Mark Skousen’s Claims So “Wild” They Might Be True?

A reader noted and asked:

“I’m on an email list of many gurus these days, but the claims that Mark Skousen makes are incredible — so ‘wild’ that I’m wondering if they might actually be true?! He promises to turn $10,000 into $442,000 in seven months.”

While there are implications (such as “Every $5,000 invested could have turned into $60,000 in a just a few weeks.”), there is not enough information at MarkSkousen.com to assess realistic performance of his advice and recommendations. Some credibility checks include:

First, assume that Mark Skousen: (1) can reliably generate a profit of 4320% every seven months; and, (2) had $10,000 of his own money to invest three years ago. He should now have about $1.7 trillion dollars (and is still selling newsletters).

Next, consider Mark Skousen’s disclaimer, which states in part:

“Neither the Editor, the publisher, nor any of their respective affiliates make any guarantee or other promise as to any results that may be obtained from using the Newsletter. …To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Editor, the publisher and their respective affiliates disclaim any and all liability in the event any information, commentary, analysis, opinions, advice and/or recommendations in the Newsletter prove to be inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable, or result in any investment or other losses.”

Finally, from Peter Brimelow in MarketWatch (2/20/12) regarding Mark Skousen’s Forecasts & Strategies service: “Over the past 12 months through January, Forecasts & Strategies is up 11.9% by Hulbert Financial Digest count vs. 3.72% for the dividend-reinvested Wilshire 5000 Total Stock Market Index. That makes it ninth out of some 180 portfolios followed by the HFD. And over the past three years, Forecasts & Strategies is up 24.65% annualized vs. 20.15% annualized for the total return Wilshire 5000. Things were a bit flatter over the past five years, which include the Crash of 2008. The letter was up just 1.26% annualized — still better that 0.71% annualized for the total return Wilshire. And over the past ten years, the letter was an annualized 6.08% vs. 4.43% annualized for the Wilshire.”