bob brinker's newsletter?
Andrew Lee
How much is the newsletter? And more importantly, is it worth it???
--
Andrew Lee
al...@frd.hp.com
ez00...@chip.ucdavis.edu
: Does anyone have a phone number to subscribe to Bob Brinker's newsletter?
407-784-5003 for information (sample copy). It takes 4-6 weeks to get
the sample.
: How much is the newsletter? And more importantly, is it worth it???
Its $185 per year. I haven't decided if it is worth it or not. It is a
fairly skimpy letter, but it is the gospel, of course :)
I guess it depends on how much $$ you have invested.
--
Mark D. Greenspan
mdgre...@ucdavis.edu
University of California, Davis
Agricultural Engineering / Viticulture & Enology
Paul Maffia
poorer records among those he reviews.
Paul M.
Tom Geyer
repetitive! If you listen to his radio show once or twice per month, you
get all of his content of the newsletter without the suggested mutual
funds.
Overall, I find his radio show good, and his newsletter poor. I would
pay 20$ per year for it, not 185!
Just my $0.02 worth.
-----------------------------------------------------------
| Tom Geyer | tge...@rain.org |
| Santa Barbara, CA | |
-----------------------------------------------------------
ez00...@chip.ucdavis.edu
: According to the Hulbert Financial Digest, Brinker has one of the
: poorer records among those he reviews.
: Paul M.
Over what time period? Just curious.
Paul Maffia
host on the air. Unfortuantely the gulf between him and #1 is so vast
that to call his show anything other than mediocre quality merely means
the person making the assessment does not know enough to properly assess
the quality of all the information they hear over the course of his 3 hr
show.
since he is only a distant second, you can imagine what all the rest of
them are like as to the quality of the information they provide.
The best one in this game on a national basis is Don McDonald.
Paul Maffia
ez00...@chip.ucdavis.edu () writes:
>Paul Maffia (pau...@eskimo.com) wrote:
>: According to the Hulbert Financial Digest, Brinker has one of the
>: poorer records among those he reviews.
>: Paul M.
>Over what time period? Just curious.
>Mark D. Greenspan
>mdgre...@ucdavis.edu
>University of California, Davis
>Agricultural Engineering / Viticulture & Enology
has been published for that long or longer, the rating covers the full
14 years. If published for less than 14 years than the period covered
is its entire life.
Paul M.
Jim Davidson
> In my opinion he is only the second best national "money talk " radio t
> host on the air. Unfortuantely the gulf between him and #1 is so vast
> that to call his show anything other than mediocre quality merely means
> the person making the assessment does not know enough to properly assess
> the quality of all the information they hear over the course of his 3 hr
> show.
>
> since he is only a distant second, you can imagine what all the rest of
> them are like as to the quality of the information they provide.
> The best one in this game on a national basis is Don McDonald.
I've got to disagree with this. First, it's a stretch to call Don McDonald's
show 'national'. The last time that I caught it, it seemed that he was
only on 4 or 5 stations (a couple in the Northwest, the rest in the East).
McDonald seems to be better at specifics than generalities. He's willing to
name specific funds, which Brinker tries to avoid. Unfortunately, that means
that some of the show is a discussion of specific securities that callers
ask about; unless you happen to be interested in them, his info isn't very
relevant.
I've found that Brinker's show provides a lot more information. His
recommendations for asset allocation are useful even if you don't read the
newsletter (I don't). Granted, there's some repetition, but there are
useful principles to be learned from listening.
-Jim
ds
John Corwin OSBU North
>Where/when does he broadcast in the Chicago area?
WLS. Assuming that WLS broadcasts it live, it is 3-6 PM Central time.
I regularly listen to Moneytalk and find that it is very helpful in managing my personal finances. And I subscribe to his newsletter - mostly to get the list of recommended funds.
Like all such call-in shows, Moneytalk can be very repetitive, but there is enough useful information each week to justify listening. In the last few years, he has become good at keeping the phone calls fairly short; this allows a wider variety of subjects to be covered.
If you listen to the show and are willing to find the funds yourself, you probably don't need to get the newsletter.
-- John
P.S. Does anyone know if Don McDonald is on the air anywhere in the San Francisco bay area? Several years ago, he was on a San Jose radio station that carried Business Radio Network, but he disappeared when they changed formats.
ez00...@chip.ucdavis.edu
: P.S. Does anyone know if Don McDonald is on the air anywhere in the San
Francisco bay area?
Yes, but only one day per week. He is on KSTE 650 AM from noon to 3pm.
This is a Sacramento station, but you should be able to get it in most of
the bay area.
And regarding the 'debate' over the two hosts, I'll have to go with
Brinker, although I also enjoy Don. I occasionally find McDonald giving
out some fishy advice (don't ask for examples), almost as if he didn't
completely understand the question. Brinker seems to be more interested in
market trends and sentiment than McDonald, and this is reflected in Don's
buy and hold philosophy versus Bob's long-term market timing approach
(although he has been fully invested for as long as I've been listening).
But hey, maybe I'm just too stupid to know better :-/
Paul Maffia
jdav...@teknowledge.com (Jim Davidson) writes:
>In article <Cu7Ip...@eskimo.com> pau...@eskimo.com (Paul Maffia)
writes:
McDonald's
>show 'national'. The last time that I caught it, it seemed that he was
>only on 4 or 5 stations (a couple in the Northwest, the rest in the
East).
>McDonald seems to be better at specifics than generalities. He's
willing to
>name specific funds, which Brinker tries to avoid. Unfortunately, that
means
>that some of the show is a discussion of specific securities that
callers
>ask about; unless you happen to be interested in them, his info isn't
very
>relevant.
>I've found that Brinker's show provides a lot more information. His
>recommendations for asset allocation are useful even if you don't read
the
>newsletter (I don't). Granted, there's some repetition, but there are
>useful principles to be learned from listening.
>-Jim
so far off as to be ludicrous.
As for the quality of his information, I have to wonder what Don
McDonald you are listening to. He deals with no more specific questions
on securities than Brinker and he does seem to spend a lot of time
talking about taxes , insurance, trusts, etc. all subjects on which
Brinker is totally at a loss to understand.
Nor has Don ever recommended anything so stupid as using your 401K to
save for your children's college education.
The asset allocation recommendations are about as useful as a doctor
getting on the air and telling everyone they should take a particular
medicine, whether they need it or not. To properly make useful
recommendations on asset allocation would require Bob to elicit
information from a caller that would eat up a substantial amount of his
air time.
Sorry, but a professional assessment of the two leaves Brinker so far
behind the leader that he is strictly an also ran. But then he is
ahead of just about anyone else one can hear nationally. That tells you
more about the quality of the majority of the so-called "money talk"
hosts than it does about Brinker.
Paul M.
John Corwin OSBU North
.
>Nor has Don ever recommended anything so stupid as using your 401K to
>save for your children's college education.
If you are implying that Brinker would recommend using a 401K for a child's
education, you are mistaken. Brinker is adamantly opposed to touching
401K money for anything before age 59 1/2, because the tax hit is so
horrendous. He does not even like borrowing from a 401K.
>The asset allocation recommendations are about as useful as a doctor
>getting on the air and telling everyone they should take a particular
>medicine, whether they need it or not. To properly make useful
>recommendations on asset allocation would require Bob to elicit
>information from a caller that would eat up a substantial amount of his
>air time.
Brinker's asset allocation recommendations are just guidelines based
on age and/or closeness to retirement. They are so broad that they can
be easily adapted to anybody's particular situation, but I think his main
point of using age as the primary criteria is a good one. But I have
also heard him suggest to younger callers (in their 30's) who are afraid
of the stock market's volatility that they should avoid the stock market
and invest only Treasury notes. And within the last few
weeks, I heard him agree (albeit reluctantly) with an older caller
(in his 50's) who wanted to be more aggressive than Brinker's usual
guidelines, because it was obvious that the caller understood the risks.
So, in general, I like his approach to asset allocation.
John Corwin
Xerox / XSoft
Palo Alto, CA
ez00...@dale.ucdavis.edu
: Exactly which day of the week is left as an exercise for the reader, eh?
That's what happens with posts made at midnight... He's on SATURDAY (and
yes, that overlaps with BOB.
Steven R. Pearson
>
> John Corwin OSBU North (cor...@parc.xerox.com) wrote:
>
> : P.S. Does anyone know if Don McDonald is on the air anywhere in the San
> Francisco bay area?
>
> Yes, but only one day per week. He is on KSTE 650 AM from noon to 3pm.
> This is a Sacramento station, but you should be able to get it in most of
> the bay area.
Exactly which day of the week is left as an exercise for the reader, eh?
-steve p.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Pearson, Software Designer | The facts are facts.
Tandem Computers Incorporated | The opinions are mine.
Cupertino, California, USA | Neither is immutable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
RD...@delphi.com
>Yes,but only one day per week. He is on KSTE 650 AM from noon to 3pm.
ez> This is a Sacramento station, but you should be able to get it in
ez>most of the bay area.
What day?
Paul Maffia
caller save for his children's education by depositing the money in
their 401K rather than E bonds.
Yes, his asset allocation recommendations are so broad that they are
If that provides you with some kind of guideline, more power to you. You
probably don't need to listen to him. Anyone else trying to use those as
guidelines will, be as mislead as his listeners were on Oct. 18, 1987
when he told them they had a historic buying opportunity based on the
previous week's market action.
One of his problems, not necessarily unique to him, is that more often
than should happen, he just does not understand the question he is being
asked and, therefore, he ends up making recommendations like his last
Sundays use your 401K to save for your child's college education.
Karen Jensen
did, I followed his advice about buying 5 yr Treasury notes paying 8%.
Have been very pleased with that decision which provided a bit of
diversification in my portfolio, which consists primarily of mutual
funds.
Are there any readers of this group from the San Joaquin Valley in CA
who can tell me if Brinker is broadcast here locally? If so, please
E-mail me the info.
Karen Jensen
Russell E. Sorber
>
>jdav...@teknowledge.com (Jim Davidson) writes:
>
>>I've got to disagree with this. First, it's a stretch to call Don
>McDonald's
>>show 'national'. The last time that I caught it, it seemed that he was
>>only on 4 or 5 stations (a couple in the Northwest, the rest in the
>East).
>
>Sorry, but your assessment of the number of stations that carry Don is
>so far off as to be ludicrous.
Is Jim's statement ludicrous? It seems more ludicrous to state
that Don is available on a "national" network.
From elsewhere in the Don McDonald and Brinker Newsletter threads
we learn:
1) Don is unavailable on any of the dozens of stations in Chicago.
2) The (somewhat implausible) reason given for Don not being
available in Chicago was that
the stations in Chicago are "just like" those in New York City and
would not compensate him properly.
I infer from this that Don McDonald is also not broadcast in NYC
which makes him a non-entity in the nations first and third
largest media markets.
3) No one has answered my post of several days ago for the time and station
Don is on Clear Channel radio east of the
Rocky Mts. Weather permitting, this would give evening coverage to cities
in 38 states that don't carry the show on a local station,
Bob Brinker currently has this broadcast range with WLS in Chicago.
4) People in Cleveland and Boston are also posting and asking where they can
hear Dons show. To my knowledge they haven't been answered.
I'd like to give Don a try, but what kind of "national" network
ignores listeners in NYC, Chicago, and Cleveland? Seems to me
that Don is not a national show.
-Russ
--
Russ Sorber
Software Contractor - Opinions are mine, Not Motorolas!
Motorola, Cellular Division
Arlington Hts., IL (708) 632-4047
Richard VanManen
So> we learn:
So> 1) Don is unavailable on any of the dozens of stations in Chicago.
So> 2) The (somewhat implausible) reason given for Don not being
So> available in Chicago was that
So> the stations in Chicago are "just like" those in New York City
So> and would not compensate him properly.
So> I infer from this that Don McDonald is also not broadcast in NYC
So> which makes him a non-entity in the nations first and third
So> largest media markets.
So> 3) No one has answered my post of several days ago for the time and
So> station Don is on Clear Channel radio east of the
So> Rocky Mts. Weather permitting, this would give evening coverage
So> to cities in 38 states that don't carry the show on a local
So> station, Bob Brinker currently has this broadcast range with WLS in
So> Chicago.
So> 4) People in Cleveland and Boston are also posting and asking where
So> they can hear Dons show. To my knowledge they haven't been
So> answered.
So> I'd like to give Don a try, but what kind of "national" network
So> ignores listeners in NYC, Chicago, and Cleveland? Seems to me
So> that Don is not a national show.
So> Russ Sorber
We get the show from 10pm-1am EST down in south Florida. I dont recall
many people calling from New York but I believe there is a station in
New York that carries it. He is definately not on a National network
of any kind. He has mentioned several times on his show that he is
trying to get more stations to carry his show, but a lot of radio
stations claim that they already have their share of 'financial
talk shows' (What a joke, most of them are fronts to get people to call
their office after the show..... "Ah well, I dont have the information
right in front of me at the moment, but tell you what, why dont you call
my office and we can discuss this issue more personally" etc, etc)
IMHO, Don's show is the best one out their that I have heard. He doesnt
tout any one paticular company and he's not selling anything. If you
want to hear Don McDonald and your area doesnt broadcast it, I would
suggest that you call your local stations and let them know that you
want a REAL financial talk show. Also, you might try calling Don himself
at the Walt Disney Studios. They may be trying to get on the air in your
local area and they may have the radio stations # you need to call to
request it.
The # to the show is 1-800-6DISNEY (1-800-634-7639). Someone should
definately be there from 10pm-1am EST unless they are running a
previously recorded program that night, I dont know if anyone is at
that # the rest of the day though..
Hope this helps someone,
Rich
... Catch the Blue Wave!
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
Paul Maffia
sorb...@wildcat.cig.mot.com (Russell E. Sorber) writes:
>><Cu7Ip...@eskimo.com> <JDAVIDSO.94...@argon.teknowledge.com>
>>
>>jdav...@teknowledge.com (Jim Davidson) writes:
>>
>>>I've got to disagree with this. First, it's a stretch to call Don
>>McDonald's
>>>show 'national'. The last time that I caught it, it seemed that he
was
>>>only on 4 or 5 stations (a couple in the Northwest, the rest in the
>>East).
>>
>In article <CuDq2...@eskimo.com> pau...@eskimo.com (Paul Maffia)
writes:
>>Sorry, but your assessment of the number of stations that carry Don is
>>so far off as to be ludicrous.
>> Paul M.
>Is Jim's statement ludicrous? It seems more ludicrous to state
>that Don is available on a "national" network.
> 1) Don is unavailable on any of the dozens of stations in Chicago.
> would not compensate him properly.
> 3) No one has answered my post of several days ago for the time and
> Don is on Clear Channel radio east of the
> in 38 states that don't carry the show on a local station,
> Bob Brinker currently has this broadcast range with WLS in Chicago.
> 4) People in Cleveland and Boston are also posting and asking where
> hear Dons show. To my knowledge they haven't been answered.
>I'd like to give Don a try, but what kind of "national" network
>--
>Russ Sorber
>Software Contractor - Opinions are mine, Not Motorolas!
>Motorola, Cellular Division
>Arlington Hts., IL (708) 632-4047
would worry about the Company's viability.
Nowehre did I ever state that Don was carried by a "national" network. I
specifically stated that he has a syndicated show that is carried
nationally.
What that has to do with the fact that Brinker is carried by the ABC
network is beyond me. The fact that one is carried or not carried by a
major network tells us nothing about the quality of the advice they
give. Need proof? Read last weeks Barrons. Both hosts mentioned by name
in an unflaterring matter by Barrons are carried by networks, one ABC
the other BRN.
I also never stated that the Chichago stations refused to pay Don. I did
say that they refuse to carry him because HE REFUSES TO PAY THEM to
carry him aside from the usual ad sharings normal in radio.
I have also stated that I did not have a complete or even partial list
of the stations that do carry him. But just listening to his show, I
have heard calls coming in from at least 25 major markets including
several in Texas, St. Louis, Baltimore metro area including northern
Virginia, North Carolina, North Western New York state, even Cleveland,
Florida and others. He is currently negotiating with a stationis
southern Calif and Denver. The first announced on his show tonight,
Denver a call he received off the air while here in Seattle this last
Monday.
Aside from all that, as I said, what does that have to do with an
assessment with the quality of his material vis a vis anyone else.?
My assessment is based on professional knowledge not how many stations
carry him.
Russell E. Sorber
>Nowehre did I ever state that Don was carried by a "national" network. I
>specifically stated that he has a syndicated show that is carried
>nationally.
I'm willing to believe that Don puts on a great program, it seems
to get good reviews here. I don't think its national, though,
as you repeatedly boasted.
As another poster and I alluded to, a national netw.. I mean
syndicate, without NYC or Chicago has serious holes.
If you continue to insist that Don currently has national coverage,
kindly back up the assertion with the stations, frequencies and
times so the rest of us can enjoy the show also.
My thanks to the poster who recently did this for Public Radiios
new financial radio show based in Minnesota.
Paul Maffia
But while we wait, let me just add that to state that just because a
show is not carried by either a New York or Chicago station it cannot be
stated to be national is scope is utter nonsense
A program carried in 25 major markets is probably covering better than
50% of the US population. And since those major markets cover all
quadrants of the map, it is by definition national in scope.
Let us not betray our "big city " biases. Ther is more to the US than NY
Chicago and Los Angeles.
Paul M.
Tim Irvin
jdav...@teknowledge.com (Jim Davidson) writes:
>...
>
>Don MacDonald disappeared from the airwaves here in the Bay Area about
>5 years ago. Apparently he's not on the air anywhere in California. Other
>postings indicate that he's not carried in Chicago or New York City.
Yep. He used to be on "Business Radio 1500" in San Jose--a BRN affiliate--
when it used to exist. I called into the show twice, but this was in
1989 or 1990. McDonald's show used to have far more affiliates than it
does now.
As an aside, does BRN even exist anymore?
>I last heard Don last fall, on a trip to the Northwest. I heard him on
>stations in Seattle and Portland. The only other cities from which he
>took calls were two or three in the East; I don't remember where.
>
>Maybe he has added a few new stations since then. I don't consider my
>assessment of the number of stations to be 'ludicrous'. In any case, it's
>clear that he isn't carried in any of the major media markets (NY, Chicago,
>LA, SF).
I remember calling McDonald once after the show had gone off the air in San
Jose. When I told the call screener that I was from San Jose, they told ne
that I *must not* make reference to the fact that the show had disappeared
from the local airwaves.
>> Aside from all that, as I said, what does that have to do with an
>> assessment with the quality of his material vis a vis anyone else.?
>> My assessment is based on professional knowledge not how many stations
>> carry him.
>
>and sincere. *However*, since he permits people to name individual funds, too
>many calls degenerate into cases where the caller gives a list of the funds
>that he currently holds, and asks Don's opinion. That's not very interesting
>to someone who does happen to care about those particular funds.
Well, if you trust his judgment, then it might be useful to hear what funds
he's holding. Of course, topics relating to general investing could appeal
to a broader range of listeners.
>Bob Brinker, by contrast, provides more general advice, which I find more
>useful
>
>I think Don's approach may come from the fact that there aren't many callers.
>When the BRN started up some years back I can remember dead stretches of several
>minutes where he was waiting (pleading) for someone to call in. He obviously
>wasn't going to blow away anyone who did call, and IMO the program quality
>suffered for it.
It's hard to tell. I know he used to go into monologue sometimes, now that
you mentioned it, and would remark that "the lines are clear" for anyone to
call in. All I know is that I tried three times, got through three times, and
went on the air three times.
Tim Irvin, Programmer/Analyst/Dinosaur Jockey
Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Inc., Sunnyvale, California
**************** all standard disclaimers apply *******************
------- 15 g -------- 7-8 -------- .558 ------- 2 HR ---------
(coming to you soon from zig...@rahul.net)
David Smith at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
AM 650 out of Sacramento, CA. What a stark constrast he is with Bob Brinker.
Brinker overbearing and defensive, with the charm and enthusiasm of someone
with a bad hangover. McDonald, cheerful and courteous, willing to let the
caller make their point, state their questions, etc., without jumping all
over them. He won't recommend specific investments anymore, as he openly admits
that it discourages companies from advertising on his show. He will however
allow people to state their investments and comment on how good the are. He
was amazingly knowledgeable about different mutual funds, and is much quicker
witted than Brinker. I am surprised to hear that he has been around a while
since he has not adopted the aggressive, bombastic, "shout down the caller if hddares to disagree",style that most talk show hosts tend to fall into.
Particularly Brinker, who takes perverse pleasure in shouting at nervous
grandmothers and grandfathers if they ask something as horrible as "should
I consider investment real estate".
In summary -
Bob Brinker - two thumbs down.
Don McDonald - two thumbs up.
Clayton Cramer
Yes, they do. I was interviewed by Business Radio Network about
my most recently published book a couple of weeks ago. I was told
by the producer of the program that they are carried on 90 stations
nationwide. The only ones in California were in Sacramento and
Palms Springs.
--
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer My opinions, all mine!
Prohibiting law-abiding people from owning guns because they might be stolen
by criminals is like prohibiting women from going out at night because they
might be raped.