The Latest Report Card Is Here

The latest report card is here... Why we're using a three-year period... Like Warren Buffett, we know it takes time... Three key metrics for our grades...

Let's get straight to it...

Longtime subscribers know that we take some time at the beginning of every year to review the performance of everything we publish.

At Stansberry Research, we've been in business for 20 years now... And we've been publishing annual reviews since 2006. If you have been with us for a while, you know we show you everything – whether it looks good or not.

Many people think we're crazy to open up the books for the public to see how we've done.

To our knowledge, none of our competitors in the newsletter business do this...

We don't know why. But we could make a guess...

Porter Stansberry – our company's founder – has instilled the fundamental belief and culture at our firm that we provide the information to our subscribers that we would want if our roles were reversed. He's my boss. And I (Brett Aitken) try to follow his lead...

But that's not what most people think they want... Most people only want the hottest tip - a stock that will make them rich by next Tuesday.

Serious investors know that chasing the latest market fad is a fool's errand...

Instead, they follow time-tested strategies for growing and protecting wealth. They look for opportunities to buy valuable assets when they're cheap and ignored by the investing crowd. They know how to evaluate macro trends in the markets and the broader economy... and how to deploy their capital to take advantage.

That's the kind of serious investing ideas we strive to bring you, our subscribers, month after month...

To do that, we've built a powerhouse team with more than two dozen analysts...

Among them are former hedge-fund managers, Wall Street traders, global business analysts, doctors, scientists, certified public accountants, a chartered market technician, lawyers, chartered financial analysts, and an econometrician. (Yes, there is such a thing. Yes, we have one. And yes, he is super smart.)

These talented individuals are all incredibly competitive. And they could work anywhere in the world. Lucky for us, they want to work here at Stansberry Research.

That is why we only publish the work that we would be comfortable sending to our friends and family. And that is why, each year, we take the time to grade our editors' work and show you how each of their publications have performed.

Because we believe deeply in the value and the quality of the research we bring to you... We believe it's important to take a moment every year to give a clear, honest evaluation of our performance.

And that's why we open ourselves up for scrutiny and honest evaluation every year. We've made a commitment to bring you the highest-quality investment research... And you deserve to know how we've done.

To keep the grades consistent across all publications, we select a different period each year...

And we always include the most recent year – in this case, 2018.

Sometimes, we choose a starting point midway through the year, rather than January 1. This year, we chose a flat three-year period starting January 1, 2016 and ending December 31, 2018.

As you know, we've been in a raging bull market for a decade. Almost anyone can look like a genius when everything goes up. So we like to see how our analysts do when things get a little choppy.

Stocks fell right out of the gate in January 2016, resulting in an 11% correction...

As you know, the markets then churned higher. But that's why we're starting there – when the markets stepped into a pothole before marching higher.

Then, of course, there was last year... After a great start to 2018, we hit a speed bump that pushed stocks down 10% or so before they grinded higher once again. The wheels fell off again in October... The market plunged almost 20% through mid-December.

With three double-digit dips in stocks over the grading period, we believe that provided some challenges for investors. And that gives us – and you, our subscribers – a good sample of how our picks have performed in a bull market accompanied by some turbulence...

You should know, we don't consider a one-year period long enough to judge anyone's results...

Most investments take time to play out. Plus, some of the strategies employed in our publications take several years to play out...

For example, we launched Stansberry's Credit Opportunities in late 2015 to take advantage of the credit cycle rolling over. That hasn't happened yet. But it will. And subscribers following the advice in this publication have booked regular double-digit gains in the meantime.

The point is... as an investor, you can't realistically expect miracles to happen in a year.

Legendary investor Warren Buffett is the third-richest man on the planet...

Through the years, he has said numerous times that his favorite holding period is forever.

The best investments take time. Buffett knows that patience is critical to his success... He buys great companies – like credit-card giant American Express (AXP) or soft-drink behemoth Coca-Cola (KO). And then he simply waits...

Buffett has compounded the market value of his holding company Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) an average of roughly 20% every year from 1965 through 2017 (his most recent available results).

But he doesn't hit a home run every year for his Berkshire shareholders... In the late 1990s, the company's shares fell by almost half. And it ran into trouble again during the global financial crisis. In 2015, the market shaved almost 15% off the company's share price.

However, investors who have stuck with Buffett over all these years have made a fortune. Over the past three decades, the stock is up almost 6,500%. By comparison, the broad stock market is up one-tenth of that over the same span.

Like Buffett, we want to buy the best businesses we can hold forever...

But the fact of the matter is, you - our subscribers - pay us to make regular recommendations. That's on a monthly basis for most of our publications. And every day, we strive to find the best possible ideas to pass along to you.

We also aim to help our subscribers with more than just stock recommendations. We want to educate you to become better investors... We want to show you different strategies, how to properly manage risk, how to effectively use trailing stops, and how to make the right portfolio allocations through position sizing.

Like Buffett, we know it takes time to become better investors and accumulate serious wealth through the markets.

And we have the results to prove it...

For the 10-year period ending December 31, 2018, Porter's average annualized gain in his flagship publication, Stansberry's Investment Advisory, is 13%. In Steve Sjuggerud's True Wealth newsletter, the average annualized gain is about 12% over the same time frame.

Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig's Retirement Millionaire has an average annualized gain of roughly 14% over the past decade. And Dan Ferris' averaged annualized gain in Extreme Value comes in at more than 14% in that span.

These are outstanding results that most investors would kill to have... Heck, most hedge-fund managers don't realize those kinds of consistent results.

For these reasons, we invite subscribers to consider a lifetime subscription to these services...

You see, we can't do much for you in a single year. Sure, we make plenty of recommendations. And one or two could soar to help you realize huge gains. But we can do so much more for our subscribers over a longer period. If you're a new subscriber, you may think I'm pitching you. Sure, we're here to make a profit.

But you should know that I was a Stansberry Alliance member before coming to work here in 2012. I first signed up for Steve's True Wealth newsletter back in 2005. A week later, I signed up for Stansberry's Investment Advisory.

By 2009, I was reading a handful of publications and loved the content. I could see the value in following these guys over the long term. So that's when I joined the Alliance.

I'm confident that most of our Alliance subscribers would agree with me that we can – and do – help our subscribers become better investors... if they just let us.

With all the background out of the way, let's get to the criteria we use...

First and foremost, we stress accuracy. We track every entry and exit point for every recommendation we make. Please remember that we are tracking our results – not yours.

We can't possibly know when subscribers buy or sell the positions we recommend. We are not claiming these results are the same as yours. Our results reflect the insights of each editor at the time we publish our material.

For the reference price when opening a position, we use the closing price for the day prior to publication. For the exit price, we use the closing price the day after we either hit a stop or recommend closing the position.

We use three key metrics for our grades...

First is the win rate.

With most publications (excluding Stansberry Portfolio Solutions, which we'll get to tomorrow) we make regular recommendations – monthly, in most cases. The "Model Portfolio" for each publication is really a list of recommended stocks. They're not an actual portfolio of risk-weighted securities.

The number of winners versus losers tells our readers the likelihood of the editor's success over time.

The next criteria are the average gain and annualized returns.

We compare each recommendation made – not the entire portfolio – with its benchmark... Unless otherwise stated, it's usually the S&P 500 Index. In other words, we look at how the recommendation performed compared with what would have happened if you simply put your money in the benchmark.

By considering the average gains, you can see what to expect from the list of recommendations. And the annualized returns show us what would happen if you repeated the specific trade's performance throughout the entire year.

Remember, our model portfolios don't have a single starting point. That is why you will see different returns on the benchmarks. We believe the fairest way to measure an analyst's performance is to see how each pick did against its benchmark over the same period.

By looking at these metrics over any given period, you can see what kind of success rate to expect...

As we said, for this year's report card, we have included all new recommendations over the selected period – January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2018.

Some people – including some of our analysts – have suggested other methods to judge performance. Believe me, this topic gets debated every year... We have considered different methods. But given the nature of these model portfolios – which are lists of recommendations – we believe this is the best methodology.

Last year, Porter handed me the baton for putting together the annual grades...

If you think he still whispers in my ear what his own grade should be... rest assured, we play no favorites here. Not even with the boss. But if you disagree with any of the grades, send your complaints to me at feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

Today, we will cover the basic, monthly, stock-picking newsletters and our two Venture products. We'll cover the trading and strategy-focused publications tomorrow.

Now, with all the details out of the way, let's dive in...

True Wealth: B

If you've followed our work for any length of time, you'll know Steve Sjuggerud has made some bold – and accurate – market calls throughout his lengthy career...

He called the top in the tech bubble in 2000. He picked the market bottom in early 2009.

After the global financial crisis, Steve became convinced that the chairman of the Federal Reserve at the time – Ben Bernanke – would do everything within his power to re-inflate asset prices in America, including housing and stock prices. He called it the "Bernanke Asset Bubble." In 2010, he began pounding the table on it. As you now know, Steve was right... The stock market bottomed on March 9, 2009 and has gone on to soar more than 300%.

Since launching True Wealth in 2001, Steve has earned average annualized gains of almost 14%. Once subscribers start following Steve, they tend to stay with him.

Steve's fans also love how he finds simple and easy ways to play big macro ideas that few analysts cover...

During the grading period, Steve realized a gain of more than 62% on Chinese Internet stocks. He booked a 90%-plus winner on junior-mining stocks. And he made another 34% on Japanese stocks. And the great thing for True Wealth subscribers is that Steve shows his readers a simple, "one click" way in the U.S. stock market to capitalize on these opportunities.

One thing you need to know about Steve is that while he knows how to identify big trends... and stick with them, he is sometimes early...

Steve is comfortable taking small risks to get in early because he knows that when the trend kicks into full gear, his subscribers will book huge profits as his thesis plays out. In the end, the risk is well worth the reward.

But along the way, if the market goes sideways or gets a little choppy, he sometimes hits some stop losses before the next leg kicks in.

And that's where we are right now... In 2017, Steve made his latest big call – the "Melt Up." Steve believes as the stock market enters the final stage of its long bull run, it will experience a last euphoric rally. Investors in the market when the Melt Up hits will enjoy massive gains.

Given Steve's track record on getting the big calls right... we wouldn't bet against him. But as you know, volatility returned to the market in 2018. And that hurt Steve's results in the short term...

Over the three-year period we chose for this year's report card, Steve's win rate declined to 50%. His average gain came in a little more than 8% – for an annualized gain of 9.4%. That's below the benchmark... And for that reason, Steve gets a "B" this year.

While that grade is more than respectable, I know Steve will be disappointed. He strives for perfection. And I have no doubt he will outperform most investors over the long term.

Retirement Millionaire: B

There's no doubt... This grade will cause an uproar.

For a decade, Doc has the most impressive track record in terms of consistency of any editor at Stansberry Research. Year after year, Doc would get an "A" or "A+" for his flagship publication, Retirement Millionaire.

Then in 2016, the unthinkable happened... For the first time, Doc got a "C."

And boy, did he react...

If you've met Doc, you'll know he is super-competitive. It's unacceptable to him to receive anything less than an "A" on the report card. That year's grade fired him up...

He called on all his expertise and experience to fix it. And as expected... he did.

The following year, we took the same investment period and tacked on another year. Doc boosted his win rate to more than 60%. And his average gain hit almost 12% – for an average annualized gain of 22.4%. These are phenomenal results. And that's why he earned an "A-" last year.

Of course, editors and analysts like to point out that their track record only matters over longer periods. And no doubt... like with Steve, folks who start reading Doc's work tend to stick with him. They know a winner when they see one... Since launching Retirement Millionaire, Doc has a 75% win rate and an annualized gain of 13.3%. That's outstanding by any measure.

Over the three-year grading period, subscribers who followed Doc's advice enjoyed big, double-digit gains in online retail (58%), in one of the most capital-efficient plays in real estate (72%), and in a software giant (66%). My bet is that you will see more gains to come from those stocks.

Still, our cutoff point for the report card was December 31, 2018. And the volatility in the final few months of last year dragged down Doc's win rate to less than 60% for the end of the grading period. Also, his average gain dropped below the benchmark over the same period. In order to give him an "A" or better, we'd need to see better numbers for those metrics.

We know Doc will be among our top-performing editors year after year. Over the long haul, there aren't many experts with a track record as consistent as his.

If you're not reading Doc's Retirement Millionaire yet, you should really consider it. He'll continuously deliver a high winning percentage and safe, consistent gains.

It'll help you sleep easy at night.

Stansberry's Investment Advisory: B

Just because Porter is the boss doesn't mean we go easy on him.

When he was the one handing out the grades, he never took it easy on himself. For the 2012 report card, Porter slapped himself with a big, fat "F." In the past, he also gave himself a "C-" grade.

Last year, I gave him a "B+"... But this year, Porter and his team of analysts get a "B."

If you're not familiar with our flagship publication, you should know that it's a little different from our other newsletters...

In Stansberry's Investment Advisory, Porter and his team recommend short positions to hedge against any market volatility. By doing this, they aim to offset any losses they might suffer on the long portion of the model portfolio.

Few investment newsletters around the world do this...

First, it's not easy to do in a raging bull market like the one we've been in for the past decade. And second, few subscribers will ever do it – or want to do it. So it's a tough sell.

But over the years, we have noticed more and more readers looking to us for ideas on selling stocks short. Porter and his team believe it is a responsible approach to investing.

So while their short positions may sometimes drag a little on their overall performance, they will continue to recommend shorting stocks in the Stansberry's Investment Advisory model portfolio.

For proof, you should look no further than the height of the recent volatility in December...

Their model portfolio outperformed its benchmark as fear crept into the markets. On January 4, Porter's team confirmed that the S&P 500 had dropped 9% since the date of their prior issue (December 7). Yet the publication's model portfolio was down just 4% – less than half the market. That is why Porter and his analysts short stocks. The hedges allow subscribers to sleep easy at night.

Among some of their biggest winners on the short side were a 50%-plus gain on a combined position of rental-car companies Hertz Global (HTZ) and Avis Budget (CAR).

In their December 2018 issue, Porter and his team highlighted nine names for investors to avoid. And they recommended shorting three companies that they considered the biggest risks. By December 31, all three stocks were down double digits – 16%, on average. That meant subscribers were up that much... Those gains helped to offset a large portion of losses suffered around other parts of the model portfolio.

Over the three-year period, Stansberry's Investment Advisory readers enjoyed plenty of upside from long recommendations, too...

The analysis and insight from Porter's team of analysts in the property and casualty insurance ("P&C") business is second to none. It has resulted in huge gains for subscribers... They're currently sitting on three triple-digit winners with P&C companies in their open portfolio.

Their work on "Global Elite" and "capital efficient" businesses has resulted in several big winners. A longstanding position in chocolate maker Hershey (HSY) is showing a 221% gain so far.

And Porter and his analysts have also uncovered several growth stories through the years... They booked an 81% gain on graphics-card maker Nvidia (NVDA)... and an 86% gain on with food-delivery service Grubhub (GRUB).

For this year's report card, Stansberry's Investment Advisory matched its benchmark with average annualized returns of 10.8%. With a hedged portfolio, we call that a win.

Still, I wanted to see their win rate above 60%.

For the three-year period, it dropped to 49.2%. That's too low for an "A" grade. But I have no doubt that the win rate will climb with their open positions in play.

Commodity Supercycles: F

There's no way around it... It has been a brutal period for commodity investors.

Since 2011, commodities – as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index – have plummeted more than 50%. In this grading period, the index is down slightly.

Our natural resources publication – now called Commodity Supercycles – has had a tough time finding its feet in this difficult environment. Aside from the challenges in commodities, we've had a number of changes in our editorial and analysts team over the past few years.

Still, the reality is that our commodities publication underperformed the overall space throughout the selected period for this year's annual report card...

Over the three-year period, investors following the advice in Commodity Supercycles would have lost 9.5%. That is concerning enough. But the bigger problem is the publication's win rate... It's the lowest win rate of all our publications over this period at just 24%.

No one likes to give or get an "F." And we don't take it lightly.

But here's the good news...

After more than seven years in a bear market, commodities now trade at an extreme low compared with stocks. And a key contrarian indicator we like to use just triggered this month...

You see, when major institutions "throw in the towel" after long bear markets... it often signals that it's time to get bullish. At the least, you know you're likely near a bottom.

As Steve told his True Wealth Opportunities: Commodities readers last week...

"Merrill Lynch got OUT of the commodities business in 1998 because they weren't making any money," investing legend Jim Rogers told me over dinner in New Orleans many years ago...

Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he winked and said, "That's the same year I launched my commodity index fund."

The pencil pushers at Merrill had done the math – they knew that the main commodity index had lost half its value between 1980 and 1998 – and they threw in the towel.

What happened next?

The Rogers International Commodity Index soared from a starting value of 1,000 in 1998 to a peak near 6,000 a decade later.

Guess what?

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs (GS) announced earlier this month that it is cutting back on its commodities business. As Steve pointed out, the firm's reason was simple...

The business uses too much capital for too little profit.

This is great news for commodities investors...

Longtime readers know that when commodity booms hit – like we saw from 1999 through 2008 – they can soar hundreds of percent. And individual stocks – which offer leverage to the underlying commodities – can soar three times, five times, and even as much as 10 times in the span of a few years. We have often said that you only need to catch one bull market in commodities to make enough money to retire.

The extreme low in commodity prices compared with stocks won't last forever. Remember, bear markets tend to fizzle out without much attention. That is precisely when you need to pay attention...

Yes, commodities have been cheap compared to stocks for more than a year now. In fact, I mentioned last year that we expected a turnaround would have happened by now.

Last year, several hedge funds threw in the towel. Now Goldman Sachs – the gorilla on Wall Street – is giving up. These are great signs for us as contrarian investors.

While most people are giving up on commodities, we're doing the opposite...

We are investing in the space. We have plans to build out our team and further develop Commodity Supercycles and other commodities-focused products. Bill Shaw has served as the editor of this publication for more than a year now. Stansberry Gold & Silver Investor subscribers will recognize his name... He has done a great job for us on that publication.

Despite a tough start in 2018, and the challenges he is facing with commodities in general, we are confident that Bill will get things on track for us with Commodity Supercycles.

Remember, the gains here can be huge. We expect to make the most of the next bull run in commodities. Stay tuned. We'll let you know as these developments take hold.

Extreme Value: F

After a decadelong bull market, deep value investors are finding it tough to spot bargains.

It's no different for Dan with Extreme Value...

Dan follows the lessons learned from Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, who wrote the excellent book Security Analysis. Dan and research analyst Mike Barrett dive deep into the weeds on companies to figure out their intrinsic value. And they only want to buy when they can get the stock with a wide margin of safety. From 2012 through 2015, Dan earned a "B" or better.

Over long periods, value investors can do well... They buy cheap and hang on for a long time. That's what we've seen with Dan's 10-year annualized results. As we mentioned above, his results over the long haul are outstanding... Who would turn his nose up at an annualized gain of more than 14%?

And Dan has some incredible gains to his name... He recommended Constellation Brands (STZ), which went on to return 631%. Prestige Brands (PBH) also appears in the "Stansberry Research Hall of Fame" at the bottom of every Digest. Subscribers who followed his advice gained 406% with that stock.

Unfortunately, 2018 did not treat Dan's portfolio well... A number of his recommendations went from being winning positions to losing ones. And his most recent recommendations struggled.

Some folks – including Dan – will argue that it's normal to see lower returns for value investors near the latter stages of a massive bull market. And that may be true.

But it's hard to look past a 33% win rate and an average loss of 4.3%, compared with positive gains for the benchmark. And I'm sure Dan will be disappointed with that.

I should also point out that some things don't show up in the numbers, yet provide Dan's Extreme Value readers with useful insight...

While he doesn't make options recommendations in his newsletter, Dan encouraged subscribers to buy puts to provide portfolio insurance right before the market fell 19% at the end of 2018. He also recommended holding plenty of cash throughout the year. In 2018, holding cash would have returned about 2%, while the S&P 500 fell 6%.

I know Dan's readers love his work. And as I said, his track record shines over longer periods. Investing – especially value investing the way Dan does it – is a marathon, not a sprint. The next Constellation or Prestige is surely hiding in plain sight in Dan's model portfolio.

Stansberry Venture Value: B

We didn't launch Stansberry Venture Value until early 2017. So it doesn't have a full three-year period like our other publications listed in today's portion of the report card. Still, we have two years of data... And we want to share the results with you.

In Venture Value, editor Bryan Beach conducts a deep dive into companies with little to no coverage on Wall Street. These stocks have small market caps – typically less than $1 billion... and sometimes as low as $100 million. Through his exhaustive research, Bryan uncovers and recommends small-cap stocks that have huge runways ahead of them.

Over the past two years, Bryan has built out a diversified portfolio of stocks that range from P&C insurance firms... to operating businesses that are growing organically or by acquisition... to special situations that Bryan calls "dark" stocks.

These so-called dark stocks are companies that have accounting issues they need to resolve, so their share prices often take a short-term hit. Bryan looks into the accounting statements and follows the company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. For companies that pass his tests, he looks for the ideal time to recommend them to his subscribers.

It takes a special skill...

First, he needs to know what he's looking for. And he must have the patience to read through the bundles of filings. I haven't seen any other publication on the planet doing this kind of research.

While we only have two years of results with which to grade Bryan, this publication is still in the early days. We expect to see several triple-digit winners originating from the Venture Value portfolio over the next five, 10, or 20 years.

But it's important to realize that small-cap stocks can be volatile. And they took a serious hit last year... The Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund (VSMAX) – a benchmark we use for small-cap stocks – fell roughly 20% from its high late in the summer through the end of the year. As a result, a number of Bryan's recommendations also suffered similar declines.

In Venture Value, though, Bryan is in it for the long haul. He doesn't use stop losses. The only reason Bryan will close a position is if his thesis changes. Even with the sell-off in small-cap stocks last year, Bryan has outperformed the small-cap index – by a wide margin.

He might feel he's being robbed by not getting a higher grade. But as I mentioned earlier, I believe you should have closer to a 60% win rate to receive an "A." Since his win rate is only 50%, he has fallen shy on that criteria so far.

But again, it's still early for Bryan's portfolio. I'm confident we will see plenty of "A" grades for this publication in future report cards.

Stansberry Venture Technology: C

Technology stocks fell more than 23% at the end of 2018. Biotech stocks plummeted 27%.

It was hard for Stansberry Venture Technology editor Dave Lashmet to avoid the carnage.

Dave and analyst John Engel travel the world – literally – in search of investment opportunities in small-cap tech and biotech companies. They attend dozens of conferences every year, racking up thousands of miles and hundreds of hours looking for the newest drug or technology with breakthrough potential to create the next multibillion-dollar company.

These types of stocks are speculative – and therefore, volatile. So we expect to see a few wild rides. Many stocks only have one drug in development... So they'll either be a home run or a total failure. But that's where Dave's strategy comes in...

I don't want to give away all his secrets. You should just know that he has been doing this for more than two decades. He has learned from his early mistakes and knows how to make calculated bets that lead to successful outcomes.

His strategy is to minimize risk and still make triple-digit gains. Make no mistake, these are still speculative bets. But if you are going to invest like a venture capitalist in one of the most speculative sectors on the planet, you want someone like Dave on your side.

It's incredibly tough to do. And no one does it better than Dave...

Since we launched this publication in November 2014, Dave has recommended more than 40 stocks. And 13 have doubled – or better. In other words, roughly one out of every four stocks that Dave recommends help subscribers double their money. That is phenomenal.

For last year's report card, Dave had a win rate of 66.7% with an average return of 25.7%. As a result, he earned an "A+" grade. But his portfolio hit a speed bump this year... A number of his positions fell into negative territory.

With a win rate of 44% over the three-year grading period and the average return for his list of recommendations essentially flat, Dave earned a "C" on this year's report card.

Unfortunately, the market punished a number of Dave's recommendations last year, sending down his average gain. But we have no doubt that a number of these stocks will eventually shoot higher as Dave expects them to. Successful investors know that patience is critical to long-term success. It is even more important here in this volatile sector.

As we have said many times, this is a sector where you can see stocks soar hundreds – or even thousands – of percent over several years. Clearly, we can't promise those types of returns. But it happens in this sector more than others. And if anyone can do it, it's Dave.

New 52-week highs (as of 2/20/19): Hershey (HSY), Kinder Morgan (KMI), MarketAxess (MKTX), Motorola Solutions (MSI), Anglo American (NGLOY), Nestlé (NSRGY), Nuveen Municipal Value Fund (NUV), Polymetal (LSE: POLY), Spirit AeroSystems (SPR), T-Mobile (TMUS), and W.R. Berkley (WRB).

That's it for the first part of our annual report card. We'll cover our strategy-focused and trading publications tomorrow. How do you think we've done so far? Do you agree with the grades? If not, tell us why. As always, we welcome your notes at feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

Until tomorrow,

Brett Aitken
Baltimore, Maryland
February 21, 2019