FROM "RETIRE CANADA"

TM

The Skeptical Investor was launched in June 1997--just before the Asian Crisis blew up--and continued publishing on-line until February 2000. At the time--dot.com mania was at its peak--there was little demand: few investors wanted to hear the message.. . Hunker down? Buy safe bonds? Spread currency risk? Perhaps a bit of gold too? In the year since then, dot.com has turned to dot.gone. Currencies have fluctuated wildly. And investment grade bonds have done well. But there is still widespread complacency among stock market investors, and, until that changes a market bottom is a LONG way off. All Issues of The Skeptical Investor are archived here. As of right now (February 2001) the analysis and the message have changed little. You can mine the pages for explanations of how the economic mess that we are in came about. And for ideas for what the wise investor can do. (There is still time for the wise to protect themselves). I'll warn you though: there are no sound bites. And what about the next steps? Well, a spike in interest rates as the last phase before the expected deflationary wind down is quite possible. Some cash and/or short-term bonds that you can liquidate for buying long-term bonds may be a good thing to have to take advantage of that. And later, after the expected carnage in stocks and junk debt? It depends how things look at the time, but the strong, surviving, companies will need capital and it will be costly for them. Carefully chosen corporate bonds will offer great returns. And it will be time too to start looking to buy into sound business enterprises as an owner (shareholder). I believe that the financial markets have entered the most dangerous waters since the nineteen-thirties and that unwary investors will lose a lot of money: The Skeptical InvestorTM strives to spot the reefs and shoals that lie ahead and steer a course towards safe harbour. (The Skeptical Investor, late 1999). Just back from a great 3 days at the ONline trading EXPO in NYC. Some of the stories there were heart breaking to say the least..boy what carnage out there to the investors in these treacherous markets... (a day trader posting to a Silicon Investor thread, 21st February 2001).

The Skeptical InvestorTM market letter is aimed at the conservative investor who is building wealth--or making income--through a systematic long-term strategy. Its aims are to identify and highlight the most significant long-term trends and the events that will really shape the investment environment, and to point towards sensible financial strategies that subscribers might use to reach their financial objectives. The perspective of The Skeptical InvestorTM is global, and its views are based on an unashamed free-market analysis. It cuts through the cant and hypocrisy that are rampant throughout financial and economic writing. A recent innovation is a regular section on tax-free international living - "PT".

The letter was launched in June 1997, and achieved early success analysing and forecasting the course of the Asian financial crisis. There are ten Issues per calender year, published in an irregular schedule: this gives the flexibility to respond to unusual market conditions.