StockPunk

Rick writes:

I stumbled across your blog site about your investing experiences and was intrigued by your methods. I have been buying/selling stocks and funds for close to 10 years now. I never really spent much time researching or really trying to make any money. My first round was with DRIP's and although I only made about 5-6% it was fun. I then moved to funds and typically made about 10-12% a year and at the same time I dabbled with stocks. I almost always ended up losing money with stocks.

After a couple years away from stocks, I decided to get back at it. This time around I am taking it serious and I am going to learn what I am doing before buying anything and try to make very educated decisions. I am a member of Zack's Premium, as well as a couple other sites, and I am starting to get more comfortable with the screens and started to build some of my own custom screens. I haven't paid much attention to AAII's site until I came across your blog.

I am interested in why you like the AAII site so much, what do you gain from it that is better/different than what I can get either free from other sites or from Zack's? Any advice you could offer?

Also, thank you for recommending Kirk's report, it is a Gem that I never came across before.

My Reply:

Thanks for sharing some of your experience, Rick. I am always fascinated to see what other people are doing because there are a million ways out there to work the market!

Here's why I like AAII.

1. It's cheap compared to most sites. I was a member of just the site for a few years. At $40 a year, that was a bargain. I learned a bunch each month and I really cut my teeth on AAII's risk management and stock screening.
2. They're honest. Most sites "cook the books" a bit to make themselves look better than they really are. Just look at Hulbert's Financial Digest (I recommend subscribing) and you can see how inflated nearly every newsletter or service makes their returns. I subscribed to AAII's Stock Superstars Report for a couple of years, and I was extremely impressed with how accurately information was reported. The same goes for their stock screens. I've tracked them myself to confirm the numbers (because some of them are hard to believe) and have always found them to be accurate. I haven't found many other stock sites that are like that.
3. The screens have nearly 10 years of data. AAII's stock screening started in 1998 which is years before I got into the game. In their screening area they track performance on a monthly basis. I've been hard pressed to find any other site that provides that type of information.
4. I like other members of AAII. I went to a local meeting of AAII members and I was the youngest guy there (I'm 40). It looked like a room of Warren Buffets. And they asked questions like Warren Buffet. There weren't any "hot shots" that tried to dazzle with their revolutionary techniques.

I've found that Zacks shares many of those attributes. The site has shared an enormous amount of information for free over the years (they just started charging for Premium) and for the most part, they avoid sensationalism.

I'm always looking for alternatives. I have an irrational fear that AAII will close shop and my sources for information will dry up. So I would like to have a couple of backup sources for data eventually.