Individual Gurus

A reader asked: “Can you evaluate Roger Conrad in Guru Grades?” Keep Reading

A reader asked: “Can you look into the predictions of Martin Armstrong? He may be one of the most interesting and out-of-the-box thinkers on the markets. He supposedly predicted the 1987 crash, the Japanese crash and the top of our real estate market to the day.” Keep Reading

We evaluate here the market commentary of Jack Schannep, previously available via Zacks.com (since removed) and currently available via MarketWatch since July 2002. Jack Schannep, editor of The DowTheory.com and author of Dow Theory for the 21st Century: Technical Indicators for Improving Your Investment Results, claims that “[o]ur interpretation of The Dow Theory…and our proprietary Timing Indicator have successfully timed and beaten the stock market over many years.” The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

As requested by a reader, we evaluate here the quarterly market commentary of Stephen Leeb since January 2003 (much of commentary archive removed in occasional site redesigns) with respect to his outlook for U.S. stocks. Stephen Leeb is president of Leeb Capital Management, Inc., editor of The Complete Investor newsletter and author of several books. The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

A reader suggested that we evaluate the stock market forecasts of Jeremy Grantham, Chairman of GMO LLC. GMO LLC “is a global investment management firm committed to providing sophisticated clients with superior asset management solutions and services.” Its “client base includes endowments, pension funds, public funds, foundations and cultural institutions.” The predictions/recommendations evaluated here extend as far back as August 2000 and come from columns in MarketWatch, CNN/Money, TheStreet.com and directly from Jeremy Grantham’s quarterly letter published by GMO. The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

In this entry, we update our review of the weekly “Technical Market Insight” of BusinessWeek online by Mark Arbeter, chief technical strategist for Standard & Poor’s, since early 2003. The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

A reader suggested: “You should consider an evaluation of James Stack’s ‘Investech’ newsletter in your Guru Grades evaluation. As far as I’m concerned, he’s been extremely accurate in his predictions.” Keep Reading

A reader asked: “What are your thoughts on Exhibit 1 (a stunningly accurate 10-year forecast from December 31, 1999) of Jeremy Grantham’s January 2010 Quarterly Report and its implications for Jeremy Grantham’s forecasting? Grantham is rather proud of it, and I am certainly impressed! Has Grantham published other 10-Year forecasts to compare with this one? My sense is that GMO constructed a 10-Year forecast every year, so there should be other forecasts. Do you know anything about the forecasting methodology? GMO appears to use regressions to compute baselines (for price?), compare current actuals to baselines and then forecast the difference to disappear as actuals revert to means.” Keep Reading

 A reader suggested that we evaluate the stock market forecasts of Charles Biderman, founder and CEO of TrimTabs Investment Research. The TrimTabs perspective “relies on the insight that price [of equities in aggregate] is a function of supply and demand and has nothing to do with value.” The predictions/recommendations evaluated here extend as far back as January 2000 and come from columns in Forbes.com, MarketWatch, CNN/Money and TheStreet.com. The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that:

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A reader requested a review of the trading methodology presented at TimothySykes.com (“Short Selling Penny Stocks”), which essentially uses price-volume analyses in attempts to detect in real time penny stocks being pumped and ride the ensuing downside (dump). Timothy Sykes, author of the An American Hedge Fund, is a former hedge fund manager and founder of BullShip Press LLC. His bio states: “Since the beginning of 2008, Timothy has been the #1 trader/investor, out of 25,000+ on Covestor.com.” Using the record of 296 trades spanning 2/1/08 through 1/22/10 (including those previously posted for October 2009, but now missing) and some recent clarifications from Timothy Sykes, we find that: Keep Reading