Now I understand.
 
I think the source of this listing that you report is a function of the algorithm that determines the range of asset classes that are reflected in a newsletter’s portfolios.  I think the algorithm defaults to “E” whenever there is one or more securities that otherwise doesn’t get mapped specifically to one of the five classes.  I suspect that some of the exchange traded funds that Brinker recommends fall into this category, though without a lot more work I can’t be sure…

I'm not certain exactly when the Jr-Brinker added Wellesley Income Fund to his model portfolios, but I'm pretty sure it was soon after my email exchange with Mark Hulbert.

I've written before about the incredible mulligan that Mark Hulbert gave to Marketimer's Bob Brinker after the disastrous QQQ trade. Here are some comments posted to my  last article:  
  • Dilbert, what a JOKER! said...
  • "Please note: In late 2000, Brinker forecasted a several-month bear market rally and recommended an investment in the NASDAQ 100 Index, a trade that turned out quite unprofitably. However, because Brinker at the time of making this forecast chose not to make this trade part of his model portfolios (Not true. See note 1), his HFD record has not suffered as a result."

  • __ Mark Hulbert on Pg 16 of the January 2012 issue of "The Hulbert Financial Digest - Long Term Performance Ratings" under Footnote 10:
     
  • Note 1: Brinker did not tell his subscribers this advice was "official" until weeks after the rally failed to materialize. Hulbert even admitted he bought QQQ for his portfolios then sold them for a loss when they didn't show up in Brinker's model portfolios while Brinker was saying to buy more in his newsletters as the fell from the $80s. (See "Bugging Bob Brinker" for proof.)
     
  • The guy doesn't even lie well. Why trust him when his own paper trail is full of errors and complaints?
  • April 3, 2012 4:42 PM
Delete birdbrain said...
  • Two points:
  • Hulbert failed to acknowledge that Robert is not Bob, since Bob is on his "honor roll." More deception from the newsletter community.

    Poster @ 9:54 am today:

    Thought of the late comedian Sam Kinison's
    take about America's song Horse With No Name

    "You're in the middle of the desert with nothing else to do. Name the damn horse."
  • April 3, 2012 6:58 PM
DeleteDelete
  Anonymous said...
  • Yeah that Hulbert guy is certainly a bastion of credibility.

    tfb
April 3, 2012 8:32 PM

Honey here: It certainly is NOT true that Brinker "chose not to make the QQQ trade part of his portfolios at the time he made the trade" in October 2000.   As late as May 2001, he was still clearly spelling out the exact percentage of model portfolio cash reserves should be used to invest in  the trade. You may need to do some math to see that it adds up to the 65% cash reserves that he raised in August 2000 from Marketimer model portfolios:

May, 2001 Marketimer, Page3; Paragraph 4; Bob Brinker wrote: We continue to believe the Nasdaq has the potential to recover further in the months ahead. As we stated last month, "with or without a buy signal from our long-term model, we expect the Nasdaq composite and Nasdaq 100 Index to stage a significant recovery over the next several months."

Subscribers with conservative objectives and a low-risk tolerance are limited to no more than 20% to 30% of cash reserves in these shares. this equates up to 6.5%, to 9.75% of a total balanced portfolio. The remaining 70% to 80% of a balanced cash reserves remain in quality money funds. Subscribers with aggressive objectives and a high-risk tolerance are limited to no more than 30% to 50% of cash reserves in these shares. This equals potential investment of 19.5% to 32.5% of a high-risk aggressive portfolio. the balance of 50% to 70% of reserves remains in money market funds."
Delete
If you remember your history of what the stock market did in 2001, it never staged any kind of a "countertrend rally" like Brinker was calling for. It continued deeper into bear territory and did not bottom until March 2003.