A lot of resolutions are made this time of the year. Some people resolve to exercise more, while others want a new job. But here at Investing Daily, we want things to stay just the way they’ve been for the past fifty years.

The year was 1974. The Nixon administration was being torn asunder by the Watergate scandal. Gasoline prices surged as the Arab nations of OPEC stopped exporting oil to the United States. The stock market was plummeting.

Amid that backdrop, it might have seemed absurd to launch a newsletter designed to help individual investors make informed decisions. But that’s exactly what a few intrepid entrepreneurs did that year. They dubbed their creation the Inflation Survival Letter.

Prophetic Timing

If you think inflation is bad now, it was considerably worse then. In 1974, the average annual monthly increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 11% compared to 8% in 2022. It would not be until 1983 that the annual growth rate for CPI would fall below 4%. Coincidentally, that is the same year that I began my career as a stockbroker.

My friends thought I was nuts to enter a profession that relied on a rising stock market to make money. Over the previous decade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained no ground at all. But I sensed a change was in the air and wanted to be a part of it. So did my publisher, who rebranded the newsletter Personal Finance.

It has retained that moniker ever since, and I am proud to have served as its chief investment strategist for the past nine years. Regardless of its name, its purpose has always been to provide profitable advice in bull & bear markets. Fortunately, there has been much more of the former than the latter over the past fifty years.

In hindsight, the timing of that change was prophetic. Since then, the stock market has soared. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 1982 at 1,046.54. Forty years later it ended 2022 at 33,147.25.

Despite that impressive result, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. Longtime investors vividly remember the “Black Monday” stock market crash of October 1987 (as do I). A decade later, the dotcom boom and bust traumatized an entire generation. After recovering from that, the “Great Recession” of 2008 triggered yet another stock market crash.

Yet, throughout all that chaos we never deviated from our commitment to provide “PROFITABLE ADVICE IN BULL & BEAR MARKETS SINCE 1974.” It hasn’t always been easy, but it has always been rewarding.

Actionable Advice

One reason for that is Capitol Information Group, the company that owns Personal Finance’s publisher, Investing Daily, has been under the control of the Ash family for the past 30 years. Never during my tenure at Investing Daily have I been asked to do something for the sake of corporate expediency.

Instead, the focus has always been on doing what is right for our readers. Sometimes that requires making tough calls, such as our decision to remove all oil & gas Master Limited Partnerships from the PF Income Portfolio in September 2014 (“Bear Proofing”).

We knew that would not be a popular decision with our readers and that some of them would cancel their subscriptions as a result. However, we also believed it was in their best interest so we did it. Shortly thereafter, the MLP sector crashed. I wasn’t happy about that, but I was pleased that our commitment to remaining true to our process had been validated.

I have no idea what the next 50 years hold in store for the stock market. But I do know that Personal Finance will keep you informed with actionable advice. That’s how we’ve always done it, and it’s a formula that has worked very well for our readers.

To our loyal readers, thank you for your support over the past fifty years. We could not have gotten here without you.

The Payback Trade…

It’s been a good year for stock and bond investors, but that doesn’t mean the fraudsters have taken a break.

Our colleague Jim Pearce also serves as chief investment strategist of Mayhem Trader. As such, Jim has devised a system for everyday Americans to take profitable revenge against the financial crooks in our midst.

Jim’s system is a perfectly legal way for average investors to even the score. For details about how to fight back and reap big gains at the same time, click here.

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