Mark Hulbert

Mark Hulbert

Mark J. Hulbert, photographed in 2009

Mark J. Hulbert, photographed in 2009
Born 1955
Kansas
Nationality American
Alma mater Haverford College, University of Oxford
Occupation Journalist, financial analyst
Known for Tracking the performance of investment newsletters

Mark J. Hulbert is a financial analyst and journalist who monitors and reports on the performance of investment newsletters.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Hulbert born in Kansas in 1955.[4] His father was a professor of botany at Kansas State University.[5]:p.57 Hulbert graduated in philosophy from Haverford College in 1977 and from the University of Oxford in 1979.[5]:p.57

Hulbert Financial Digest

With financing from James Davidson and William Bonner, Hulbert launched Hulbert Financial Digest in September 1980 and it grew to 14,000 subscribers by 1985.[5]:p.58 The idea of the Digest was to track the performance of investment newsletters from the perspective of actual subscribers, including the timing and specificity of the buy/sell information they receive and the commission and spread costs they incur. By 1988, he was rating 125 newsletters for clarity (i.e., specific, actionable buy/sell recommendations) and risk-adjusted performance.[2] He also calculates how much of the performance is due to picking stocks with good prospects and how much due to market timing.[3]

Hulbert admits that his newsletter has no value to a hypothetical emotionless investor: "Simply put, the odds are overwhelming that — over the long term — you will make more money by buying and holding an index fund." But real investors are "...unable to hold an index fund through a bear market, and by selling near the bottom they fail to realize ... [the] theoretical longterm potential." In contrast, he claims real investors are "...likely to make more money ... by following strategies that are statistically inferior ... but which are psychologically superior..." because the investor will follow their chosen advisor newsletter rigorously.[6]

The final issue of the newsletter was published in February 2016, with Hulbert noting "In today’s world ... awash as it is in Big Data, [the newsletter] seems to be less needed. That, at least, is the judgment of the market." He continues to write columns for the MarketWatch website.[7]

He also publishes the Hulbert Stock Newsletter Sentiment Index (HSNSI), which Hulbert says "reflects the average recommended stock market exposure among a subset of short-term market timers tracked". HSNSI is a contrarian indicator: if it is high, he views the outlook for stocks as poor. Conversely, when it is low, his outlook is good.[8] The predictive power of the Index has been disputed by CXO Advisory Group.[9]

Hulbert Interactive

In 2004, Hulbert launched Hulbert Interactive, a website for interactive research into investment newsletters and advisors.[10]

The Hulbert Financial Digest Inc.

The company associated with the Digest and interactive website (The Hulbert Financial Digest, Inc.) was acquired by CBS MarketWatch in April 2002,[11] which in turn was acquired by Dow Jones in 2005.[12] Dow Jones was acquired by News Corp. in 2007.[13] Hulbert has been editor and writer throughout.[14]

Books

He authored Interlock: The Untold Story of American Banks, Oil Interests, the Shah's Money, Debts and Astounding Connections Between Them[15] and several editions of The Hulbert guide to financial newsletters.[16]

With Eric Meltzer, he edited Constructive Approaches to the Foreign Debt Dilemma, a collection of papers presented at a seminar of the Taxpayers' Foundation held on September 21, 1983, in Washington DC.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Buckingham, John (2014-05-22). "The Prudent Speculator - Hulbert's Top Performer for the Past 20 Years". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
  2. 1 2 Hinden, Sten (1988-02-22). "Mark Hulbert Rates Newsletters That Offer Investment Advice". The Washington Post  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 2015-03-31. The man with the answers to these questions is Mark Hulbert, the 32-year-old editor of The Hulbert Financial Digest, a newsletter that monitors the performance of 125 of the nation's approximately 300 investment newsletters.
  3. 1 2 Glassman, James K. (2011-11-12). "The best time to buy or sell stocks". Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-03-31. Hulbert measures a service’s timing calls by assuming that an investor in stocks earns the return of the Wilshire 5000 and that an investor in cash earns the yield of a 90-day Treasury bill.
  4. ↑ O'Dell, Gloria (1989-01-26). "Kansas native national scorekeeper on financial newsletters : Hulbert's advice: play stockmarket as a "loser's game"". Magazines clippings. Vol. 1 (1923-1999). Clipped from Jan. 26-Feb. 1, 1989, issue of the Topeka metro news, and photocopied by the Kansas State Historical Society. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  5. 1 2 3 Brimelow, Peter (1988-08-01). The Wall Street Gurus: How You Can Profit from Investment Newsletters. Minerva Books. ISBN 978-0-9620125-1-8.
  6. ↑ Hulbert, Mark (June 2014). "Ask Mark". Hulbert Financial Digest 34 (10): 1. ISSN 1042-4261. Retrieved 2015-03-31. (subscription required (help)).
  7. ↑ Hulbert, Mark (2016-02-09). "Hulbert Financial Digest Monthly Newsletter". Hulbert Financial Digest. Retrieved 2016-02-10. Current Issue Feb 9, 2016 Lessons learned over the last 36 years In this, the last and final issue of the Hulbert Financial Digest...
  8. ↑ Olen, Helaine (2011-04-01). "Mark Hulbert's index of market sentiment suggests the rally might falter. But are the usual indicators working this time around?". Financial Planning  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 2015-03-31. Besides the Digest, he also runs the contrarian Hulbert Stock Newsletter Sentiment Index ... all-time high of 79.7 set in February 2001.
  9. ↑ "Mark Hulbert’s Stock Newsletter Sentiment Index -". CXO Advisory Group. 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  10. ↑ "Hulbert Interactive". Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  11. ↑ "Annual Report: 2002" (PDF). MarketWatch. 2002. Retrieved 2015-03-30. The company acquired the Hulbert Financial Digest in April 2002, and with it Mark Hulbert, considered the foremost researcher and performance tracker of the $1.3 billion investment newsletter industry.
  12. ↑ "Dow Jones to buy MarketWatch". CBS MarketWatch. 2004-11-15. Retrieved 2015-03-30.
  13. ↑ Times Online - News Corp wins $5.6bn battle to control Dow Jones
  14. ↑ Hulbert, Mark (March 2015). "About HFD". Hulbert Financial Digest 35 (7): 7. ISSN 1042-4261. Retrieved 2015-03-31. (subscription required (help)).
  15. ↑ Hulbert, Mark (1982). Interlock: The Untold Story of American Banks, Oil Interests, the Shah's Money, Debts and Astounding Connections Between Them. Richardson & Snyder. ISBN 978-0-943940-01-4.
  16. ↑ Hulbert, Mark (1993). The Hulbert guide to financial newsletters, 5th ed. Dearborn Financial Pub. Co., Chicago, Ill. ISBN 0793106192. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  17. ↑ Hulbert, Mark (ed.); Meltzer, Eric (ed.) (1983-09-21). Constructive Approaches to the Foreign Debt Dilemma: Proceedings of a Taxpayers' Foundation Seminar Held on September 21, 1983, in Washington DC. The Taxpayer's Foundation. ISBN 978-0-911415-04-9.

External links

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