Is ANY Gumshoe subscriber out there ALSO a subscriber to Clark’s “S&A Short Report?”
I was a subscriber in April when the fee was $3k. The first issue is what level are you qualified for with your broker. If you do not qualify for “puts” you will have few trades with Clark. I had six call options, and made money on four lost on two, and my net profit was $370. It prompted me to wonder if I was even going to make my $3,000 back after twelve months. Before the end of my 3 month trial period, they were already talking about the $4k subscription renewal. I was in a no win situation so I cancelled, and asked for my refund, which was minus a 10% refund fee. There are many other Option trade newsletters, which provide more call options, good guidance, for monthly or annual fees dramatically less than Clark’s.
Can you recommend any?
I live 3rd Friday to 3rd Friday. I like “The Covered Call Analyzer” which is paid for month to month and runs about $20/month. I wish there was something similar for puts.
Thanks!
Do you know what their win/loss recommendations rate is?
I recently closed my subscription with the Short Report. My initial trade was good (gold ETF) and I made 50%. From there it was hit or miss. Some energy trades tanked, some technology tanked, a commodity trade went as predicted etc… Seemed the only ones with a chance of being correct were gold/oil plays and only a % of those No, one can predict with perfect accuracy but for 3K I expect you to beat my own record.
The clincher for me was when SA came out with a video touting yet another “extremely successful, self made options trader” who just decided to “share” his magic because he was tired of making money for only himself in yet another newsletter.
Again another huge build up by heading to this camera shy “pro”s huge personal compound only to find out it was the same guy that I was already subscribed to.
To be fair, they were courteous and refunded my balance promptly.
I took the refund and reinvested the in selling puts, which so far has been a far more consistent return.
BAD, I am interested in learning about selling puts. Can you suggest any web sites or sources of info to learn about this?
Thnx
Selling puts are easy, but make sure the market or the stocks future is bad and it will go down in value. Usually the financial institutions will keep it on same price or more than the price you purchased. When the option expire you will see the stock price is going down. be careful in buying puts.
selling puts is an easiest way to make money. Only do it if it is at the resistant level. Only sell puts of the companies which you like to buy. Sometimes there is chance of assignment. Sell puts to a limit, which you can buy with your money in the account if assigned.
Thank you for all your reponses. I was just about to pay $3000. Thank you for saving me the pain of losing it.
TA
I tried this from the UK. Consistently failed to get the options at the price recommended. Cancelled my subscription for the refund less 10%. Not snake oil exactly, but seriously hyped in my view.
I read Clark’s new publication called the Pro Trader. It sounded great and I was tempted to sign up until I got wise and read the letters from previous customers. Snake oil? Whoever writes the copy does a good job.
I was with Clark for a few months. The first gold index call made a few hundred but when the next one lost a thousand i realized that his so-called indicators were just guess-work. I no longer trust any “advisor” who claims he can make you consistent money by playing options. They get lucky sometimes but the overall trend is that they’re wrong and will lose money over the course of their ill-advised subscription.
S&A Pro Trader will lose you money just as fast as the S&A Short Report. Maybe faster. Jeff Clark recommended a lot of long trades on gold stocks just before gold went from $1500 to $1200. Every trade was a disaster.
Report Post# 1
Anyone had any experience with this one from Stansberry & Associates?
Here’s the teaser e-mail:
————————————————————————————————-
Dear DailyWealth Reader,
Becoming a millionaire can take an entire lifetime
of building wealth… often right up through retirement…
But there’s one small group of people who don’t like
to wait. And for the past 3 years, they’ve had the chance to collect
huge one-day payouts –every Monday morning – thanks to an
amazing secret. See below for the surprising details…
http://www1.youreletters.com/t/1439579/30780766/841974/0/
—————————————————————————————-
According to the teaser web page JC is able to make phenomenal gains in short order for clients who subscribe to his $2,000pa newsletter, although the figures in the link towards the end of the page aren’t quite as impressive and those bandied about in the opening paragraphs. According to the table there haven’t been any really spectacular gains for three years.
Richard
Brillson
May 28th 2008 edited
Report Post# 2
Ouch Big Time! I’m still licking my wounds from subscribing to this over-hyped loser!!
Here is the ugly scorecard on the S&A Short Report starting in October, 2007:
October, 2007
1) Buy January 2008 Palomar Med Tech (PMTI) $35 calls: expired worthless; stock stopped out at $22.50 and continued on down to just over $15 in 1/08, going generally lower in Feb & Mar.
2) Actions Semiconductor (ACTS) – Buy up to $6. ACTS saw its peak in October, plummeting to under $3 by March 08.
3) Rydex Strengthening Dollar (RYSBX) – October 07, RYSBX was a high of $23, reaching about $23.60 before declining. October 29 Clark writes “Let’s give this position one more week…” RYSBX never again reached that value but tumbled to $19.70 by mid-March 08.
4) Building Materials Group (BLG) – Long Dec07 $15 calls; short Dec07 $15 puts: At the end of Oct07 BLG was around $6 – Option expiration in December saw stock under $6.
Sept 17 Communiqué : “Three Trades to Make Before Fed Decision”:
Buy US$, Short Gold, buy Puts on Market Rally. Gold continued continued rising from $745 on this date till its high over $1000 in March before retreating to over $850 in May, recovering to $900 presently.
1) Sell Short streetTracks Gold Trust (GLD) at $70. GLD ascended steadily, briefly testing $75 toward the end of Oct07, proceeding to top $90 and $95 in March and April 2008. Clark announced stopped out at $72.50 on 9/24/07: “We may get back into the short GLD trade again if it sets up properly, and after I’m through licking my wounds from our last effort.”
2) Buy Newmont Mining Sept 07 $45 Puts: Newmont hit $48 by option expiration.
3) Lexmark Sept07 $40 Calls: LXK calls expired with stock around $38.
4) Buy QQQQ Oct07 $50 Puts: Powershares rose to $54 by expiration. Another loser!
5) Headwaters (HW) Long Jan08 $25 calls; Short Jan08 $25 Puts: HW expired under $16.
January 8, 2008
Semiconductors HOLDRs (SMH) – Buy Feb08 $30 calls up to $1.25: Briefly hit $30 high by expiration.
January 14, 2008
DR Horton (DRH) Buy FEB08 $12.50 Calls: Stock was under $14 on expiration.
I’m sure Clark has some winners according to the claims, but by this time, there was no confidence in him. This caused me to pare down Stansberry subscriptions advice considerably. However, a full refund was made without questions.
They want to double this subscription to $4,000??! Good luck!
Has anyone actually done well with Jeff clark???
I have been close to the edge on getting the Short Report from Jeff, but reading this makes me nervous. As Jerry has asked – has ANYONE had success? I am a Stansberry subscriber to a few of their newsletters and I gotta say it has been WELL worth it. The education has been priceless and I have made decent money on their stock picks. So, my thought process was – Short Report should work too? (I admit I am fairly ignorant on the topic of Options).
Steve,
Here is my 9/27/12 post:
“1. Gerald Boysen says:
September 27, 2012 at 9:35 pm
I was a subscriber in April when the fee was $3k. The first issue is what level are you qualified for with your broker. If you do not qualify for “puts” you will have few trades with Clark. I had six call options, and made money on four lost on two, and my net profit was $370. It prompted me to wonder if I was even going to make my $3,000 back after twelve months. Before the end of my 3 month trial period, they were already talking about the $4k subscription renewal. I was in a no win situation so I cancelled, and asked for my refund, which was minus a 10% refund fee. There are many other Option trade newsletters, which provide more call options, good guidance, for monthly or annual fees dramatically less than Clark’s.”
Brett is right take the $3k/$4k and learn something about options first. Also there are weekly newsletters for $500 per year, that will hold your hand and tell you when and how to make an option trade. Income trader at Profitable Trading http://www.ProfitableTrading.com. These are all “sold to open” puts, so you will probably have a margin call. So save you $3,000 and open a cheap per transaction brokers account. Many times a option trade can be more expensive then a stock trade, so ask around for the cheapest.
Good luck
Steve – O: If you have the patience to learn options, I would take the $3000 and use it to open a trading account. The basic principles are simple enough and you will learn more by actually doing than just taking someones advice (my previous experience was documented above)
Anybody have information on the “Hestla Heist”? The tease at streetauthority.com is “How To Legally ‘Steal’ Thousands Of Dollars From Wall Street”. Amber Hestla claims her newsletter “Income Trader” (apparently published by Profitable Trading) will enable easy profits by “stealing” the losses from rich but foolish options “gamblers” who can’t resist betting that a stock like Google will lose 75% of its value in a week. The rate is $1,000 for a year or $2,000 for two years with a 50-54% discount to start. Here’s the full URL for the sales pitch (minus the tracking info for the email campaign that linked to it:
http://www.streetauthority.com/node/30447185
We just covered the Hestla Heist tease. You can see it here: http://www.stockgumshoe.com/reviews/income-trader/whats-the-hestla-heist/
Also, looking for info on the ‘HESTLA HEIST”.
Hi John:
Here’s our article on the Hestla Heist: http://www.stockgumshoe.com/reviews/income-trader/whats-the-hestla-heist/
Understand these people are selling memberships to a financial newsletter. To make money they have to find different ways to give you the same financial results, by telling you different stories. With scare words and high flying stories as they want to sell a membership. All they do is change the name of the newsletter, to sound like a new way to make money.
I’m also a member of her Income trading, which is all about trading PUTS. She will give you her recommendation of a trade. You will buy 100 shares of her recommended stock, sell to open her recommended PUT. She brags that she always make money on her puts, which is true, but not a lot if the put is below $1.00. In others words less commission, on the third Friday of every months, when the option price drops to zero, you make your money back.
However, she will give you the calculation, if the option price go up, your stocks are bought away from you, but at a discount, so you make money two ways.
If this option goes to zero, yes you made money, but you are stuck with the stock. Thus you will have to continue trading puts again on that stock, which is the idea as you continue making money on the put side, until the option price goes up, and you get bought away.
I have been a member of Income Trader for over 6 months and I have never heard about this code system. However, since she is talking about a minimum of $15,000, I am wondering if what she is talking about is the Brokers trading authorization Levels 1, 2, and 3.
Wow she has a flair for words. If the stock she recommended is a dividend paying stock, guess where some extra money comes from your holding the stock?
If you know how to trade Puts it’s a good deal as she does all the work with the recommendations, and seldom is the stock recalled.
Personally, I don’t want a lot of stocks hanging around my portfolio, which I don’t want. So I trade them as naked puts. This means I just buy the option, knowing I’m on the hook if it goes up and not to zero. However, I have never lost, or if the option price should start up I sell for a minor option loss. Each his own.
There appears to be some fundamental misunderstanding. “if the option price go up, your stocks are bought away from you, but at a discount, so you make money two ways.
If this option goes to zero, yes you made money, but you are stuck with the stock.”
However, if the Put price rises you have sold someone the “right” to SELL you more of the stock, not buy your lot away from you. For you, a “sell” transaction using options would only happen if you Buy-a-Put or Sell-a-Call. So if they option price goes up (the PUT that you sold) you will be stuck with MORE stock that you bought at a premium to the market. What you are describing is a “covered Call”. A “covered PUT” is one where you have shorted the stock, then sold a PUT. So Buying 100 shares of her recommended stock only provides for the dividend opportunity. It does not mitigate the risk of selling PUTS in any way.
It still gives me no insight to Amber Hestla and her “Heist” strategy, without actually subscribing and paying the fees. Can anyone direct me to a synopsis and review of her plan for insight before I subscribe?
Here’s our article on the Hestla Heist: http://www.stockgumshoe.com/reviews/income-trader/whats-the-hestla-heist/
As a caution be aware that if you sell a naked $50. put & it closes for $49.99 you will be assigned 100 shares at $50 for a cost to you of $5000.00