Bob Brinker Market Timer Subscribers: How Were You Investing A Year Ago?

Bob Brinker likes to talk about how he said he was bullish in January 2009 just before the markets posted double digit gains. Please post what you did a year ago in the comments section. I am especially interested to hear what "long time Marketimer subscribers" did a year ago.

Note: This is "guest blogger" Kirk Lindstrom filling in with an article as Honeybee continues her recovery. She appreciates all the kind comments and words of encouragement but is still not up to writing long articles.

Please post in the comments section how you were investing last year.

What Bob Brinker doesn't tell you or post on his web site is he was so bullish at the start of 2008 that he called for a "gift horse buying opportunity" when the S&P500 was only down a few percent to the mid 1400s! Brinker called many "all in" buys as the market crashed to the 600s with the last buy in the 800s. Anyone following Brinker had nothing to put in from taking profits when the market was higher as I advised when the market was near the peak. See 2007 Profit Taking Alert.

Brinker also doesn't tell you that he bashed anyone like me who warned that a recession was unavoidable. See my March 2008 article (with ECRI) titled:

ECRI Calls it "A Recession of Choice"

Bob Brinker actually called us "Cassandras!" See Honeybees 5/31/08 article:

Cassandra Bashing

Tell us how you were investing a year ago as the market was making a bottom in the 600s. I followed my own advice and was putting cash I took out near the top back into the market into stocks like FNSR at 24¢ ($1.92 split adjusted) and GE at $6.76. See

• FNSR: Finisar up 571% Over Past Year
  
  
• Finisar Mar 3 Buy Alert at 24¢
  (A Slow loading file)

• March 4, 2009 GE Buy Alert
  (A Slow loading file)
  
  
• GE Quote and Charts

I know of two big fans of Bob Brinker that gave up on him at the worst time and switched to a different advisor near the bottom and that advisor missed the turn. I see that as the major danger of following market timers for anything but the "mad money" part of your "explore portfolio."

See Bob Brinker's Asset Allocation History for a full accounting of Brinker's official advice to the 1980s.

Since 12/31/98 "Kirk's Newsletter Explore Portfolio" is UP 159% (a double plus another 59%!!) vs. the S&P500 UP a tiny 8.6% vs. NASDAQ UP a tiny 3.5% (All through 12/31/09)

In 2009, "Kirk's Newsletter Explore Portfolio" gained 33.5% vs. the DJIA up 18.8%

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