The 12 Days of Xmas: The Best of the Mailbag...

Editor's note: For our 11th day of Christmas editorial, we can claim no ownership of the heartwarming compilation of ideas, opinions, insults, brickbats, and vilifications you are about to read.

Below you'll find some of the most entertaining feedback delivered to The S&A Digest mailbag in 2007. We can only thank and credit our readers for this one. For your reading pleasure, we present the "Best of the Mailbag, 2007."

Best of the Mailbag, 2007

On the mailbag:

Porter, I am seriously wondering if all your ducks are in the same pond. I became an Alliance subscriber based solely on the depth and consistency of the research at Stansberry and Associates after trying a few of your products. I would have to say that there isn't a research analyst employed by you whose work I don't respect. I find them all to be sincere, honest, and thorough; and that includes you. I am a value investor, so you can probably guess where my leanings are as far as to who my favorites are.

My biggest problem is not letting my holdings get unwieldy, and yes I have been stopped out. But seriously, there must be something inherently wrong with someone who seeks an adversarial relationship with his subscribers. 'Send us your hate mail.' I guess I would find that a bit unprofessional. I think you can do better than that. If you give people a venue to complain, that's exactly what a fair share of them will do… I guess I now qualify; I hope that at least makes you happy. – Paid-up subscriber Greg B.

Porter comment: You make a good point… but we enjoy the banter too much to stop now. Negative feedback also helps me keep tabs on the quality of our work: If there's a problem, I'll find out about it almost instantly from our readers. Finally… we believe sharing our negative feedback with all of our readers and openly examining situations where our advice didn't pan out will help you get to know us better and help us improve our work. The combination should produce improved results for our subscribers, which is our top goal. There's no mystery to what we do: We do the hard work all investors should do before they buy any stock. It doesn't mean we'll be right every time. But it sure improves our chances.

On market timing:

What is the best way for the common person to tell when to get out if the market has topped? Should we go by sector? For example, some of the writings of your cohorts tell us that this will be a good year for Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and others in retail and the building trades. Should we just get out or get out by sector? – Paid-up subscriber Ken Turner

Porter comment: Boy... if I had a firm answer for that, I'd be the richest man in the world. Like I said the other day, we're only mortals. God doesn't whisper in our ear. We can't know the future. But... I think it pays to watch for signs of investor exuberance... and to be cautious when you see other people doing things that are foolish.

On our letter from "GM's chairman":

Well, I have to say that I don't appreciate being made fun of and ridiculed for thinking that it really WAS the Chairman of GM!!! I sent it along to others. No, I did not, nor do I now, think it was at all funny. I will have to seriously question anything that I see here in the future. You presented it as coming from GM, and I trusted what you have in your publication. I won't any more... Disappointed in you, and quite frankly pissed. - Paid-up subscriber Jonathan R.

Porter comment: You honestly thought the chairman of General Motors would say in a letter to a group of newsletter subscribers, "I have become nothing more than a dressed-up street hustler, running a shell game on you, our loyal shareholders."?

More on GM…

With respect to your continual tirade against GM, what are your motives once you have pronounced that 'GM is dead!'? It's almost as if you ghoulishly continue to dissect the body after the autopsy is complete. Or could there be a financial motive here? I hope not because that would be just so wrong.

I don't expect this to be published, like my other two letters, as it must be really striking a nerve. What country is your home because I can't imagine an American taking such joy in attacking a long-standing part of the business community. Very unprofessional and so unnecessary. – Paid-up subscriber Victoria Smith

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Porter comment: My motivation is simple. I am deeply offended by the way the management team of General Motors has lied to the public for the last 25 years. Equally inept teams of manager and union bosses have slowly bled one of history's greatest industrial corporations to death. Both groups have been living off the marrow of this company, leaving nothing behind for future generations of Americans. To me, what happened to GM is a crime.

I tell the story of GM's demise as it should be told because I know when the company finally goes bankrupt the mass media will report the story in one of two ways. Fox News will blame the failure on the union. CNN and CBS will blame current senior executives. Neither will get the story right.

Both groups – management and union workers – have stolen something from GM shareholders and from future generations of Americans. Since 1992, union workers have been paid to do nothing – sitting in a so-called "jobs bank." These kinds of ridiculous union demands left GM with dozens of money-losing plants. On the other hand, the company's board of directors continued to pay big dividends to hold the stock price up. Meanwhile, the company was running at a capital loss, with no funds available for the continual investments necessary to compete in the global market. The result is what we have today: The shell of a formerly great corporation getting crushed in its home market by Toyota – a company that 30 years ago barely sold cars in America.

If telling this story honestly and completely is unprofessional… well… that's probably why I write newsletters instead of kowtow to advertisers in a newspaper or a magazine. GM still buys a lot of ad space and TV time. You won't see the true story of GM in any other type of media.

On Porter's skepticism of global warming:

…If you'd ever bother to read about global warming you'd know that those out-of-season cold snaps are actually the RESULT of global warming... You say that the Earth's climate is too complex to understand so we should not bother trying to figure it out. Do you say the same about cancer? Alzheimer's? MS, or any other substantially complex problem vexing mankind? – Paid-up subscriber Larry Poquette

Porter comment: Boy, do I wish I were in the business of selling "global warming." What could be easier? It's like a religion: It's all based on faith. And if you believe, then even an incredible snowstorm – in June – is simply more evidence that the world is getting warmer! The difference, by the way, between global climate studies and something like cancer is simple: the scientific method. Tell me, how would you establish a double-blind control group for an experiment on the world's climate?

On politics and the creatures it creates:

I'm twenty-two and utterly green when it comes to investments and the stock markets. So, I just wanted to take a little time to say thank you, as I find your publications (the daily ones and the Penny Letter I subscribe to) highly informative and intriguing. I do have one little question: Why do you write the name of the presidential candidate Obama, with capital letters? It's not hard to see that you disagree with his thoughts upon at least certain subjects, but why the literary tool of capital letters? It's like you're screaming on paper. – Paid up subscriber Kari Kristine Haugberg

Porter comment: It just happens naturally when I type his name... OBAMA! I think it's a natural outgrowth of his political campaign. OBAMA! is the perfect political creature. He is an utter and instant creation of our flimflam political process. He's the Diet Coke of politics. A candidate from central casting, who knows nothing and has no agenda other than power. He is perfect... OBAMA!

More politics…

Porter, please give it a rest with the global warming thing. I disagree with you and have no problem with you stating your view... but come on... every week you write something. One final point: When someone disagrees with you, you get the last word, and you always throw out that lame 'I am not a Republican. I am an independent.' Funny how many Republicans are saying that now and funny how the only people you seem to go after in your letters are Democrats. – Paid-up subscriber Trent Yaconelli

Porter comment: I think the prescription drug coverage bill that was passed by the Republican-led Congress was the most corrupt piece of legislation EVER passed by Congress. All of the Republicans who pushed the bill through (at 3 a.m.) are crooks; most of them have since left Congress to work for the pharmaceutical industry.

The free spending of the Republicans over the last decade will cause a massive political shift, as most conservative Americans no longer believe the Republicans mean what they say about smaller government. The corruption of the Republicans and this unpopular war might even set the stage for a true third party. My pick for president? That's easy. The only honest man in Washington, Ron Paul.

On tax avoidance and the state of America:

I hope you find this of interest: A multimillion-dollar stock redemption transaction by H.J. Heinz Co. and subsidiaries was an economic sham intended to generate capital losses for tax reasons, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rules in H.J. Heinz Co. v. United States , refusing to require IRS to refund close to $43 million in taxes on the deal. Judge Allegra says the complex transaction, involving stock sales and transfers between Heinz and its subsidiary, H.J. Heinz Credit Co., was designed solely to eradicate HCC's prior-year gains. – Paid-up subscriber Thomas Popplewell

Porter comment: I know why you sent this... Teresa Heinz (wife of former presidential candidate John Kerry) famously pays next to nothing in personal taxes, thanks to tax-free municipal bond investments.

Apparently, the company her family founded has a similar aversion to taxes. But I don't fault them. I wish it were socially acceptable to avoid taxes here, like it is in most other places in the world. Most Americans don't realize that the "land of the free" is the only major industrialized country that imposes universal taxation on its citizens... or that our top income-tax rate is now three times higher than Russia's top rate.

You could spend all day trying to figure out how America – once home to patriots of liberty like Patrick Henry – became a nation of people willing to submit to almost any indignity, as long as their television works, they can afford gasoline, and the pharmacy doesn't run out of happy pills.

On the relentless advertising of the newsletter business:

I believe your service is only for the truly wealthy. Every time I look at your latest money investment, I need to sign up for another letter. I can't afford to sign up for one more letter. I would be ecstatic to receive 12.55% interest. I am going to be receiving $30,000 from my mother's estate in July. This is all the money my wife and I have. There are no vacations, no IRAs, no 401ks. Just tell me what can I do with this money to make it grow and not pay taxes on it. – Paid-up subscriber Dean Parsons

Porter comment: Dean... as you know, we can't provide you with any individual advice. That's not what we do. We provide independent research to investors, some of whom are wealthy and some of whom are professionals. However, we believe our letters are also extremely useful to anyone willing to read, learn, and think for themselves. I hope you fit into this category.

Oh... one more thing... we stay in business through advertising. But we only really make money from renewals and from satisfied customers. I hope you'll be patient with our advertising. And I know you'll find our research to be the best you can buy, at any price.

More complaints about advertising…

Nothing burns me more than to see something advertised as free, only to discover that it is only free IF you purchase something else. I believe that this is called 'entrapment.' Just how legal is this??? I believe 'suckers beware' would be more accurate. – Paid-up subscriber Jim Dixon

Porter comment: Oh, good gracious. You can't be serious. My father taught me when I was five years old that nothing in this life was free. Were you an orphan? We give "free" reports away to encourage your subscription – everyone knows that.

Yet another advertising complaint…

I don't like those seemingly inflated claims of gains in most of your marketing letters... Offering free trials is better bait than those inflated numbers, which cannot be verified. – Paid-up subscriber Larry

Porter comment: We test our marketing rigorously, and we use the advertising that works. We also have lawyers audit every single claim we make in our packages. I can't vouch for any other newsletter's marketing, but ours is scrupulously honest.

In addition, because we have money-back guarantees on every single one of our products, you can think of your subscription as a trial offer. If you're not happy, let us know, and we'll give you your money back. What could be fairer? Try asking for your commissions back from your broker if you're not happy with his recommendations.

One final thought on advertising…

The boobs complaining about your advertising apparently have no idea what makes the world go 'round. Their own livelihood probably depends on advertising selling something that impacts their bottom line, and they are too donkey-minded to make the connection.

If it hadn't been for your advertising, I would never have become an Alliance member. The Alliance investment is the most profitable I've ever made! Yes, all those letters carry a lot of advertising, and I no longer read it all, but keep up your good promotion works so that more souls can be brought into the Stansberry financial light. – Paid-up subscriber D.K. Davis

Regards,

Porter Stansberry

P.S. The S&A Digest is a daily e-letter from the desk of Porter Stansberry, the founding publisher of Stansberry & Associates Investment Research. The Digest comes free with a paid subscription to any one of Stansberry Research's publications.

To learn more, visit our website, or click here to read about Porter's top recommendation right now.

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