Hello maryelizabeth,
James Dines does have a long history:
"James Dines is an institution. Publishing since 1960 - that's forty
years - the Dines Letter is one of the oldest financial newsletters
around. And it stands out in a number of respects. First, it is
probably the most erudite newsletter around. Dines writes with flair
and style, incorporating historical perspective, technical analysis
and psychological insight into every issue."
"Historically Dines began as a precious metals devotee. He is keen on
being first in discovering new trends and calls himself The Original
Goldbug. To this day he maintains a solid core position of precious
metals stocks as a safety net in his recommended portfolios.
"He also lays claim to having pushed Internet stocks long before they
were discovered by the general public and calls himself The Original
Internet Bug. He has long promoted four key stocks - Amazon.com,
America Online, CMGI and Yahoo - as The Four Horsemen of the Internet
- a core portfolio he says everyone should have and hold for the long
term. And more recently, he has been keen on palladium and calls
himself The Original Palladium Bug."
"And he has proven to be remarkably perceptive. He correctly predicted
the Internet bull market years before it happened. And in January he
wrote that "we must now regard the increasing optimism toward the
Internets as a cautionary sign - by Dinesism #12, the Dines Theory of
Positive Negativism (DITPON)". In fact, he predicted that the
subsequent pullback could be precipitous, which it was."
You can read the rest of this analysis at
http://www.formeraboutguides.com/investingcanada/library/weekly/2000b/aa113000.htm
The Dines letter has 17 issues each year, which you can receive as a
pdf file by email or by snail mail. When you first subscribe, you are
sent a booklet on how to use the letter.
"Every issue includes TDL's Current Market Analysis covering two or
three pages. It features numerous charts and graphs."
"Currently the newsletter usually includes an analysis of Internet
stocks."
"He follows this up with sections on Palladium... Precious Metals,
Resources, Currencies, World Stock Markets, Seasonalities, Letters to
the Editor and/or a feature on Health."
"The newsletter concludes with the Dines Trigger Box (short, medium
and long term index buy-sell signals) and his supervised investment
lists. These are five recommended portfolios which include specific
current buy/sell/hold recommendations, stop points, price originally
recommended at and performance to date."
The five portfolios are:
1. The Good Grade List
2. The Long-term Growth List
3. The Precious Metals List
4. The Nearer Term Trading List
5. The Low-Priced Stocks List
Information from: http://www.formeraboutguides.com/investingcanada/library/newsletters/blnldines.htm
Bearmarketcentral.com gave the Dines Letter a score of 4 paws out of
5:
"The Dines Letter offers explicit advice on stocks, commodities, put &
call options, bonds, interest rates, currencies, precious metals,
market timing, predictions on the economy and the overall
international outlook. "Fundamental Analysis" studies the company,
"Visual (or Technical) Analysis" studies the stock's actions, and
"Mass Psychology" studies the investor."
http://www.bearmarketcentral.com/bearishadvisors.htm#grants
There is a transcript of an interview with James Dines by Paul Kangas
of the Nightly Business Report at
http://www.nightlybusiness.org/transcript/2003/transcript050903.html
In it, Dines describes his philosophy:
"my leadership is based on two basic premises. The first one is to buy
and lead my followers into up trending stocks, because the trend is
your friend. And the second principle is to get in early on new bull
markets before the crowd is aware of it or before they believe that
it's possible. And we did that, do, with the Internets in the
mid-'90s, as you remember, on the show, when we called it the mother
of all bull markets. But a year and a half ago, I detected a new bull
market in the golds and we got into them very heavily and we remain in
them because the way to make serious money on Wall Street, not just
grabbing a few points here and there, is to get into a major trend and
hold it all the way up."
Before going with Dines, you might want to read his book "How
Investors Can Make Money Using Mass Psychology: A Guide to Your
Relationship With Money", which is available on Amazon.com, although
at the very high price of $59 for 290 pages:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0964968908/ref=ase_bridgebooks/102-2311536-3455327?v=glance&s=books
You can read a number of reviews of this book at Amazon.
The reviews of the media are positive:
"Mr Dines jumps into the psychology of it all, warning that many of us
harbor a deep- seated desire to lose. His exposition on gambler
psychology and investing is classic" (Forbes Magazine)
" We highly recommend James Dines' book Mass Psychology which has been
over thirty years in the writing. This book represents a totally new
approach to investing, since it depends neither on earnings nor chart
trends, but focuses on the little-known area of Mass Psychology. It
applies to all areas of investing, primarily stocks." (Bull and Bear
Digest, 1997)
"If we base our investment decisions on what everyone else knows, we
have no advantage at all. If we develop an understanding of emotions
and markets, then maybe we can be one step ahead of the crowd. Mass
Psychology was written by James Dines. I am well aware of his record,
which for making market calls is exceptional. Beyond that, however, I
have gained an even greater respect for the reasoning behind his
calls, which is an ability to accurately describe the emotional state
of the masses. Without a doubt, I think he is the best in this field."
(Ted Slanker's Market Update 1997)
Individual readers show a mixed response:
"Although this book is full of cool stuff about mass psychology, with
lots of examples to prove the points, it got a little dry and
repetitive after awhile"
"I found Mr. Dines book to be big on price and small on continuity and
meaning. The text moves in and out of ideas so quickly that it is
difficult to decipher any point to his many colorful stories. His
personal philosophies don't really teach you much in the end. I would
not recommend the book to anyone hoping to learn more about
investing."
"Mr. Dines, while probably an excellent investor, uses his pulpit to
extoll political views, and trumpet the wisdom of his investment
suggestions from 35 years ago, some of which have yet to be realized.
The gap between Theoria and Praxis in this book is yawning... I am
still unclear as to how Mr. Dines employs his strategies on a
practical level, and what his notions of risk/reward are"
One of the reviews mentions that Dines is a member of the New York
Society of Security Analysts ( http://www.nyssa.org/ ).
"NYSSA establishes and maintains the highest standards of professional
ethics, strives to improve analytical technique, and promotes
awareness and understanding of the function of security analysis,
investing and the operation of the securities markets. Our members are
recognized as ethical, knowledgeable members of the investment
decision-making community."
James Dines has a web site at http://www.dinesletter.com/
You can get a feel for his style from extracts of his Internet
predictions at http://www.dinesletter.com/samples.html
and currency predictions at http://www.dinesletter.com/samples_2.html
The cost of a subscription to the Dines Letter is:
Two Years (34 issues) - US $365; One Year "Fair Trial" (17 issues) -
US $195; Half Year (8 issues) - US $115; "Trial Look See" (3 issues
for new subscribers only) - US $59
In addition, there is also "a separate service called the Interim
Warning Bulletin (IWB), as "insurance" for coverage in-between issues
of THE DINES LETTER, only for when there is a change of advice from
the last TDL. There is a separate cost for this service. It is
available via e-mail (no requirements necessary, whereas TDL requires
Adobe Reader), by fax, or regular mail. Cost for a one-year IWB
subscription is $249.00 (US funds) worldwide. Cost for a six-month
IWB subscription is $150.00 (US funds) worldwide. There are no set
number of issues or set schedules for this service, since IWBs are
issued depending on market conditions; in the past, around 15 to 30
IWBs have been sent each year, depending on volatility and market
conditions."
The site contains the following warning:
"Responding to specific portfolio queries is not part of your
subscription to THE DINES LETTER. Please review your last issue of THE
DINES LETTER (and last issue of your Interim Warning Bulletin, if you
subscribe to IWB) for TDL's latest thinking. Mr Dines accepts selected
personal portfolio consultations through Belvedere Capital Management
(BCM) at $5,000 per hour, and manages portfolios in excess of $3
million dollars (US)."
Dines letter FAQ http://www.dinesletter.com/faq.html
The contact information for subscriptions is:
James Dines & Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 22 Belvedere, CA 94920
Phone: (800) 84-L-U-C-K-Y (1 800 845 8259)
production@dinesletter.com
It is possible to subscribe online with a credit card at
http://www.jamesdinescompany.com/cgi-bin/newcart/order.cgi
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I hope this has provided the information you are seeking. Please |
