Should You Subscribe To Investing Newsletters? Nate’s Notes Newsletter Review

Whether you’re new to investing or are an investing buff, there’s a lot to keep up with when it comes to the stock market. Buying and selling can become cumbersome, and if you’re not careful to do your own research before investing, you could potentially lose a lot of money.

What if there was an easier way?

In 1995, Nate Pile started to recognize the fact that many investors were researching their own investments rather than relying on financial and investment advisors. Because of this need, he created Nate’s Notes, where he shared stock market information and recommendations with average investors in an easy to understand and follow format. He write and shares he notes at NotWallStreet.com.

Nate’s Notes Newsletter – What It’s All About

Nate’s Notes has become one of the top investing newsletters in the nation and has consistently outperformed the stock markets. In fact, in 1998 Nate recommended his newsletter readers to buy Apple shares when they were less than a dollar!

Nate’s favorite sectors are bio-tech and high tech stocks due to his background. Although he now focuses on companies that have market capitalizations from a few hundred million to several billion.

Nate personally writes the newsletter and breaks down his recommendations very easily so that investors know exactly what to do.

This is what type of information you can expect to get in newsletter:

• What to buy and sell and when you should do it.
• How much you should consider paying for each stock.
• What the newsletters portfolio is buying and selling, including how many shares.
• Why he thinks each position is a good buy.
• The tickers symbol, name, and closing price of each stock.
• A portfolio recap showing exactly what has been either bought or sold since the last newsletter.

Here’s a screenshot of his track record since 10/31/97:

As you may have already guessed Nate’s Notes isn’t free. The rates are as follows (electronic version):

• 1 Year – $289
• 2 Years – $519
• 3 Years – $699

These subscriptions come with monthly electronic newsletters and have a total satisfaction guarantee. If you subscribe and decide you no longer want to receive the newsletter you can get a prorated refund.

You can also check out a sample newsletter here.

My Review of the Information in the Newsletter

I spent a lot of time going through and digesting the information in the Nate’s Notes Newsletter. It’s clear that Nate spends a lot of time thinking about how macro-level events will ripple through the market and impact companies. But, at the same time, he really looks at a company, their products, and potential performance to make informed decisions on stocks to buy.

In his current newsletter, he recommends 19 different positions to buy. Surprisingly, there are three ETFs in the mix as well. For his two different portfolios – the Model Portfolio and the Aggressive Portfolio, he invests in the same companies, but the Aggressive Portfolio maintains a different mix of the same stocks.

For each company in the portfolio, he gives you buy and sell recommendations, and show you how he is changing the portfolio each month. For example, last month he had 2 sell transactions, and 5 buy transactions. For each stock he gives buy and strong buy levels, and when he does sell, he shares the reason why. For this month’s sells, it was to lock in profits on stocks that were nearing their highs.

The hard part of newsletters (and any stock market advice) is that patience is required. There are no overnight miracles, and stocks take time to change in value. And right now, with the markets in turmoil, there are no “easy” investments to be had. Nate is urging caution and patience in his newsletter – as he has been sharing that the markets are waiting for several items of uncertainty (Greece, the Fed, and more) to become more certain.

My Two Words Of Caution On Nate’s Notes

After digging into the newsletter, I only have two words of caution for potential readers and subscribers. Nate did really well in picking several stocks years ago – specifically Apple (which he highlights he picked when it was less than $1) and several others. As such, the gains of 1-2 stocks are what dramatically make up the “since inception” returns.

That’s not to say that he doesn’t deliver great return. His Model Portfolio has returned 19.5% YTD 2015 versus about 3.98% YTD return for the S&P500.

Second, all of his returns are based on his trades, and so followers may not line up exactly at the same price, skewing returns. Once again, it’s not a big difference in performance, but investors should be aware that it’s tough to mimic a newsletter portfolio exactly.

Is This Newsletter Right for You?

It’s important to note that Nate’s Newsletter is for investor who want to take a long term approach to investing. It’s not for day traders. Nate holds many of his positions for years and the newsletter reflects that.

While Nate’s Notes comes with a price tag it could be worth the price if you want information on exactly what to do when it comes to your portfolio.