Chen Lin letter ... bad performance ... not worth the price!
cl001 is a member on these boards, but he doesn't comment here anymore (couldn't justify free comments when he charges so much for his newsletter).
I dropped the letter due poor performance and several other complaints (listed below). Over the last two years I have not done well by using his letter's recommendations, probably because his recommendations (and my investments) have been overweight energy stocks (particularly MMT.v).
Here are just some of my complaints:
1. He is front-running, that is, he doesn't suggest you buy until he has bought, and he doesn't suggest you sell unless he has sold. This is clearly spelled out in his fine print, but it means his subscribers cannot easily make the gains he does.
2. He refuses to disclose how many subscribers he has. He likes to market his letter as an elite letter that is only available to higher-income sophisticated investors.
3. He only signs up new subscribers on a quarterly basis (no reason stated, but requires people to get on a waiting list). This approach also may be used to keep existing subscribers onboard rather than stop for awhile because they would have to go to the back of the line if they want to re-subscribe.
4. His performance cannot be tracked. He publishes buy and sell recommendations but doesn't say how much he buys of anything.
5. This last year, he has done lots of options trades, but I think it is just a way to add a few big gainers to his run-of-the-mill performers.
6. He seems to have lost his "mojo", and he has certainly held many stocks too way long vs. setting protective stops. I have some suspicions that he has certain relationships with good buddies that he does not wish to hurt by selling things they like. On the whole I have seen him have several emotional favorites (pharma stocks to cure cancer and save boys with muscular diseases).
7. He does not publish how his portfolio is doing quarterly or annually, probably because the performance numbers would be damning. It is entirely possible that for the last two years he has made more money from his newsletter subscribers than he has made on his trades. For instance if he has 2000 subscribers at $750/annum, he is making $1.5 million in revenue on the subscriptions.
8. He does not respond to individual questions. Too busy, couldn't possibly respond to all requests, etc. If so, he must have a lot of subscribers, lending evidence to the theory that he makes more on his letter than his trades.
9. It's just not worth the price.
JMHO,
'peeker
Focus Focus Focus Focus !!!!
