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Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe

Author Bio

Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe
Travis Johnson is an individual investor who founded Stock Gumshoe in 2007 as a way to air his dissections of overhyped marketing pitches... and to share the "secret" stocks that stock newsletters hype to get your attention and your subscription dollars. His thinking? If you already know what the "secret" stock is, you can make a much more reasonable and thoughtful decision about whether or not to commit to an expensive newsletter subscription. (And if you don't pay for the info, you'll be more free to think for yourself about whether or not the investment is worth your money.) In his charmed life he has been, among other things, a university faculty member, a fundraiser, a writer, and a world-champion ice-cream scooper. Now he runs Stock Gumshoe for you, allowing us all to discuss and dissect the latest overheated stock ideas... as well as review and talk about investment newsletters and enjoy the commentary and opinions of Stock Gumshoe's other special contributors and the discussion with our unusually attractive, erudite and polite readers. He lives with Mrs. Gumshoe and all their little Gumshoes in the wilds of Western Massachusetts.

Author Archives

April 29, 2019

“America’s ‘Infinite Oil Well’ — Matt Badiali teases that “Revolutionary New Technology Could Unlock a Potential $70 TRILLION Windfall”

This teaser solution was originally published in late January, but we’re seeing the ad pushed more again now and are getting more questions so I updated this piece to provide some more information and check in on the company. Matt Badiali has been pitching an “Infinite Oil” company in recent weeks in ads for his […]

Recent Author Comments

On Friday File: China, Data Center and 5G Shakeup... plus a couple boring buys
Posted on May 18, 2019
Wrote about that one here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.stockgumshoe.com/reviews/nexgen-investor/thinkolating-on-the-breakthrough-quantum-glass-battery/%3famp[...]
On "Strong Buy Alert" teased by Motley Fool Canada -- next "Forty Dollar Frank" Stock?
Posted on May 17, 2019
Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP) has certainly been a great one, as has their parent Brookfield Asset Mgmt (BAM), which was also teased as a "next Berkshire" for a while 10-12 years ago. Not sure what got you to 30,000% -- looks like the 10-year return fro[...]
On "Strong Buy Alert" teased by Motley Fool Canada -- next "Forty Dollar Frank" Stock?
Posted on May 17, 2019
FFH is on the Toronto exchange, FRFHF is the over-the-counter symbol for trading in the US. Some brokers don't support either, but most major brokers should allow trading on either the OTC exchange or in Canada, usually both. Don't know where you're look[...]
On What's the "Netflix's Worst Nightmare" stock teased by RiskHedge
Posted on May 16, 2019
Could be, that's certainly a sentiment I hear from a lot of folks. Arista has little connection to actual streaming networks, of course, other than that additional streaming and more data use will gradually require ever more data centers that move data fa[...]
On Pot Buyout Targets teased in Mengel's "Who's Buying Weed" pitch (part 1)
Posted on May 15, 2019
That's probably mostly because the dates are made up to provide a sense of urgency (which, in turn, causes folks to sign up for the newsletter) -- there are lots of "we expect X stocks to go public by May 15" ads out there, including from NICI, but that do[...]
On What the bejeezus is "Fluorescent Sand?" Is it gonna make us rich?
Posted on May 15, 2019
I’ve bought shares within the last month.[...]
On Trump Tweets and "Blood in the Streets" means... Buy this biotech stock?
Posted on May 14, 2019
No big weighting in the sector recently, though among mutual funds most of the Primecap funds are heavy in biotech and I like those, and I’ve invested with the excellent Vanguard Health Care in the past. Haven’t looked at ETFs or CEFs in health care r[...]
On What the bejeezus is "Fluorescent Sand?" Is it gonna make us rich?
Posted on May 14, 2019
NOK, which I do own shares of, has probably been the most aggressively teased 5G stock over the past year or so... but not in this ad.[...]
On Trump Tweets and "Blood in the Streets" means... Buy this biotech stock?
Posted on May 14, 2019
Washington Prime (WPG) is a very different kind of beast, a highly levered REIT that owns shopping centers. I suspect they're declining because of falling occupancy, since they're probably losing some tenants these days, but I haven't looked at the detail[...]
On Trump Tweets and "Blood in the Streets" means... Buy this biotech stock?
Posted on May 14, 2019
No, it has been a long time since I can remember a company actually going private by itself by just borrowing more money -- generally that requires a big private equity partner or other financier. I wouldn't worry about that risk for large companies, thou[...]
On What's Mizrahi teasing with "Wall Street's Best-Kept Marijuana Stock Secret?"
Posted on May 13, 2019
That Halo Fi pitch has been circulating for over a year and a half now, they keep updating it with new dates but not changing much else. We Go to Comment »
On Ferris' "The Hands-Down, No. 1 Pick of My Career" Pitch
Posted on May 13, 2019
Ferris might well have recommended OR more recently, I haven't seen anything on that, but the "best gold business on earth" and "one stock I'd buy if I could only buy one" ad is unchanged and the clues still point to Sprott. Publishers often do this, re[...]
On Friday File: Buying a "Bad to Less Bad" REIT, Plus Updates on TTD and IIPR
Posted on May 13, 2019
I don't expect them to change their stripes, either... which is why I wouldn't really consider this for a long-term hold. I just think they've gotten too beaten-down given the lower payout ratio and the still valuable collection of assets... we'll see ho[...]
On Friday File: Buying a "Bad to Less Bad" REIT, Plus Updates on TTD and IIPR
Posted on May 13, 2019
Thanks for the insight, Darrell. Cheap can always get cheaper, especially if we're getting a real trade war brewing... we'll see how it goes.[...]
On Friday File: Buying a "Bad to Less Bad" REIT, Plus Updates on TTD and IIPR
Posted on May 11, 2019
That is the likely trend, but my expectation is that it will be much more gradual.[...]
On Friday File: Buying a "Bad to Less Bad" REIT, Plus Updates on TTD and IIPR
Posted on May 10, 2019
Good timing! Hope it works out for you in the end.[...]
On Ferris' "The Hands-Down, No. 1 Pick of My Career" Pitch
Posted on May 10, 2019
He might be recommending Osisko as well, but that’s definitely not a match for the clues he’s been using to tease us with this ad for the past year.[...]
On Ferris' "The Hands-Down, No. 1 Pick of My Career" Pitch
Posted on May 10, 2019
Nope. He might like that one, too, I don't know, but this is specifically teased as "a payout on gold that's already been mined" and not a traditional royalty company -- Osisko is essentially the same structure as Franco-Nevada, Royal Gold or Sandstorm Go[...]
On Microblog: CRA - May pick? -- The Air Cuff
Posted on May 10, 2019
Haven't seen that ad, please forward it along if you have a copy (to ILoveStockSpam@gmail.com)... Frank was a private placement shareholder of Wrap Technologies according to their SEC filings late last year, so it might have been a stock he featured for hi[...]
On Microblog: Breakup of FaceBook
Posted on May 10, 2019
It would be crushed, most likely, since that would presumably mean separating out their fastest-growing business (Instagram) from their core platform... though Instagram might well be more valuable away from facebook than within it. I'd expect heavy r[...]

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