Author/Editor
Joseph Shaefer
Publisher
Stanford Wealth Management
Description
“Contrarian” investment advisory newsletter for Stanford Wealth Mgmt clients, also available for a subscription fee for non-clients.
If you’ve subscribed to Investor's Edge, please click the stars below to indicate your rating for this newsletter, and please share any other feedback about your experience using the comment box below.
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Investor’s Edge (Joe Shaefer,Editor)
This publication is worthy of becoming the foundation for any investor’s advisory library. Mr. Shaefer, a former senior VP at Charles Schwab as well as a retired senior military intelligence officer, is both a gift writer and a talented investor. His understanding of market cycles, analysis of major trends (before they become major trends), and strategies for navigating through the investment maze created by the ugly truth of Wall Street finance (i.e., they are in the business to make themselves wealthy, often at the individuals expense) are unsurpassed. In addition, he is absolutely in the market with the subscriber, so his interests are 100% aligned with the people he serves.
His two primary portfolios focus on the needs of the conservative and more aggressive investor (although he recently introduced two other portfolios that will help those who wish to invest their money and (almost) forget about it).
I have subscribed to several of the letters listed in the Top 50 and would say that this one matches (or exceeds) their quality and performance.
I recently subscribed to this newsletter, having read Mr Shaefer’s articles on SeekingAlpha for a while (I highly recommend checking out his writings and earlier calls there). The investment approach is top-down, global, fundamentally-based and contrarian. Two model portfolios are provided, both with superb long term returns (245% and 178% between 12-31-98 and 4-30-2009). Something I particularly like is the low-key, sane tone of the newsletter. No peddling of false certainties or sleazy marketing here.
Like Steve, I have subscribed to my fair share of newsletters and find this to be up there with the best. Considering the broad diversification and low subscription price, if someone asked me for just one newsletter to follow, I would probably pick this one.
We are new traders and on the search for good information and educational opportunities. We really like the down to earth, un-hyped style of this newsletter and they seem to offer good advice and the information they provide is excellent. They also have good educational tools, even the ones you can purchase are very reasonable. We like them the most, after Seeking Alpha. We are looking forward to attending one of their events in the near future as well.
Being a newby, for what its worth, we are glad we have found this resource.
Many happy returns! Thank you Travis for your newsletter, its always an enjoyable read!
I recently signed up for this service, $150 for a two year e-subscription. It’s well worth the money. First of all, I appreciate Joe’s honesty and humility–he doesn’t claim to be right 100% of the time, and he doesn’t claim total wisdom over the market. He admits that he doesn’t mind missing a short uptick, because his focus is on preservation of capital along with increasing it. He doesn’t seem to chase trends, rather doing careful analysis before recommending picks. The model portfolios are easy to understand and I am grateful for this low-cost service. I would highly recommend it.
I first noticed Joe Shaefer from his writings on Seeking Alpha, but it was the reviews above that lead me to his newsletter “Investor’s Edge”. I whole heartily concur with the previous reviews and thank them for writing. I am a serious investor, that is how I make my living. I have had a good dozen professionally managed portfolios over the last 20 years, I know very well how they performed, especially since 2000, when the market peaked. When I noticed how well Joe has done since 2000, (1999 was his first publication) I was intrigued. He pretty much had me at “hello”. For most “professional” managers the last 10 years has been the lost decade. In essence you would be lucky to break even, not counting inflation. Joe is up 235% since 1/1/99. That means $250,000 invested in 1999, is presently worth $836,225 today. That’s hard to beat!
If no hype, no hard sell, no b.s., just good honest advise that comes with a proven track record is what your looking for, and you are welling to put in time and effort to manage your own portfolio, then this letter may be for you.
He offers 4 portfolio’s to choose from. Two ETF portfolio’s and growth&value and aggresive growth. If you give them a call they will send you a couple of letters so you can see for yourself if it fits your needs. It most certainly fits mine!
Thanks again to those that reviewed it before me. And also thanks to Travis for making this available to all of us.
I have been a subscriber to Investors Edge for many years now even though I am only a casual investor. Joe Shafer, saved me a year and a half ago (or so) when he recommended that we should move to cash when the market was starting to get dicey. I followed his advice by selling some of my mutual funds and was able to survive the impending downfall that emerged just as he predicted. He is a retired reserve military general and writes so anyone can understand his principles. I think this newsletter should be required reading for anyone interested in investing. His unique understanding of world affairs enhances the newsletter and his ability to predict worldwide financial markets.
Ok, I’m not a current subscriber, but have reviewed two recent newsletters, August and November 2010. New subscribers should be aware that the newsletter appears to have been short the market for many months, and has gone through a period of underperformance. The November issue stated that the market outlook is now bullish, and has changed their recommendations to reflect this outlook. Based on what otherwise appears to be a solid record, one could expect continued gains.
Outstanding
Investor’s Edge is probably the best stock newsletter that I’ve read. What I appreciate most about this letter is Joe Shaefer’s honesty and humility, as well as the education he provides. There are no gimmicky attempts to sell you another product. His approach to investing is clear and consistent- looking for high quality companies at a good value. And he tends to revisit the companies that he likes, even if they are no longer in the portfolio. He’ll also tell you what other companies he’s looking at or liking at the moment, even if they aren’t in the portfolio, which I very much appreciate. He’s had some pretty big misses, and sometimes takes too large a bet on too risky an asset, but he’s quick to admit his mistakes and take corrective action. No one’s perfect, and I see investing as a lifelong education in humility, which I think Mr. Shaefer understands. Overall, he has managed to significantly outperform the S&P500 over the past 12 years, which included easily the most difficult decade to invest in at least a generation or more. For that I respect the man. He’s also not afraid to take short positions when he feels the time is right, or to use options, important tools for navigating a difficult market. I don’t buy everything he recommends, nor do I think anyone should buy anything just because somebody recommends it. Everyone should do their own homework, but Mr. Shaefer provides an excellent starting point, with some excellent writing, providing a great education. He explains what to buy and sell, how much of it, and when, which few newsletter writers will go into that much detail. He’ll also tell you exactly why he thinks a stock is a buy or a sell, while far too many newsletters simply tell you to buy this or that with no explanation as to their logic. The education and great writing alone is worth the price of this newsletter. Highly recommended.
Investor’s Edge is a well written, direct, and concise newsletter. Joe Shaefer gives you his candid assessment of the market and he then gives you a prediction of where the market is heading. After that, he talks about the changes in his suggested portfolios. All-in-all, a quick easy read that packs a lot of information in relatively few words.
I have been in the financial business for years and have seen many newsletters including firm research and advise. Investors Edge is the most consistent, informative,challenging, and competent of them all. Joe Shaefer has a truly global outlook. He is also able to see things from a slightly different viewpoint and in this serious business, is able to do it at times with a sense of humor. I have made some money here.
Just did a review and failed to post the star ratings. Here they are. All five stars.
Most thoughtful and inspiring investment newsletter I have found in my 62 years. Shaefer brings an exceptionally broad array of knowledge and real-world experience to the table and applies it with precise expertise; expertise that is rarely shared with the average investor.
Investor’s Edge is a unique financial newsletter. Shaefer brings broad experience, impeccable judgment and in-depth analysis to this invaluable investment guide. Investor’s Edge’s research is global in reach, capturing little followed stocks. Great recommendations like GLOG (Monaco), SSL (So Africa), STO (Norway), SQM (Chile), GPL (Canada/Mexico) are a few that demonstrate Shaefer’s international expertise. He knows when to buy them and he knows when to sell them. Investor’s Edge is worth many times its inexpensive price. It’s a MUST for serious investors.
After reading the reviews on stock gumshoe and reading several issues of the newsletter, I decided to invest directly with Joe Shaefer. In May of 2014, I invested 502,500 with the intention of seeking some capital gains yet with a focus on not losing any capital. This has turned out to be one of the worst investments I have ever made. By November of 2017 when I finally got tired of losing money and/or watching significant gains in all of my other accounts, including simple ETFs, I decided to close my account. Account value $466,680 and this does not take into account any investment fees as those were charged separately. This was during a time of significant stock market increases yet I ended up with a loss. I do not even want to imagine what would have happened to my account if there had been a significant market correction. I am very disappointed in myself for having allowed this fraudster to continue to manage my account for so long. He knows the talk and his analysis seems to make sense but his trading is absolutely awful. I remember when he bought EC because he thought the Colombian government might sign a peace agreement with the FARC. Well the agreement happened but not before the oil market collapsed and the stock was sold at a significant loss. During the same time frame, he started buying options on oil stocks as he expected a quick rebound. Again, the market did rebound to some extent years later, but long after the options became valueless. I cannot recommend his analysis to anyone other than possibly for entertainment value. My experience demonstrates that he really does not have a clue.