Investing newsletters in general don't have a spectacular track record, and hordes of investors prosper while paying attention to few, if any, of them. They typically make for dry reading and do not compare their returns to the market averages. They're often bent on getting you to subscribe for their "Hot List" of picks -- encouraging you to trade in and out of various holdings on a daily or weekly basis.
This is exactly the way not to invest. Even if you make some money at it, brokerage commissions and taxes can kill you. Investors are better served finding their own stock ideas within industries they understand well than in gathering ideas from the typical newsletter.
There's also very little teaching going on in the newsletter industry. Most would prefer that you never learn much, so you'll have to keep subscribing. The Motley Fool aims to do all the things investment newsletters don't do. We stress the importance of learning, intellectual integrity, long-term investing, and we hope you derive some wholesome amusement in the process.
That said, perhaps somewhat ironically, The Motley Fool was born early in the 1990s as a financial newsletter. And we recently came full-circle, launching several investing newsletters. Motley Fool Stock Advisor, for example, offers stock-investing advice geared toward average investors and features Fool co-founders David and Tom Gardner sharing stock ideas, explaining their reasoning and even challenging each other. Tom Gardner's Motley Fool Hidden Gems focuses on smaller, quickly growing firms. Motley Fool Income Investor delivers high-yield investment ideas monthly to its subscribers. And our new Motley Fool Champion Funds presents promising and impressive mutual funds for your consideration.
Enough about us, though. There are a few other investing newsletters well worth your while. One terrific one is Outstanding Investor Digest. It frequently runs lengthy and hard-to-find interviews with investing greats such as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Unfortunately, it's a bit pricey -- although, many subscribers find the cost-benefit proposition compelling.
Another good newsletter is one that costs much more -- more than $2,000 per year. It's The Wall Street Transcript and it typically features, each week, 100-200 pages of roundtable discussions with analysts, CEO interviews, and more in each issue. See if a local library gets it -- perhaps a local college or business school does.
Finally, remember that just by reading inexpensive financial newspapers and magazines, not to mention free articles here at Fool.com, you'll be exposed to many solid investing thinkers and their ideas.
If you wish you had a financial pro to talk to, to address your specific personal situation and help ensure that you're saving enough to meet all your needs, then read more about TMF Money Advisor. It's a valuable service we're offering that features customized independent advice from a variety of objective financial pros.
