Trident Confidential Newsletter

[babka]

I have read recently quite an interesting article written by Lance Spicer. He is involved with Trident Confidential Newsletter and is obviously very successful in advising his clients what and when to buy stocks. Would anybody be subscribed to his newsletter, and care to share either bad or good experiences?
Any answer will be much appreciated.

 

[Temjin]

I don't have any specific recommendations on his newsletter, but I do have a general positive attitude toward his books and especially on the "LEGAL" tax minimisation and offshore banking/business structure topics. It's good in a way that it tends to summarise the information for you without having you to do tons of research. Of course, you would still need an accountant to help you out on these stuff, but most accountants wouldn't have the knowledge to apply those strategies.

http://www.tridentpress.com.au/ is really one of the few, if not only one, LOCAL company that deals with such unconvention stuff.

Yes, I read one of his Tax solution ebook (an older version) and some of the advices he gave in there are quite legit, though may not necessary be practical to everyone. (for obvious reasons)

His "secret" high yield investments are most likely managed futures and hedge funds. The same goes from the investments recommended by John Mauldin which I just referred to in another recent post.

So for his newsletters, no comment so far. But personally, I wouldn't follow them since I would be trading my own instead.

 

[bandicoot76]

for what its worth i highly reccomend trident confidential, i made my $700 initial subscription back in the first week by investing in stocks lance had 'sniffed out'. in laymens terms lance is not an investment advisor and is totally upfront about it.
he doesnt reccomend anyone buy anything, all he does is show you what and where HE is investing HIS OWN MONEY and its up to you whether you do the same or not. i like the fact he puts his money where his mouth is and his high rate of return speaks for itself.
his weekly newsletter is emailed out to subscribers every monday and you also get flash alerts emailed to you if something 'urgent' pops up through the trading week. re-reading his archives gives you an insight into how 'spot-on' his understanding of the financial system is... not 100% correct but pretty close to it! basically it boils down to he does all the research and for your subsription fee you get access to it.
i guess i sounds like a walking 'trident' ad but i'm totally sold as hes made me a heeap of cash.... i'll be re-subscibing for sure!

p.s i am in no way affiliated with lance spicer nor trident confidential outside of subscibing to the newsletter.

 

[babka]

Tenjin and Bandicoot, thanks a lot for your feedback. I have learnt something again. It is much appreciated.

 

[nalima]

Are there anybody else subscribing to Trident Confidential Newsletter and are you happy with the recommendations? Which brokers are using, because I believe US stocks are also recommended.

 

[poby]

Looks really good so I tried to sign up for a 12 month subscription for the advertised price of $799 but the checkout process added $8 for handling charges which has caused me to rethink. It strikes me as very dishonest to state one price on the site and then when you go to pay it adds extra charges. Especially as all the content is delivered online, what exactly is this "handling" charge for? If the total cost is $807 then thats the price they should state on the site. This sort of chicanery is a red flag.

 

[joslad]

If the total cost is $807 then thats the price they should state on the site.

I couldn't agree more. To be honest I would cancel any plan on buying the newsletter. This certainly appears to be a not so subtle method of fleecing the buyer for a few more dollars!

It may be only a small amount. But I have principles and don't like someone trying to rip me off or taking me for a fool.

I would make a point of letting him know why he lost a subscriber too!

 

[bandicoot76]

chucking a hissy fit over an $8 handling charge is like cutting off your nose to spite your face to me, i happily re-subscribe to my trident subscription and wouldnt care if there was a $25 handling charge! i made the initial subscription price back in the first week and am running at a 40% portfolio return (trident is running at around 104% return but i only invest in AUS stocks and dont invest in overseas markets where trident makes alot of profit/growth/returns. i probly should follow tridents overseas stocks too but i was burned on some US stock and havnt been game to return yet... anyhow to squabble over an $8 charge is rediculous considering the advice and research trident gives you access too... each to their own though i guess

 

[poby]

I think you're rather missing the point. It's not the amount that concerned me but that the advertised price wasn't correct.

Anyway they have listened and dumped the handling charge and I'm a happy new member now looking forward hopefully to good things.

 

[Kash Kosmo]

How does this differ from The Chartist newsletter

KK

 

[kenshinfan1]

Hi Temjin do you still have a copy of the ebook? how old and in your opinion does it apply today?

 

[emeraldtrans]

I have been a subscriber for a year now. The only thing I don't like about Lance is that he tells you a price he pays for it and somehow magically buys it higher or lower than what he says and says he adjusted his price for changes in the market. What bs! He always covers his **** in his newsletters and then goes aggressive or defensive no matter what he says and justifies his actions by showing mix signals in his newsletters.

I am in both US & Aussie market. I don't really believe he puts his money in the market as he cannot time his trades that perfectly every week. He basically looks back on the week and says he trade the best price. He also lacks technically trading ability. Their is no chart analysis which is fine as he is a value trader but sometimes he times his trades terribly and you are stuck with significant stop losses.

He writes that he is the highest performing newsletter averaging 90% a year but I don't really believe it as he has never been audited and Hulbert Financial (the largest stock newsletter review company in the world) don't have him in their newsletter reviews so he should not make such wild claims.

Despite all this I still think it is an excellent newsletter as it is very informative and he does have excellent analysis of companies but expect to make 25 to 40% return a year if you are lucky and have some trading ability.

Also don't follow his Hidden Gems. You will only lose money or at best break even. You need to be very patient with these at least a year before any movement. Too risky and more of a speculative trade.

Hope this helps.

 

[moXJO]

I have been a subscriber for a year now. The only thing I don't like about Lance is that he tells you a price he pays for it and somehow magically buys it higher or lower than what he says and says he adjusted his price for changes in the market. What bs! He always covers his **** in his newsletters and then goes aggressive or defensive no matter what he says and justifies his actions by showing mix signals in his newsletters.

I am in both US & Aussie market. I don't really believe he puts his money in the market as he cannot time his trades that perfectly every week. He basically looks back on the week and says he trade the best price. He also lacks technically trading ability. Their is no chart analysis which is fine as he is a value trader but sometimes he times his trades terribly and you are stuck with significant stop losses.

I agree, his numbers don't stack up. The latest edition has him whining that he does not have the time to provide how he comes to his %returns (after his subscribers have been questioning his weekly return calculations). He has bad timing when it’s obvious that there is a correction going on. And I think he is having trouble in the current market.

But in saying that, he does manage to pick a few stocks that pay off. And I have only seen the newsletter for a short time.

 

[emeraldtrans]

Do not use Lance's recommended stockbroker Kinetic Securities as they rip you off per trade. That is Australian stocks $30 a trade and US stock $15 at trade. Go directly to Interactive Brokers US website and you can trade stocks with an Australian account at $6 an Australian trade and $1 a Us trade. Lance conveniently does not tell you that he gets commission from every one of your trades through Kinetic. Lance has good stock recommendations but he is a little seedy when it comes to how he trades and how he does business. If things seem confusing from his information or seems a little too easy or not clear then trust your instincts. I still recommend his subscription but try to read between the lines what he says and don't just follow him. Use as many top sources as you can.

 

[mamaal1965]

I agree, his numbers don't stack up. The latest edition has him whining that he does not have the time to provide how he comes to his %returns (after his subscribers have been questioning his weekly return calculations). He has bad timing when it’s obvious that there is a correction going on. And I think he is having trouble in the current market.

But in saying that, he does manage to pick a few stocks that pay off. And I have only seen the newsletter for a short time.

According to my records his returns don't stack up.
Todays (14-04-10) newsletter, reflects a 'Total Portfolio Return for 2010' of +24.43%. My calculations don't come anywhere close to that, buy hey, I might be wrong?!!

In the TC weekly newsletter he quotes the following:-

Performance - How Our Returns are Calculated
Our returns are calculated based on an evenly weighted portfolio (the same amount of money in each stock)weekly.
We simply work out the amount the portfolio has changed, either up or down, in a week by using simple "raw returns" (no annualised amounts, as some newsletters do).

The % it has changed is the weekly return. This return is then accumulated over the year to give an annual return. This is the simplest and easiest way for most people to understand returns. For example, invest $10,000 at the start of the year in our portfolio and we claim a return of 97%, then you will have a portfolio worth $19,700 by the end of the year if you invest in each of our stocks at the prices we tell you to. That's how we calculate our returns.

Our returns do not include brokerage fees, nor do they include dividends.
Our return calculations are in accordance with ASIC, IFSA and AIPS Guidelines.

Now, his response to subscribers (17Feb10) questioning his weekly return calculations was (in part) as follows:-

The reality is, there is information that you don't have, to do my calculated returns, such as the exact dates I buy and sell things, as you need these dates to properly calculate returns. Also, very few people understand how to calculate portfolio returns based on daily balances and how to calculate a portfolio return with daily changing numbers of evenly weighted stocks without carrying a "cash balance"

As you can see, on the one hand he says the calculations are kept simple and on the other he is only one of a select few capable of performing these calculations.

Now, his latest drive to encourage more subscribers is :-
'We guarantee to show you how to double the market return from April 2010 to April 2011 or your subscription is free until we do. The benchmark index is the ASX All Ordinaries and we guarantee to beat whatever the market does by 100%'

If he is not prepared to show members how his returns are calculated (as he hasn't the time and we are too dumb to understand) I believe things could get interesting come April 2011?!!!

With regards the 'buy' and 'sell' prices I have noticed he manages to obtain "favourable" prices on a regular basis. (I won't go into any detail here).
If he posted the actual buy or sell prices on the TC website on a daily basis (rather than weekly), I believe there would be more transparency. Oh, sorry, I forgot, he doesn't have any time for that....!!!!

TC is not obliged to provide any of the above info if it doesn't want to however, TC chooses to boast high returns to entice new subscribers and as such, I believe it has to be accountable and 100% transparent.

By the way, I've done very well investing over this "GFC" period using the TC Newsletter and other resources, so it's not 'sour grapes'.

Would be interested to hear from other TC members out there?

Was going to recommend TC start an on-line stock forum (within the TC members website, for obvious reasons) but didn't want to get my head chewed off !!!!

Happy Investing.

 

[titl4]

According to my records his returns don't stack up.
...........

Would be interested to hear from other TC members out there?
................

I've only been a subscriber a few months but I'm very happy with his research so far - particularly US stocks. I mostly wait for a 'technical' buy signal on his recommendations so I'm not usually buying at the same time as his portfolio. However when I do buy at the same time my prices are comparable - as often lower as higher.

 

[Joe Blow]

This thread is now being closed and and from this point forward we will not be allowing any further discussion of this product.

Sadly, this morning an individual using an email directly associated with this newsletter registered at ASF and posted in this thread posing as a satisfied customer. This sort of dishonest and deliberately deceptive behaviour is not tolerated here at ASF and the account in question has now been permanently suspended.

 

[del444]

FYI Trident Confidentail

Folks,

Been doing some research on this and two of my co workers swear by him. One in his 60s says he wish he had followed him earlier, and he has tried a number of these stock picker newsletters. Seems to have mixed reviews on this forum and others.

I am signing up this week as there is a special offer until Sunday for $399 subscription. Thought I would throw it out there for everyone else. If you interested PM me and I will give you the details. I emailed them to find out when it expires and they said this Sunday.

Cheers

 

[Joe Blow]

I'm going to open this thread again for the moment.

However, I think that the public needs to be reminded that an individual directly associated with the Trident Confidential newsletter registered and posted in this thread posing as a satisfied customer. As far as I'm concerned that is about as dishonest as it gets.

The ethics and credibility of a company that employs those kind of deliberately deceitful marketing tactics needs to be seriously questioned.

 

[del444]

Hmmm that sounds a bit dodgey. Anyway my two work colleagues swear by it, so will give it a shot anyway. Might as well while it is a bit cheaper. For anyone else who is interested, deal expires on Sunday. Cheers