Dear Speculators,
We had a glitch during our launch that resulted in messages sent through our contact form not including an address to reply to. If you sent a message and did not get a reply, this is why. Here are answers to questions from people we haven’t been able to track down. If you have a question that hasn’t been answered yet, please send it to: L@LouisJamesLLC.com.
My apologies for the inconvenience.
Past Picks Question from LJ:
Hi L: I am a lifetime subscriber to Casey Research. I joined specifically for your newsletters. When you moved on, I had (and still have) a TD portfolio packed with your picks at Casey. Naturally, I became a bit anxious. My question is: will you be investing in any of those picks? Would you sell them at a loss? I am not sure what I should do with these. I have at least 20 positions and close to 200K invested in them. If you are going to continue to follow, what premium service will they be covered in? Thanks. I am looking forward to more speculations and education.
Answer:
I’m aware that my former employers closed whole portfolios without regard to the merits of the stocks in them. I’m not sure what else they could do, since they discontinued the services, but I understand that this leaves people without guidance.
I will not leave readers without help.
But first, please understand that my idea is to write up only companies I put my own money into. I can’t buy every stock I wrote about before… at least not all at once. So no, I’m not just copying over the Casey portfolio to my new service.
I have already started buying, however, and people like you will see some familiar names among the stocks I’m buying. I’ve also covered the latest developments in past picks of mine that Casey Research dropped, both in the monthly Independent Speculator and in In The Deal. In The Deal, of course, will provide the most thorough and in-depth coverage going forward, as it includes the Independent Speculator.
Getting to the heart of the matter, I can’t tell you what to sell, hold, or buy. Giving individual advice would get me in big trouble. But I can tell you that I’m already putting my own money into some of the stocks Casey dropped.
Rebate Question from Anonymous:
Is there a process for the referral program so that you know I referred someone? Or should I just spread the news and tell them to tell you?
Answer:
This is kind of embarrassing…
Our referral program can get readers up to 100% off their subscriptions, which is a highlight of the square deal we’re offering.
I asked our programmers to include fields to manage this on our signup forms. But I didn’t notice that they weren’t implemented when we went live. So many things on my checklist! My mistake for not catching it.
We’re working on this now, to make it easy. Until then, if you want to email L@LouisJamesLLC.com with the names of those you’re referring, we’ll take it from there.
Note: Just send us the names, with no other contact info. This way you don’t have to worry about us sending your friends unsolicited advertisements. We wouldn’t do that anyway—but this way, we can’t. We take privacy very seriously here.
Past Picks Question from P:
Hi Lobo (that may take some getting used to, Louis). I have been a Casey Club Member for quite some time now. Deeply regretted when Marin left. And now so have you....leaving me stranded. That said I do not hobnob with millionaires, so the Casey Club fee was significant, and your $50k fee is a very tough decision. My question is how will this service differ from what I get with Casey? Are your favorites there going to be your favorites here? I would have a hard time rationalizing the new fees unless I get significant new data which I cannot get with my sunk costs in Casey. This is especially true for the first couple years, until possible natural divergence of recommendations occurs. For example I am big (all relative) in AXR, PVG, MOZ, SIL, CNL, FCU, DNA, IDM, FVI, and some marijuana stocks. Your thoughts? By the way, personally I am unhappy you left Casey, as I was paid up there… But congratulations on this big, likely very stressful step you are taking. I am positive you will do very well.
Answer:
Thank you for your kind words. The main thrust of your question is addressed in my answer to the first one above. You are not alone. Again: I will not leave my past readers without guidance.
And readers of my new services will recognize many of the stocks I’m putting my own money into, at least at the beginning. I have new picks on my radar as well, of course.
One thing I should add, however, is that I plan to be a lot more selective. That’s not because I don’t stand by my past recommendations. I do stand by what I said before. It’s partly because I’ve embraced an absolute mandate for quality over quantity. And frankly, it’s in part because I just put a big part of my liquidity into my new business. I can’t afford to buy meaningful positions in all the stocks I like at this time. Their stories may change by the time I can.
Regardless, I will provide follow-up on my past picks until they succeed or fail to deliver on the promises we speculated on before.
