What Is Jeff Clark's Delta Report?

• Product: Jeff Clark's Delta Report
• Type: Investment advisory service
• Editor: Jeff Clark
• Cost: $5,000/yr

Overview

Jeff Clark's Delta Report is a top-tier investment advisory service provided at jeffclarktrader.com. A subscription comes at a high price, but provides subscribers with weekly trade recommendations that have the potential for quick gains.

This advisory service is focused on options trading, and is laid-out in a follow-along style where subscribers are told exactly what to invest in and when to invest in it.

Options trading is more risky than trading stocks, but also usually has the potential for faster profits, which is why Jeff trades them in the first place. 

*For more info on what options are and how they work, here is a short informative video:

Who Is Jeff Clark?

How Delta Report Works

Cost & Refunds

The cost of a 1-year subscription for Delta Report is $5,000. This is the most expensive trading service that Jeff offers.

Yes, it's a lot, but overall the service provides a lot and has performed pretty well over the years, which I'll go over next.

Refunds

Jeff doesn't offer refunds for all of his trading services, such as for Jeff Clark Trader, but with Delta Report he does.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee where you can request a full refund for any reason.

Performance

If you would have been a subscriber for the past year (at the time of me writing this) then you might have reaped some pretty sweet gains...

• Past 12 months of recommendations [Jan 18, 2019 - Jan 17, 2020]
  • +887.9%
  • 47 trades

However, if you just recently subscribed then the future might look bleak. At the moment his recent recommendations have been poor...

The past month of recommendations (at the time of this review of course) have provided a net loss...

• Past 1 month of recommendations [Dec 18, 2019 - Jan 17, 2020]
  • -257.9%
  • 9 trades

*Note 1: These are trades that are closed, so it doesn't match up with the 1 recommendation/week frequency.

*Note 2: The past month's loss was still calculated into the past years statistics, which produced the sizable gain listed above.

*Note 3: We don't know how much Jeff recommended putting into each trade, so the statistics can be somewhat misleading.

There have been periods where Jeff has made consistently bad recommendations for some time, but if you look at the big picture, which every investor should be doing, then his advise has fared pretty darn well.

HOWEVER... that said... there is one major problem with this service that I will talk about in the complaints section next... and you might not be able to expect the same returns as Jeff has had (listed on the track-record page).

Complaints

One good source of complaints I found while conducting my research was Pissed Consumer, which is a website where people usually go to b*tch and complain about things. Some of the more notable complaints that are worth mentioning include the following:

#1 - Trouble Getting Refunds

Apparently some people have been having difficulty getting refunds. Yes, refunds are available, but it seems that the support team can be hard to get in contact with...

#2 - Losing Recommendations

You will also find quite a few complaints from people who are upset with losing recommendations, which is to be expected and is something you will find with any advisory service.

At some points there may be a string of losing recommendations. However, as we went over above, the overall performance of this service has been very good if you look at it from a long-term perspective.

#3 - Misleading Marketing

It would be nice if they toned down the marketing material a bit, but I don't expect to see this happen... as over-hyped promotional material that makes things seem like a guaranteed way to make tons of money seems to be pretty commonplace in the world of investment advisory services.

This is undoubtedly a cause of many complaints, because people subscribe with too high of expectations.

#4 - Difficulty Entering Trades

This is the most concerning complaint, and is the reason I mentioned earlier that you might not be able to expect the same performance results as shown on the track-record page.

Why?

Well, because it can be very difficult, and some say impossible, to enter trades at the right buy-prices...

Pros v Cons

Pros

• Easy to follow
• Well laid out (recommendations, details, updates, etc.)
• Advice provided by veteran trader with lots of experience (Jeff)
• Full refunds available within 30 days
• Low barrier of entry for trades (what I mean is that options take less upfront investment)
• Possibility of quick profits

Cons

• Expensive
• Risk involved (as with any investment opportunity)
• Possible trouble getting into trades in time
• Customer support team could be better
• Options are riskier than trading stocks

Is It Legit?

There are quite a few people calling Jeff Clark's Delta Report a scam, most of them complaining about one of the common complaints I went over above, but all things considered this is not a scam. 

It is a legitimate service provided by a legitimate trader with decades of experience.

Conclusion - Worth Joining?

If I was able to solely base my judgement off of the track-record provided then I would say that this advisory service is without a doubt worth joining. Over the long-run it has performed very well, as the track record shows.

However, we know from some subscriber complaints that you can't expect to make the profits that Jeff makes because he is always the first to place a trade and always gets the right price, whereas normal subscribers are left behind and can have trouble getting into trades before the price spikes.

So... this makes the question of whether or not it is worth joining a lot more complicated. And the decision ultimately comes down to you.

If, however, you want an advisory service that also is transparent with their recommendations, but doesn't have the problem of getting into trades too late, then I'd recommend Motley Fool's Stock Advisor service.

Leave any comments/questions below. I'm interested in your take on this service.

Who Is Jeff Clark?

Services Provided

Market Minute - Free

This is Jeff's free newsletter service. It provides subscribers with broad market analyses and is good for those who want to stay up-to-date with whats going on, but don't need in-depth information on anything or specific trade recommendations.

Jeff Clark Trader - $199/yr

This is his flagship advisory service. The focus here is on options trading and with a subscription to this you will be provided with monthly trade recommendations as well as 3 stocks that Jeff claims will fund a comfortable retirement... in addition to training on how to start options trading in the first place.

Full review here

Delta Report - $5,000/yr

This is the most expensive service provided here and builds on what Jeff provides in his Jeff Clark Trader service. Here subscribers are provided with more frequent trade recommendations, once a week.

The Breakout Alert - $4,000/yr

This service differs from the others with its focus on small-cap stocks that have the potential for "explosive" profits, rather than options. Here Jeff uses what he calls the "S-force" method to identify certain stocks, but as far as how this method works I'm not entirely sure.

Misleading Promotions

Recommendation Performance

The fact that he publishes all his losing trades publicly like this is a big deal... and certainly shows that he can be a trustworthy guy.

And don't let the screenshot above of multiple -100% losing recommendations scare you away from his services. I'm just proving a point here. His Jeff Clark Trader service, for example, has been performing much better.

*Note: The trades shown above can be somewhat misleading however, and you may not want to expect the same results. I'll be talking more about why in a second!

Scam & Fraud Accusations

I've found quite a bit complaints on Pissed Consumer and accusations of Jeff Clark being a scammer/fraudster, which is no surprise because this is a website where people usually go to bitch and complain about things.

Difficulty Contacting

The review shown below says a lot of things, but one thing in particular that I want to point out is that it mentions it being very difficult getting in contact with the customer service team, which is something I've come across in multiple complaints.

Spam

Once you give your email to them be prepared for lots of promotional offers and upsells...

This is pretty commonplace when it comes to subscription services like this. Unfortunate... but common. It certainly doesn't make Jeff a fraudster by any means however.

No Refunds

There are also quite a bit of people complaining about not being able to get refunds... and unfortunately this is the way it is. Instead of giving out refunds they (meaning Jeff Clark and his team) only give out credit towards other subscription purchases at JeffClarkTrader.com. You can read more about this in the Terms of Conditions.

This is only for some of the services however. For the more expensive services like Delta Report ($5k/yr) he does provide refunds.

I do think that it's a bunch of crap that refunds aren't issued for all the services, because with an online subscription service like this it couldn't be more easy to give out refunds... but anyways this is the way it is and it is stated in the Terms of Conditions as well as at the bottom of the checkout pages when you are going to order any of the services provided.

Trouble Entering Trades

The most concerning complaint I have found is shown below, which talks about how it is impossible to enter a trade on time. Apparently, as soon as Jeff issues a recommendation the price spikes and you can't get in for the right buy price...

Attorney General Reports

There have been some proponents of reporting what's been going on with Jeff Clark's services to the Attorney General, one of which you can see here...

I'm not a lawyer and don't know how far a class action lawsuit of this kind would go, but some people have been trying already.

*In my opinion it wouldn't make it far.

Fraud or Not?

I don't see any real reason to call Jeff a scammer nor a fraud.

Yes, the marketing material is often a bit much and can be misleading, it may be very difficult and even nearly impossible to enter trades on time, and a fair amount of his recommendations are losers at times... but none of this proves he is a scammer or fraud.

That said, I still definitely have some suspicions and the fact that he is able to get into his trades ahead of all his subscribers and undoubtedly profit from everyone buying in after him is something that is not fair... and is a problem/concern with many of these types of services.

Conclusion

What Is Jeff Clark Trader?

Because of the follow-along style of the service, there is no knowledge of options trading needed to get started, although it's never a good idea to simply follow along blindly.

That said, the performance of the recommendations made via this service have been pretty good so far (at the time of this review).

Who Is Jeff Clark?

Jeff has over 15 years of experience editing newsletters. He used to work as an analyst/editor for Casey Research but supposedly left in 2015 when the company got sold to Stansberry Research. That said, on Casey Research's website there are still new articles being written by him... so I'm not sure what the deal is.

Anyhow, he has quite a lengthy background in providing investment advise via newsletter services and has since founded his own advisory service, which we know is at JeffClarkTrader.com.

Before all of this he founded his own brokerage house and private money management firm, through which he handled millions of client dollars, and which allowed him to semi-retire at the age of 42 (the reason I say "semi-retire" is because he is still working to edit his newsletter services). 

Overall he has a pretty good background... the type of background you want to see from someone providing a service like this.

How It Works

Cost & Refunds

The normal cost is $199/yr. However, there seem to almost always be promotions going on and at the time of this review there is a special discount offer for only $19/yr, which is a huge price drop.

However, be aware that there are NO REFUNDS.

Instead of providing refunds they have a 90-day policy in which they provide credit towards another subscription service they offer. So if you aren't satisfied with the service within 90 days your only option will be to try another one of their services.

*Note: You should also be aware that once you subscribe your card will be billed automatically the following year unless you cancel.

Performance

The great news about Jeff Clark and the services he provides is that he is very transparent with their performance... which many other advisory services are not.

As you can see below, he has made some big losing recommendations, but overall there has been a high net-profit...

For an up-to-date track-record report you can click on the link provided above.

Complaints

Misleading Marketing

The marketing almost makes it seem like some jackpot... some sure-fire way to get rich, which certainly isn't the truth.

Jeff talks about his best trades but conveniently (for him) forgets to mention any losing recommendations.

No Refunds

Then there is the fact that no refunds are offered, which I think is BS. With an online subscription service such as this, offering refunds doesn't get any easier.

Who would want credit? Then you only have several other advisory services to choose from, which most people probably won't be interested in.

Pros v Cons

Pros

• Well laid out (training, recommendations, alerts)
• Easy to follow
• Advice from a professional trader (Jeff)
• Big discounts available
• Low barrier of entry - options trading requires less startup capital

Cons

• No refunds
• Over-hyped marketing can lead to big let-downs
• Risk involved (as with any investment opportunity)

Conclusion - Worth Subscribing To?

What Is the "3-Stock Retirement Blueprint"?

The "3-Stock Retirement Blueprint" is a teaser for Jeff Clark's Jeff Clark Trader advisory service.

It's all part of a sales funnel to lure people into this $199/yr subscription service, which is a follow-along style advisory service that tells members what to invest in and when to invest, as well as information to keep them up-to-date with what's going on in the markets, similar to many others like Utility Forecaster and Options for Income.

When you subscribe to the service you are provided with his 3-Stock Retirement Blueprint right away, which will tell you what 3 stocks he recommends and will provide information on why. Additionally you will get:

• Monthly trade recommendations - Each month Jeff makes a new trade recommendation.
• Updates - Subscribers are updated when need-be, such as when it's time to sell.
• Video training series - This includes a series of training videos on options trading, which is great if you are new to it all.

This is the core of the membership.

Jeff Clark Trader is all about options trading, which I'm sure you are well aware of if you saw the teaser. 

Jeff talks all about how options trading can make you more money faster and conveniently leaves out the part about this form of trading being much more risky.

Options trading can be very lucrative, but this comes with increased risk. 

For a brief overview of what exactly options trading is, you can watch this video I found that explains things well:

Who Is Jeff Clark?

After listening to the teaser you may think that he is just some average Joe that talks too much, but Jeff actually has quite an extensive background in the world of investing... nearly 50 years of experience!

Currently Jeff Clark edits several investment advisories, Jeff Clark Trader just being one of them. He's been in this line of work for over 15 years now.

Before this he ran a private money management firm and brokerage house, in which clients trusted him with tens of millions of dollars.

He also has a good educational background, with a MBA (not that this matters too much).

So, although Jeff throws one heck of an overly-salesy sales pitch, based on his background he seems like the type of guy that you'd want to provide investment advice to you.

That said, there is a lack of transparency with his advisory service (of course) and I'm not sure how good its performance is overall.

What 3 Stocks Does He Recommend?

Cost & Refunds

I've mentioned that the subscription price for Jeff Clark Trader is $199/yr, however there is a special offer going on as I am writing this and it is discounted to only $19.

Refunds

The price isn't too bad, but unfortunately they do not offer refunds, instead providing credit to purchase another one of their services, which is something most people probably wouldn't be interested in if they are trying to cancel.

This is what they call a "90-day legacy credit guarantee". You have 90 days to cancel your membership for credit.

But what's the point?

Pros v Cons

Pros

• Easy to follow service
• No experience needed (although I certainly don't recommend blindly following recommendations)
• Advice provided by professional trader
• Low barrier of entry - options trading doesn't require as much initial investment

Cons

• Misleading promotions make it seem like a guaranteed way to make money
• Options trading is more risky than stock trading
• No refunds

Is It Legit?

Yes, this whole thing is legit, although very misleading.

The fact of the matter is that the service being promoted here, Jeff Clark Trader, is a legitimate advisory service.

That said, I can absolutely understand how some people would feel scammed after being lured into a subscription through such an over-hyped and misleading teaser.

Conclusion - Avoid?

What Is Sovereign Man?

As you may already know, Simon Black is a man who is many things. He is an international investor, entrepreneur, and someone who really distrusts the US government... often using the old fear-mongering "the world is coming to an end" sales pitch to lure in new subscribers to his services.

Simon is also a graduate of the famous military academy, West Point, and a former Army intelligence officer, which may sound like a proud past to some, but he calls it all a poor career move... after later doubting the good intentions of wars, governments and the banking system.

He believes in freedom without boarders, and heavily promotes making money in other areas of the world besides where one lives. He also lives by his beliefs, and is a frequent traveler, allegedly going to over 40 countries on a yearly basis, which is an insane number.

All in all there isn't all that much information on Simon, and there's a good chance he wants to keep it that way. But, if you want to get to know more about him and his thoughts then there is an excellent hour long free podcast I came across from Borderless, which I'll include here:

What They Offer

What they offer is information and material to help people achieve sovereignty, some of it for free and some at a cost.

Let's go over the free stuff they offer first: 

Free Material

Blog - Of course there is the blog that they run, which includes articles written by Simon Black and someone named "Alina", whom I don't know anything about because this name is never mentioned on the About Us page at SovereignMan.com.

On the blog there are all sorts of topics covered. World news, investment opportunities, market analysis, politics, lots of information on taxes, etc.

For example, as I'm writing this the most recent articles are:

These blog posts are usually pretty short and don't go into too much detail, but they are good for staying informed with what's going on in the world and it's nice to see Simon's take on things, which is different than most.

*It's also nice that these blog posts are there to actually provide good information, and aren't filled with sales pitches and links to purchase things.

Free Tools - On the website there is a passport ranking tool that you can use to search for the most attractive passports, if you are looking to get a 2nd one. And there is also a Cost of Living Index tool, which you can use to search for areas around the world that meet your needs based on income and family size.

Free Guides - There are also a handful of free guides available by Simon that provide actionable and detailed information on various aspects of achieving personal liberty and financial freedom. The guides currently available are:

• Offshore Banking: How & Where to Open the Best Offshore Bank Account
• Save Tens of Thousands of Dollars by Legally Reducing your Taxes
• How to Make More Money by Investing Outside the Mainstream
• How to Drastically Increase Your Freedom & Protect Your Hard-Won Assets

These provide valuable information, and a lot of it, but you should know that they are part of a sales funnel.

How it works is like this: You can read the information in these guides and be provided with some actionable advice, but will be left wanting and needing more. Then you will be directed to download some other free guide or report, but for this you will have to enter your email address. By doing this you are getting on Simon's email list, and you will receive some promotional emails for the paid products that I'll go over now...

Paid Products

Sovereign Man has a handful of paid products that you can purchase. All these are categorized as either defensive or offensive products.

Defense Products:

These are focused on risk prevention and safeguarding what you have. Simon distrusts any one government and believes in strong defensive strategies through diversification.

#1 - Sovereign Man Confidential - $995/yr

Sovereign Man Confidential, or SMC for short, is Simon's flagship international diversification service.

Once a member, you will get access to the SMC membership area that includes all of the following, as well as years of past archived information.

• Video library with over 50 video lessons on things like foreign banking options, 2nd citizenship, tax mitigation, and much more.
• Monthly Intelligence Reports that include step-by-step instructions for implementing various diversification strategies.
• Quarterly Black Papers, which consist of very in-depth reports on topics like tax reduction strategies, getting second passports, and so on.
• Monthly Dispatches that provide all sorts of valuable information from Simon's travels and recent experiences.
• Monthly Q & A where subscribers can ask any questions and hopefully get answers.
• And subscribers are also provided with the Starter Guide, which can be purchased by itself and I'll talk about it more below.

#2 - Sovereign Man Explorer - $195/yr

Sovereign Man Explorer, or SMX, is all about international diversification. Subscribers are provided with actionable advice and step-by-step instructions on things like opening foreign bank accounts, getting foreign residencies, investing in precious metals, eliminate taxes, and how to "strategically, legally, and intelligently structure and implement your personal Plan B".

What you get is:

• The Explorer Monthly newsletter that is like a "Master's Degree in international diversification". Here Simon shares new opportunities he has uncovered during his constant and frequent travels.
• Weekly Intelligence Briefs that provide information and opinions on important regulations that are taking place or being proposed around the world.
• The Plan B Video Series which is a library of videos that go over how to implement Plan B solutions, such as getting a second passport, opening a foreign bank account, etc.

Sovereign Man Explorer doesn't provide quite as much as Sovereign Man Confidential, but can still has a lot of good information and can definitely help people out who are interested in diversifying on an international level. And it's much less expensive.

#3 - Starter Guide - $249 (one-time payment)

This is one single, massive 80+ page report/guide that "outlines ever step you need to take to protect your family and livelihood". It includes step-by-step information on getting a 2nd passport, saving on taxes, opening offshore bank accounts, structuring your retirement savings, never losing passwords online, and more.

This guide is included with the Sovereign Man Confidential membership, but due to demand and a lot of people asking for it, they now sell it separately.

Offense Products:

These are the products focused on increasing wealth and prosperity, as in investment-focused products.

The 4th Pillar - $1,995

This is an investment advisory service led by Tim Staermose, who is the Chief Investment Strategist at Sovereign Man (mentioned earlier).

Like many advisory services out there such as Utility Forecaster and Options for Income , this is a follow-along service in which subscribers are told:

• What to invest in and at what price
• When to sell or hold
• and How much to invest

The recommendations are based on a strategy of buying shares that are selling for less than the amount of cash the company has in the bank... aka undervalued shares... which become profitable from capital appreciation, currency appreciation, and dividends.

To-date, the recommendations supposedly have a 97% win rate over the last 2 years, and where the average return is 37% (I haven't verified these claims). 

As far as markets go, the focus is on Australian and Asian markets. They stay away from US markets because they claim they are "seriously over-valued", which might be true in general, but I would like to see them have a less biased focus and just look for good opportunities.

Private Investor - $2,995

This is their private equity investment recommendation service. Here, Simon Black provides subscribers with actionable investment advice, which comes from Simon and his network of industry experts, entrepreneurs, and other high-level investors.

The focus here is global. Recommendations are made in a variety of industries and all over the world. And as for performance, well, I don't know the win-rate of this service. I can't find any good information on it.

*Note: At the time of me writing this the service is closed to the public. So you may want to check it's availability.

Total Access - EXPENSIVE

As shown above, this is their highest-end membership and the positions open here are limited. The price isn't listed, but I can imagine it costs quite a lot.

This service is top-tier and provides:

• Exclusive opportunities
• Private investment deals
• Exclusive events
• and a Network of communication with other members

The Podcast - If you are just looking to stay up to date on what's going on in the world and also learn a heck of a lot from commentary between Simon and other like minded, and sometimes well-known people, then you might want to subscribe to The Sovereign Man Podcast. The focus here is on personal liberty and financial prosperity, and there are all sorts of interesting topics covered and actionable advice provided.

Podcasts are held irregularly, and have no set schedule which is disappointing, but overall the podcast receives very good ratings on Apple Podcasts.

Cost & Refunds

As you can see, the prices vary quite a lot... anywhere from $195/yr for Sovereign Man Explorer to $2,995/yr for Sovereign Man Private Investor, which all provide a lot of value and don't seem to be overpriced in my opinion (although it's hard to place a price tag on info products like this).

As far as refunds go, they have a 30-day money-back policy for all of their products, with the exception of the podcast subscription, which is sold through Apple Podcasts.

There are a lot of investment subscription services that have strict no-refund policies, so it's nice to see that this place actually treats their customers with respect.

And if you do buy and aren't satisfied, you can contact them at refunds@sovereignman.com

What I Like/Don't Like

Like

I think the services offered here are, overall, pretty darn good and provide a lot of value. 

It's nice to see a place like this give such a wide-scale approach to their services... helping people with everything from opening bank accounts off-shores to investment opportunities.

Also, it seems to me that Simon Black, although not providing us with his real name, does genuinely care about the service he offers and isn't in it just for the money. After all, he practices what he preaches and some of the services have limited availability, which shows that he isn't just selling a sh*t ton of subscriptions to make money.

Don't Like

There isn't much that I don't like to be honest. However, if there is one thing I'd like to complain about then it has to be the marketing, which I think can be somewhat misleading.

First off, Sovereign Man's products are often promoted with, as I mentioned earlier, the typical fear-mongering "the world is coming to an end" approach, which always has some truth to it but is often exaggerated for promotional purposes.

Second, there are some seriously high hidden costs that it would be nice if they were up-front about. For example, there is a lot of information on getting a second passport in the different services offered... and they recommend a service for only $102,500... which is supposedly $20k-$50k less than other providers. BUT this is still way out of the budget of most people looking into these kinds of services!

Is Sovereign Man a Scam?

I think the answer is pretty obvious at this point. No, this is not a scam and Simon Black, although keeping his real identity hidden, is not a scammer.

The reason I want to address this directly is because at the beginning of this article I mentioned some concerning comments i found about him online. However, these seem to be mostly baseless and after looking into everything I'm not concerned at all.

The services offered by SM are legitimate and they do have real value.

Pros v Cons

Pros

• Wide-based approach to achieving life sovereignty and financial freedom
• Various services offered and good free information provided
• Trustworthy and good quality information provided from people who practice what they preach

Cons

• Expensive products
• Some hidden costs
• Not very transparent with some things (don't even know Simon's real name)
• Risk involved with investment recommendations (as there will always be)

Conclusion - Worth Joining?

When I first started my research into Sovereign Man I was a bit skeptical of things but am no longer. Sure, it would certainly be nice if Simon gave us his real name and I do have a bit of a problem with this, but I understand his reasoning for using a pen-name. And, the bottom line is that the services offered by Sovereign Man have real value and provide good quality information.

The decision is ultimately yours, but I think any one of the services offered here could be worth joining, depending on what you are looking for of course. If you are someone who has a survivalist mentality and wants to be prepared for all situations, and has interest in global diversification... then this very well could be a good fit for you.

Anyways. I hope you found this review helpful. If so, please share to help spread the word and to help out my website here.

Also, leave any comments/questions below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can 🙂

Overview

• Name: Utility Forecaster
• Type: Investment newsletter advisory service
• Publisher: Investing Daily
• Editor: Rodger Conrad Robert Rapier
• Price: $149/yr

What Is Utility Forecaster?

The Utility Forecaster is a newsletter published by Investing Daily, who is also the publisher of Options for Income, that has been around since 1990 and provides subscribers with actionable investment advice in the utility sector.

This follow-along style newsletter would appeal most to those looking for relatively safe investments, as the utility sector is one of the safest sectors you can invest in, generally speaking of course.

The marketing around this service may be a little over-hyped and whatnot, but overall the newsletter service seems that it could be very well worth the cost and has received pretty good subscriber reviews/ratings compared to others out there.

Who's Behind It?

Utility Forecaster was run by Rodger Conrad for years, but has since switched hands and is now being run by Robert Rapier.

What You Get

Cost & Refunds

The cost is $149/yr, which breaks down to around 40 cents a day... not too shabby.

Additionally, they have a 90-day money-back guarantee in case you sign up and don't like what you see.

However, the specifics of this money-back guarantee are a little bit blurry.

As you can see below, they say that "You can cancel at any time in the first 90 days and receive a prompt, 100% refund", which makes it seem as if you can cancel anytime during the first 90 days and receive a 100% refund. However, they then say that "After the first 90 days, if you ever vote “thumbs down,” I’ll happily send you a refund for all unsent issues", which makes it seem as if they are giving out pro-rated refunds...

Performance

How well do the recommendations given in the newsletter actually perform?

It would be nice if there was a clear track-record provided, but there isn't unfortunately.

The good news is that Utility Forecaster has ranked among the top-returning financial advisories by Hulbert Financial Digest fairly often over the years and Kiplinger named it as one of the best investment advice stock newsletters.

However, since Roger Conrad left there has been some concern that it might not be as good as it once was. After all, when the man providing the recommendations leaves and someone else steps in, this changes everything.

I even found a subscriber review on Stock Gumshoe about this very thing...

The information I could find was limited. But I did come across yet another, much more recent, review from someone who has been a subscriber since the mid 2000s and claims that the Utility Forecaster's picks have brought in a return of 12-17% annually, which beats the S&P 500 by a fair amount.

*If anyone reading this is a subscriber, please let us know how more recent recommendations have been performing in the comment section below this post.

But Certainly Don't Expect 455% Returns!

The reason I mention this is because it is being promoted right now as having an average return of 455%, which might be true at the time of me writing this... but certainly isn't a realistic expectation and should not be expected.

This is just another example of over-hyped marketing material.

Is Utility Forecaster a Scam?

I know it may sound like a silly question to answer at this point, but because of some of the hyped up marketing material it does make one wonder.

But the answer is no, it is not a scam. It is a legitimate advisory service that seems it could very well be worth the money.

Pros v Cons

Pros

• Low cost
• Well laid-out
• Easy to follow
• Seems to have good track-record (although not completely clear on this)
• Focused on utility sector, which is generally on the less-risky side
• Refunds available

Cons

• Risk involved (as with any investment opportunity)
• Somewhat misleading marketing
• Lack of transparency - no clear track record

Conclusion - Worth Joining?

All in all this seems to be one of the better investment advisory newsletters I've looked into, although it isn't quite as popular as others and there is a lack of subscriber reviews because of this. However, it seems to perform well and the editor, Robert Rapier, certainly has a lot of experience in the industry.

On top of that it's only $149/yr, which is a pretty low price if you think about it. And there are refunds available.

The decision to subscribe or not is ultimately up to you, but I hope I've made it a little easier by providing this review.

Please share this to help spread the word and to help out my site 🙂

Also, leave any comments/questions below and I'll get back to you soon.

What Is a "McCarthy Chip"?

The Man Behind It All: Jeff Brown

Jeff Brown has quite the background and experience in the tech industry, which is exactly what you want from someone sharing tech investment advice like this.

He is a graduate of Purde University's School of Astronauts with a degree in a very prestigious Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering program, and he has 25 years of experience in the tech industry, having worked his way up to positions as a high-tech executive.

He has a lot of experience in various areas of the tech industry, but has actually worked in the chip industry with the Qualcomm company.

With all this experience and knowledge of the industry, Jeff now seems to mainly be an investor and runs different investment advisory services focused on tech investment.

How It Works

The whole "McCarthy Chip" thing is all a sales pitch.

Jeff tells us that we can get all the information needed on the company at the forefront of this new massive opportunity, such as the ticker symbol and everything in his special report called "Microchip Millionaire: How to Profit From the Next Tech Boom"...

Additionally, he is also giving out another "free" report titled "AI Pioneers: Three Ways to Make a Fortune on AI", which goes over 3 other AI companies that Jeff beliefs are going to be worth a fortune in the near future.

BUT... and this is a big "but".... in order to get his free reports you first have to subscribe to his paid newsletter service called The Near Future Report.

What Is The Near Future Report?

This is an investment advisory newsletter service that Jeff runs at Bonner & Partners and it's all about new technology trends that you can profit from.

If you subscribe you will get:

• 12 monthly newsletter issues that go over new investment opportunities Jeff is looking at 
• Access to the members-only website
• Access to the model portfolio that includes all Jeff's recommendations
• and email alerts when Jeff thinks that you should take action with a trade

This service is basically a follow-along advisory where subscribers are told what to invest in and when to invest in it.

It is regularly sold for $199/yr, but at the time of me writing this there is a special offer for just $49/yr... and apparently there are different offers floating around the internet because some people have been able to subscribe for just $37/yr.

What Is The Company Being Teased Here?

Recap

Okay, so there you have it...

• "McCarthy Chips" is a made-up name for AI chips, made-up for promotional purposes by Jeff Brown
• In order to get Jeff's "free" information on how to invest in this new opportunity you first have to subscribe to his newsletter called The Near Future Report
• The company being teased here is TSMS... which means now you don't have to subscribe to get the information because I just provided it for free

I hope this review helps! Please share it to help spread the word, and to help out my website!

Take care and leave any comments/questions below 🙂

Overview

Jim Fink is the analyst that runs this advisory service. He works for InvestingDaily, which is the company behind it all, and is an analyst/strategist at the company.

As far as experience goes, he has also worked as an analyst for Motley Fool and got into the realm of investing after finding out it was much more profitable than what he was doing at the time, which was working in telecommunications regulatory law.

To-date, Jim has over 20 years of experience trading options and runs several investment advisory services at InvestingDaily, Options for Income just being one of them.

Besides the investing side of things, it's also worth mentioning that Jim holds degrees from Yale, Harvard, Columbia University, and University of Virginia... in law, business, and more. Pretty impressive.

Is Options for Income a Scam?

Options for Income is not a scam, contrary to many of the reviews you may find online.

That said, I can see why people are calling it a scam and I'll be discussing this in more detail... which mainly has to do with the deceptive promotional content used to lure in new subscribers.

How It Works

As mentioned, this advisory service is all about options trading, which is when you purchase the right to purchase shares of a stock at a future price and date.

Below is a short informative video about options that I suggest watching if you are confused by it.

As a subscriber you will be provided with new trade recommendations regularly, on a weekly basis, along with alerts on when to exit trades or new opportunities that arise.

There is no experience or knowledge needed to get started with this service. Even if you are completely new to options trading there is a video training series provided that goes over the basics of getting started.

The Strategy

As mentioned in the sales material, Jim's strategy with Options for Income is to focus on selling options, which he claims makes it so that the "odds of winning tilt heavily in your favor".

He also claims it is less risky, which is true. Selling options is less risky than buying them when done the right way, and buyers have much lower loss potential than if they were to buy the actual stock.

To take full advantage of the recommendations, Jim recommends that subscribers do 10 options contracts per trade, which will result in the need for a substantially sized portfolio if you want to actually follow along to a T.

What You Get

I already talked about how subscribers get recommendations and training, but here I'll put everything in a list to make it easier to understand.

• Weekly Recommendations - Jim recommends 1-2 trades every Thursday, along with step-by-step instructions for executing the trade.
• Alerts - If there is a certain time to enter or exit a trade, or if a new window just opened up, subscribers are sent alerts.
• Message Board - Subscribers get access to the "Stock Talk" message board. This is a forum where you can interact with other subscribers and share strategies/successes, or ask questions.
• Members Area Access - All past trade recommendations, special reports, analyses, etc. will be available for viewing in the members area of the website you get access to.
• Video Training - There is also a library of video training where Jim walks through his trading strategies and also provides beginner info for those just getting started.

Cost & Refunds

The price isn't cheap. This is one of InvestingDaily's premium services and it costs $3,000 per year to subscribe.

Refunds

Additionally, there are NO refunds, as it states below the checkout area on the website...

Why no refunds? Well, because they say that as soon as you become a member you instantly receive benefits... so they don't think it's appropriate to give refunds... which I think is a load of crap.

With a completely digital service like this it would be incredibly easy to give out refunds. At least giving out pro-rated refunds would be nice to see, but this doesn't happen.

That said, if you did subscribe and would like to try your luck, you can contact the customer service team at (800) 543-2051.

Performance

The most important thing of all... performance. Of course the reason anyone subscribes to an advisory service like this is to be provided with good actionable trades... and to make money.

Jim states that he guarantees "you can make an average of $5,629 each month", but I'm not so sure I'd believe this statement.

"We make money on 85% of our trades"

This is another statement made by Jim, which is true... however it is misleading.

As mentioned in multiple subscriber reviews I found online, Jim almost never backs out of a trade when it goes bad... but instead throws more capital into it and keeps rolling them out... which can lead to significant amounts of money being tied up in a single trade that can last... well... years!, as mentioned by a subscriber here...

... and as also mentioned by a self-proclaimed experienced options trader who decided to give his 2 cents on Jim's strategy...

Complaints

You certainly won't hear about losses like this in the promotional material.

Pros v Cons

Pros

• Easy to follow
• No experience needed
• Options trading requires less capital (lower barrier of entry vs trading stocks)
• High win percentage

Cons

• Risky strategy (per-contract losses are significantly higher than per-contract profits)
• Rolling out trades can require a lot of capital (which many subscribers probably won't have)
• Misleading advertising
• Expensive subscription price
• No refunds

Conclusion - Worth Subscribing To?

While the decision of subscribing to this advisory service is ultimately up to you, I will not be promoting it here on my website, that's for sure. There are just too many complaints and too many people who have lost significant amounts of money following along.

It is true that many of the large losses people have experienced could have come from the same trade recommendations, and things may seem worse than they actually are, but the bottom line is that with an advisory service like this massive losses need to be avoided... and they clearly haven't been.

The service obviously has value and I'm sure Jim puts a lot of time into it, but it doesn't really seem to be worth the price tag.

But anyways... you decide for yourself. I hope you found this review helpful, and, if so... please share this post to spread the word and to help out my website here.

Also leave any comments/questions below and I'll get back to you soon 🙂

Who Is Jim Fink?

Reviews - Not Looking Good

When it comes to advisory services like these, the number 1 goal is profitability. Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of subscribers are in the red here.

With Options for Income some people claim to have lost substantial amounts of money following Jim's recommendations, but of course you won't hear about this in the promotional material.

Below are reviews from Stock Gumshoe...

To go along with the low rating are plenty of negative reviews... again with some people losing significant amounts of money following the recommendations given.

Here are a few examples...

Misleading Promotions

One of the big problems with Jim Fink's services is the way in which they are promoted, which can be very misleading. In short, the way they are promoted basically makes them seem like sure-fire ways to get rich, which as you have seen from the reviews above can be far from the truth.

For example, here is snippet from a promotion for Options for Income...

An 85%+ Win Rate??

And as also mentioned in another review I found on Stock Gumshoe...

Now this method is okay if you have large sums of capital that you can tie up in trades that may take years to come out of... but for the average subscriber buying into this kind of service it is definitely NOT realistic and will lead to losses.

It would be nice if there was more information provided on this kind of thing beforehand, but I guess most people find out after getting into a bad trade and losing money.

Conclusion - Trustworthy Fellow or Not?

The Purpose of This "Marijuana Payouts" Teaser

The teaser presentation of Marijuana Payouts was put together by Jim Pearce and its purpose is to lure in new subscribers to one of his paid newsletter investment services, which I'll talk more about in a bit.

It has actually been around since 2018... so DON'T think that you really have to get in by the upcoming date they tell you... which keeps getting pushed back over and over again to make this opportunity seem urgent.

All of the information on how you can get in on this opportunity and "collect up to $55,563 every year" is in Jim's "free" report... 

HOWEVER, in order to get this "free" report you first have to subscribe to his paid newsletter service, which is called Personal Finance.

Tricky, I know.

Personal Finance costs $39/yr and is a follow-along style newsletter advisory service that provides investment recommendations to subscribers. If you join you will get:

• Monthly Issues that provide 16 pages of market analysis and commentary, plus you are provided with investment recommendations.
• Trade Alerts that let you know exactly when to make a move on one of the recommended positions.
• Members Area Access where you will be able to find the entire archive of past research they have provided to subscribers as well as see the model portfolio and its performance.

The Man Behind It All: Jim Pearce

What Are "Marijuana Profit-Sharing Checks" Really?

Jim talks about becoming a "member" of this opportunity. He specifically says that you can "join" to collect large checks. And he uses a bunch of other misleading terms.

It sounds like you just sign up to some list to start collecting these checks... but this isn't true.

"Marijuana Profit-Sharing Checks" are nothing more than dividend checks. He just made-up the fancy name for marketing purposes.

And since we are told that the company behind this opportunity is obligated to pay out 90% of its profits from the marijuana market, this company being teased here is likely Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR).

Why Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR)?

Well, because it is a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) and REITs are required to pay out 90% of income to shareholders by law. Furthermore, IIPR is the only REIT company that focuses on the marijuana industry and has a major listing.

Is This a Scam?

Final Thoughts

• "Marijuana Payouts" are just dividend checks
• In order to get the free report on how to collect these checks you have to subscribe to the Personal Finance newsletter
• The company being teased here is likely the REIT Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR)

Hopefully this review has been helpful to you. Now you have a better idea of what is actually going on here, which isn't what it seems due to the misleading nature of this teaser. And now you know what is really being teased.

Take care and leave any comments/questions below 🙂