Honey's Bob Brinker Beehive Buzz Archive: Bob Brinker Does a 1am Guest Appearance on WABC

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Bob Brinker Does a 1am Guest Appearance on WABC

March 23, 2011....Yesterday, Rob from Pasadena informed us that Bob Brinker had made an hour-long guest appearance on a middle-of-the-night show on New York's WABC radio.

Bob Brinker talked about what caused the crash of 2008. Brinker never addressed the subject on Moneytalk at any time when it was happening, but he has talked about it a lot over the past year and half with the assistance of hindsight. In the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday he talked about whether it will or will not have any affect on the future.

Rob wrote:

Hi Kirk,

Doug's show airs from 10 p.m. (pacific) to 2 a.m. so I usually fall asleep long before that but I have never heard the word Bob Brinker uttered until last night. Doug used to have the KABC LA morning show here for several years then was canned about two years ago and then came back with his syndicated Red Eye Radio show. He broadcasts from the KABC LA studio five nights and "MR. KABC", does the show the other two nights. I just looked on the NY WABC and there is a place to listen to this mornings (East coast time) show with Bob. Click on Red Eye Radio: March 22nd, 2011 - 1am and you can hear the on air love affair Hahahhah.

Rob
Pasadena ....March 21, 2011 10:58 PM

Here is a brief summary and some excepts and commentary:

Doug introduced Bob Brinker: "Bob Brinker has been the host of Moneytalk for well over 20 years and actually syndicated since 1986, and at Bobbrinker. com all things Bob Brinker. And his newsletter, Marketimer, many of you have and don't make an investment move without consulting it......Bob, how are you?"

Honey EC: Perhaps Doug doesn't know that many have had Brinker's newsletter and made moves that they lived to bitterly regret because they lost money. Some have even had to postpone their retirements. Many of those "moves" are documented on this blog.

Brinker said: "Doing well, Doug, it's great to be with you on Redeye."

Doug said: "......Of course you're heard all over the country on fine radio stations, including KABC in Los Angeles and many other. We have so much to talk about. Where do we kick this off? We've got Libya, we've got Japan, we've got all the turmoil in the middle east, and gas prices. But I think that starting point I'd like to get to is the market crash of 'o8 that sort of became the game changer when the table got kicked over.....In your opinion, have we fundamentally learned anything."

Brinker said: "It may or may not matter in our lifetimes whether we did learn anything. I know that's a surprising answer, but if you really analyze, it may not matter. Here is why I say that Doug. What happened in 2008 was something of historic significance. That is, something under the surface that was very, very difficult for most to see, which was the sub-prime crisis that had been building for some time in a stealth manner..... undermining the financial and the banking system. And of course, it blew up in 2008 and the rest is history......The reason I say it may not matter how much we learned in our lifetimes from that event..... is because the chances of something exactly like that happening again.... in any reasonable time frame....even measured.....in decades are slim and none..... and slim just left the building.....

.....It was a particularly unique set of circumstances that brought this about. You know the drill. The government pushed to get everybody to own a house.....That never made any sense. But the government pushed to get banks to make loans to people that couldn't repay them. A mortgage industry...... which was basically running wild. And that DVD was X-rated because the things they were doing in the mortgage market were unseemly. .....Your listeners on Red Eye want to read a couple of books....It's like going to school.....One is by Andrew Ross Sorkin....His book is "Too Big to Fail." ....It's such a big hit, they are making it into an HBO film which will come on this summer. All-star Hollywood cast which will include the likes of William Hurt, and they will more or less re-live the events of 2008. Another book to go to school with....."All the Devil's are Here" by Bethany McClain.......

.......Did we learn anything? Very hard question to answer because....the regulations that have been put into place, well now there's a campaign to undo them and frankly, they're not that tight anyway. So it's highly questionable how much things have actually changed. The good news is that the real estate market is in the doldrums. It's going to take time for it to get out of the doldrums, so we're not going really have to worry about a new sub-prime crisis coming at us. It's not going to happen."

Here are Birdbrain's comments about what Brinker said:

birdbrain said...

Kudos to Rob in Pasadena for the link to Brinker's syndicated appearance. Some of his reasons for the 2008 crash were:

Government pushing everyone to own a house

Mortgage brokers running wild

Absurd lending practices

At the time Mr B was well aware of these conditions and still was frozen in the headlights, unwilling to change his bullish stance on the market. If you knew of him only from this interview you would be impressed with his overall perspective on financial matters.

Red eye radio? How about red ink?

March 22, 2011 7:39 PM

Doug and Brinker discussed the loose credit environment that preceded the crash. Brinker said that was the one thing that had changed, that the banks have become very reluctant to sign loans unless they are sure that it can be paid back.

Doug asked Brinker if the economy could recover without the housing market recovering.

Brinker said: "There is no question whatsoever that the United States economy is in a period of recovery, which is quite remarkable considering what we went through a couple of years ago. We have real..... GDP growth estimate is between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 annual rate.....So we have what we call a slow to moderate growth in the economy track right now. And it is definitely happening without the help of the housing sector. The housing sector along the bottom.....It's unlikely to go anywhere this year because 2011 should be the peak year.... for foreclosure activity. After 2011, we should see dwindling foreclosure activity......"

Doug asked Brinker what other sectors are leading the recovery then.

Brinker said: "We have two sectors that are leading the recovery, they're very powerful. One of them is manufacturing........The reason that's doing so well is because United States exports are doing very well. Now part of the reason for that..... is because we have a weak dollar.....The price of our exported products on the shelves overseas becomes more competitive......We're actually seeing some good orders in the automobile industry, of all things......"

Doug asked Brinker what kinds of things is it that America is manufacturing that are success stories.

Brinker said: " I think one of our leading success stories has to be our technology industry. For example, the products that are being invented, improved and exported out of Silicon Valley, USA......particularly in Northern California......And I'll just give you one example of a company that's a leader in that area, which is clearly is Apple....."

Doug asked Brinker if those things were actually made here. Brinker replied that a lot of things were sent offshore because of the cheap labor -- lot of products are made in Asia.

Doug said that a lot of folks are hurting because of jobs being sent offshore. Brinker explained the "hubcap theory" and globalization to Doug, and said that we knew it was coming -- that he had talked about it for over 25 years on Moneytalk. Brinker is totally against protectionism, and said that America exported 1.3 Trillion dollars worth of goods around the world in 2010.

Doug asked Brinker several questions about China. In general, Brinker is all for trading with China in spite of the fact that they use child labor, etc.

Doug asked Brinker about oil prices. Brinker reminded Doug that "Beggars cannot be choosers."

Doug said: "Host of Moneytalk, heard all over the country on hundreds and hundreds of stations. His newsletter, Marketimer, is read by thousands and thousands of people who want to stay on top of their finances in these turbulent times and he's with us tonight to talk about all things economic."

Honey EC: I think Doug might have gotten carried away with his sales pitch for Brinker because I seriously doubt that Moneytalk is on "hundreds and hundreds" of radio stations. There are about 200 stations listed at Bobbrinker.com, but whether or not he is actually on all of those stations is questionable.

As for "thousands and thousands" of people reading Marketimer, if that is so, why does Brinker still work on Sundays well past retirement age? And why is he up in the middle of the night doing guest appearance on a program that runs from 1am to 4am?

Doug asked Brinker what he thought about the 14 Trillion dollar national debt and states that are in trouble. As usual, Brinker zeroed in on California. When he finally got back to the national debt, he said that when interest rates normalize, it will be very serious.

Brinker actually took several calls, but the subjects were on world events, etc. There was nothing that had anything to do with the stock market or the title of his newsletter. One caller said he heard it reported that someone in China said they planned to take over the United States and even commit genocide here. Brinker came a bit unglued, but Doug handled it very well.

Caller Richard asked Brinker how old he is. Brinker laughed and said he had "adopted the Jack Benny model and stopped at 39." LOL! I think Richard was offended at Brinker's cavalier attitude about the exporting of real American jobs. And he sounded a bit sarcastic when he told Brinker he was probably a smart man.

SOME COMMENTARY:

Jim said...: Honey,
I listened to the interview Brinker gave using the link provided. You are definitely right that his stock market advice during that time was "off limits". I'm sure he insisted on those terms before agreeing to do the interview.

It's good Brinker never became a politician. Imagine for a moment if he would have to go on "Meet the Press". Suppose the host of this radio program would have started off by saying: " Bob,in 2008 you predicted the stock market would go to record highs, but instead it dropped 57%. What went wrong?"

Bartee said...

all you guys are so sharp.. and thanks to HoneyBee with her freedom of speech site .. it shows how "ON" Brinker is and the listeners are on it .. BRING IT... I can't believe Brinkers place wouldn't let Honeybee get his newsletter.. afraid?? DUH .. I think the Russian may have been a "ILove you Brinker" plant ,, his call didnt make sense... I have only one word for you HoneyBee..WINNING.

March 23, 2011 12:58 AM

Listen to the hour here: News Talk Radio 77 WABC

Dixiegeezer sent this astonishing picture from Costa Rica (click to enlarge):

Here is Dixiegeezer's closeup of the moon in Cost Rica...wow:

POST OR READ COMMENTS [LINK]

39 comments:

Steve said...: Old bob was good at getting people to lean in and listen to his smooth pitch. After a time most realize he is just another newsletter huckster and ones time is better spent doing anything else.; March 24, 2011 6:18 AM
Honeybee said...: Steve,

I understand your point, but I tend to think that the truth is very important.

Bernie Madoff deceived and damaged many people who trusted him. People who never questioned whether he could actually do what he claimed he could do.

With him, it was all about hiding what had gone before and looking for new suckers to feed the family coffers so they could live in the plush lifestyle they were accustomed to -- and the "young sprouts" given every advantage.

It didn't matter to Madoff that others suffered so he could be rich.

And it doesn't matter to either Bob Brinker that many have suffered because they bought their market-timing schtick.

Finally:

I have no use for two-bit snake-oil salesmen with a "business plan" (Brinker's words on Doug's program) that makes millions by covering up blunders, and hiding the fact that with only one PARTIAL exception, all of their market-timing attempts have been costly errors.

Bob Brinker has been a "buy and hold" advocate since March 2003. Everything else is just part of the business plan. He put his market-timing garbage on hold in 2008 and returned to it last year as the market went up.

That is when he declared the secular bear back on and started watching that cyclical bull. He also issued a new "buy signal" at 1030, which was 400 points above the market low, and 450 points below his mid-1400's buy signal in January 2008.

Yeah, this is quite a nice plan, and very effective because he does a weekly infomercial on national radio to an audience that contains new shark meat.

.; March 24, 2011 8:50 AM
Steve said...: His show was far better when he mostly talked about the markets and dispensed fairly rational investment advice for the most part. Years ago it was easier to cover up his market timing failures, which may be why he started talking less about the market on the radio. After the QQQ debacle it became clear to him that he had to screen the guests on his show and not talk too much about his market timing calls or else his bad calls and flip-flops would attract too much attention and be exposed to new potential newsletter sunscribers (suckers?).; March 24, 2011 8:57 AM
Honeybee said...: Bingo! I couldn't have said it better. :)

.; March 24, 2011 9:04 AM
Kirk said...: Power just came back online here in the third world country of Los Altos, CA after about a 45 minute shutdown. It is raining cats and dogs here so I imagine it is raining dinosaurs where Honeybee lives where it is getting the full brunt of the storm hitting the Bay Area. Hopefully she is OK and the power returns to her home soon but it could be awhile as some people in her area are completely shut-off with major slides closing roads.

PS... I am glad I just invested in a very good backup power supply for my computers and phones so things keep running for half an hour even with a local power outage as long as the phone line is working. While typing it blinked out again... that would have wiped out this message two weeks ago with the cheaper power supply.; March 24, 2011 12:52 PM
Steve said...: I guess an extra half hour counts if you're on an iron lung or something like that. Other than that I just fuggedaboutit.; March 24, 2011 2:08 PM
Honeybee said...: Kirk said: "I imagine it is raining dinosaurs where Honeybee lives where it is getting the full brunt of the storm hitting the Bay Area. Hopefully she is OK and the power returns to her home soon...."

Well you imagined right. I've never seen anything like this since moving to the Santa Cruz Moutains eleven years ago.

But so far, my power has only been off about 15 minutes. However, that doesn't mean it won't go off any second.

Last year in January, when I was too sick to hardly get out of bed, it was off four days. That was really fun.

I had a backup for my computer for a few years and they are great. When it stopped working, I didn't replace it because the power here seems to have become a bit more reliable since they replaced our transformers and other things last year.

That was why it was off so long last year -- they said they had to order the transformer and bring extra help down from Oregon.

But....I have had the one hard shut down on my computer recently, so if it happens again, I may buy another one.

.; March 24, 2011 3:43 PM
Kirk said...: Actually, a half hour isn't as important as not sending power surges to hard drives and other sensitive equipment. Power surges kills more equipment than most anything else. If you have a laptop, you already have a battery buffer so that works well for many.

Most important for me is I don't lose work on open files or trash open Excel or Word files I am working on for my investments and/or newsletters.

Now when power blows... I can shut everything down and turn off my monitors, computers and other attached devices then just power the wireless router and one phone off the supply and can probably use my laptop for hours that way... even watch TV on the laptop or listen to Pandora these days so it is pretty cool.

I have a pretty powerful Dell i7 that needs perfect sine wave power... not the cheaper stepped sine waves the lower cost backup power supplies have... so I was losing data with the frequent short power outages we have here in the third world of CA.... nearly daily I'll get a few seconds that was shutting it down... Now that problem is fixed!

Data centers all have these to protect their servers. I can see why.; March 24, 2011 3:46 PM
Honeybee said...: Downed Wires Cut Power To Thousands
More Than 10,000 Central Coast Customers In The Dark

In Santa Cruz County, 12,000 customers were in the dark. The majority were on the east side of Santa Cruz, where 10,000 customers were without power as of 2:15 p.m.

Crews were working as quickly as possible to restore power. The other 2,000 customers without power were scattered in numerous outages in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and in pockets along the coast.

.; March 24, 2011 3:49 PM
Honeybee said...: Kirk,

What kind would you recommend that has enough power to run you wireless router? That sounds good to me.

.; March 24, 2011 3:51 PM
Honeybee said...: Kirk,

As you pointed out, we have third world power service because the darn radical environmentalist in this state have been ruling us for yo, these many years.

It's just too bad there isn't a way for it to be only THEM that is without power when it goes off.

And you ain't seen nothin' yet. Just wait until the growing number of electric cars they are pushing on us are plugged into the grid.

Jerry Brown will see that we are really toast now, and all we can do is try to protect ourselves any way we can.

.; March 24, 2011 3:56 PM
Anonymous said...: Frankj:

Electric cars. Consumer Reports was unimpressed with the Volt. 86 miles on a battery charge if you're lucky. Battery replacement projected at $20K, acc'd to article in WSJ. So that MIGHT have an effect on resale value.

But you can get a 7500 tax credit if you buy one and then feel good about yourself as you drive your "electric" car, which is actually powered by coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydro, wind and sun in roughly that order.

The Bonneville Power Administration is trying to improve its transmission capacity here in my neck of the woods. One result of this would be more "bandwidth" if you will, available for you Californians. The NIMBY's up here are doing their best to delay the expansion of the overhead power lines.; March 24, 2011 4:30 PM
Pig said...: Last year in January, when I was too sick to hardly get out of bed, it was off four days. That was really fun.

Really?

I betcha it made brinker&brinker happy.

As for a battery backup.........look how far we have come! We worry about the damn computer, and posting a note, not the heat or A/C or lights, or water.

Get a good natural gas generator (qqquite expensive), but it kicks in automatically and silently, and powers the entire darn house, all by itself, and not just your email.

NOOPE......I'm not selling them.................but some kid might want to consider it so daddy can to retire before age 100.; March 24, 2011 4:51 PM
Anonymous said...: Frankj:

Correction, the 86 miles and $20K battery refers to the Nissan Leaf.
Volts will go about 50 miles (depending) on the battery, then the gas engine powers the electric motor, and the overall range is 300 miles or so.; March 24, 2011 5:35 PM
Kirk said...: Honeybee wrote: "Kirk,What kind would you recommend that has enough power to run you wireless router? That sounds good to me.

This low cost one seems to work fine for my router and modem: APC Back-UPS ES, 6 outlet 350VA, 120V, without auto shutdown software UPS-BE350G
and this is what I use for my desktop PC that requires pure sine wave power:
APC Smart-UPS SMT1000 1000VA 120V LCD UPS System; March 24, 2011 7:03 PM
Steve said...: March 25, 2011, 9:07 a.m. EDT

Fed's Lockhart: Recent inflation spike won't last

(MarketWatch) -- The recent spurt of higher prices will not last, said Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank on Friday. "While short-term measures of inflation have moved up rather strongly in the last few months, I hold to the view that this trajectory will not persist," Lockhart said in a speech in Ft. Myers, Florida. Lockhart defended the Fed from charges it was oblivious to the recent gains in food and gasoline prices because it sometimes focuses on "core" measures that strip away these costs. "Contrary to popular opinion, Federal Reserve officials do actually eat and fill up their gas tanks," he said. Lockhart says he believes the Fed should focus on headline inflation that includes food and energy prices. He said the Fed can only control inflation over the course of time and not day-to-day, month-to-month, or even quarter-to-quarter.; March 25, 2011 6:28 AM
Honeybee said...: I think at this time, one would have to be suicidal to invest in these new inverse High-Yield bond ETFs. I think any pullbacks will be short-lived and relatively small, like the one that just happened -- unless the economy takes a nosedive:

BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ProShares, a premier provider of alternative exchange traded funds (ETFs), today announced the launch of the first ETF that provides inverse exposure to the high yield bond market.

The ProShares Short High Yield (NYSE:SJB - News) seeks to provide -1x the daily performance of the Markit iBoxx $ Liquid High Yield Index, before fees and expenses. The ETF lists on NYSE Arca today.

“High yield bonds have had a strong rebound since the financial crisis, with indexes reaching all-time highs1 and high yield funds attracting significant inflows over the past two years,” said Michael L. Sapir, Chairman and CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC, ProShares' investment advisor. “For investors who believe that high yield bonds are ripe for a pullback, SJB can be used to help hedge against or to seek to benefit from potential declines.”

ProShares Launches First Inverse High-Yield Bond ETF

.; March 25, 2011 8:20 AM
Anonymous said...: A few minutes ago, at about :15 p.m., I was listening to Len Tillem on KGO streaming and he was doing a commercial for Pat Vertucci, financial advisor......he said something like this.....Don't listen to Brinker on Sunday, I can't stand to listen to him, he's boring, go to Pat Vertucci for your financial needs. I thought that was hilarious, but I would venture to say that the General Manager at KGO isn't too happy if he's listening LOL.

Rob
Pasadena, CA; March 25, 2011 1:21 PM
Honeybee said...: Mr Pig said: "As for a battery backup.........look how far we have come! We worry about the damn computer, and posting a note, not the heat or A/C or lights, or water."

Isn't it ironic! And some of us remember back to a time when we lived perfectly happy lives without a computer or the internet. :)

Of course, I think those inventions are wonderful for many reasons, but mostly because families and friends can easily keep in close touch.

Without them, I would never have known that there was a Mr pig, or a Fluffy Bunny, or any of my other friends who post here.

You are scattered from the left coast all the way to within 5 miles of the right coast. You are north to Alaska and west to Hawaii.....

And we used to have a friend who posted from China. I haven't heard from him lately. Sure hope he is okay.

.; March 25, 2011 3:43 PM
Honeybee said...: Kirk,

Thank you for those power-back up recommendations.

.; March 25, 2011 3:44 PM
Honeybee said...: FrankJ said: "Correction, the 86 miles and $20K battery refers to the Nissan Leaf.

Volts will go about 50 miles (depending) on the battery, then the gas engine powers the electric motor, and the overall range is 300 miles or so."

Well, I'm sure not interested in spending extra money for one of those cars.

I wonder how many years they expect that $20K battery in the Nissan to last?

.; March 25, 2011 3:50 PM
Honeybee said...: Rob said: "A few minutes ago, at about :15 p.m., I was listening to Len Tillem on KGO streaming and he was doing a commercial for Pat Vertucci, financial advisor......he said something like this.....Don't listen to Brinker on Sunday, I can't stand to listen to him, he's boring, go to Pat Vertucci for your financial needs. I thought that was hilarious, but I would venture to say that the General Manager at KGO isn't too happy if he's listening LOL."

Thanks Rob,

That is funny. I doubt Bob Brinker was too happy either if he was listening. :)

There are times that Brinker is boring, but for those of us who know what is really going on it's fun to listen for the special messages, the set-up calls, and the sales pitches.
It's interesting to see how far he's willing to go with them.

Like last week when he repeated "income fund" about a dozen times in about 3 minutes of what amounted to a monologue. LOL! (That was a good one, Bob. I enjoyed it immensely.)

So Rob....does Pat Verducci have a program on KGO? I don't listen to KGO much except on Sunday afternoons. :)

.; March 25, 2011 4:00 PM
Honeybee said...: The Rat Pack and Johnny Carson. This is said to be the ONLY time Johnny ever sang in public. You will smile:

Birth of the Blues

.; March 25, 2011 4:33 PM
Anonymous said...: Frankj:

HB, you won't be buying an electric car and I won't either. I am sure someone will. Who exactly I don't know, but I picture it being a household that already owns an SUV or minivan and the electric or hybrid is purchased for a commute or runabout.

As an acquaintance of mine says, "we will know in the fullness of time."

Given my clientele at the tax preparation firm, I know I won't be dealing with any of those $7500 tax credits for the purchase thereof!; March 25, 2011 6:39 PM
Honeybee said...: You can now open an account and buy Chinese currency in the United States:

"We're perfectly happy eating in a Chinese restaurant. But will we start banking in a Chinese bank?

It's not as crazy as it sounds. As The Wall Street Journal's Lingling Wei reported Wednesday, the Bank of China here in the U.S. has started allowing American customers to open an account and to invest up to $4,000 per day—and a total of $20,000 a year—in Chinese yuan, or renminbi. Until now, you had few options to hold money in yuan, which is a "closed" currency managed, and protected, by Beijing.

Brett Arends explains why he thinks opening a Chinese Bank Account isn't as crazy as it sounds for American investors.

The bank has three U.S. branches—two in New York, and one in Los Angeles. You'll have to fill out paperwork to open an account and provide two forms of ID. And there's a minimum deposit of $500.

Is this a good idea? You may wonder why anyone would do this. Investing in Chinese currency may sound like something best left to speculators.

But in reality this may be no more exotic than, say, Peking duck. Holding some of your money in Chinese currency—as part of a diversified portfolio, as they say—might be a very sensible move for all of us.

China solidified its financial might in 2010, becoming the world's second-largest economy.

Why? Five reasons.

It's very unlikely to go down.

It's very likely to go up.

You won't miss out on a lot of interest elsewhere, as nowhere else is paying a lot of interest.

It will diversify your portfolio.

And, finally, it may offer you and your family something of a hedge against the decline of the U.S. economy."

Read more:

Five Reasons to Open a Chinese Bank Account (WSJ)

.; March 25, 2011 7:24 PM
birdbrain said...: Last Sunday I suspect there was an ulterior motive to Mr B's repetitive, hypnotic Page 7 reference.

Income portfolio income portfolio
You are getting sleepy
Income portfolio income portfolio
At the next commercial break
Income portfolio income portfolio
You will go to bobbrinker.com
Income portfolio income portfolio
And sign up for my newsletter

This is Moneytalk

Almost bought the damn thing myself; March 26, 2011 6:34 AM
jeffchristie said...: On 19 August 2006 Bob Brinker got a call from a guy who had a large portion of his portfolio in Chevron Texaco (CVX). Bob advised him to sell the stock down to 4%. The stock closed the previous Friday at $67. Bob suggested he diversify. I commented at the time that I thought this was a big mistake. I said CVX was one of my largest holdings and predicted it would go to $100 within the next two years.

If he would have put that money into the S & P 500 back then SPY was trading at $130. Last Friday it closed at $131. Chevron OTOH closed at $106. I don't think we will hear that caller thanking Bob for his advice.; March 26, 2011 12:11 PM
Pig said...: Jeff says: I don't think we will hear that caller thanking Bob for his advice.

There must be something wrong here. Bob does NOT make mistakes. He would say so if he made mistakes. He never makes mistakes. Callers would certainly mention it, doncha think?

I always read here about people constantly thanking Bob for stuff, even if he never said to do 80% of the stuff he's getting thanked for.

That's really amazing. He must be SOOOO good.; March 26, 2011 12:47 PM
Jim said...: Jeff,
Thanks for the story about Brinker and CVX. It reminded me of a missed opportunity I experienced years ago with Google. When I first heard Google was going public I was somewhat excited about the stock and thought it might be good to buy some on the first day of trading. Some people started calling Brinker to get his thoughts. I can't remember his words anymore but his comments were quite negative about Google. I still trusted Brinker's judgement at that time so I passed on the stock. Oh well, we know the rest of the story.; March 26, 2011 2:32 PM
jeffchristie said...: I remember Brinker getting a call from a lady years ago about Google. I think her name was Laurel. She said she was taking one third of her money and buying Google. It was selling for less than $200 and she said it would go to $300. Brinker was aghast. I have to admit that I agreed with him on this but we were both wrong. Hope Laurel didn't sell when it hit $300.; March 26, 2011 3:54 PM
Honeybee said...: Birdbrain said: "Last Sunday I suspect there was an ulterior motive to Mr B's repetitive, hypnotic Page 7 reference.

Income portfolio income portfolio
You are getting sleepy
Income portfolio income portfolio
At the next commercial break
Income portfolio income portfolio
You will go to bobbrinker.com
Income portfolio income portfolio
And sign up for my newsletter

This is Moneytalk

Almost bought the damn thing myself"

Birdbrain,

LOL! I don't blame you, that was an awesome spiel. One of his best. NOONE will ever forget that it is now called "Income fund," instead of "fixed-income" fund, or that it contains some "income" paying stocks in VWINX.

But don't ever forget that this portfolio is basically off-the-books as far as Brinker's performance record is concerned. Neither he, nor Hulbert, include it in performance rankings.

However, just so you know, Brinker has said on Moneytalk that there is a (25%) weighting of Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund in his "Income" portfolio.

I have also reported that he has a 25% weighting in Vanguard High-Yield Fund (VWEHX) in the "Income" portfolio.

Beyond that just think Vanguard and remember that he has repeatedly said on Moneytalk to stay short-term.

That's all folks. But he sure made it sound mysterious and whiz-bang, didn't he? He's good.

.; March 26, 2011 3:56 PM
Honeybee said...: Jim said: "It reminded me of a missed opportunity I experienced years ago with Google. When I first heard Google was going public I was somewhat excited about the stock and thought it might be good to buy some on the first day of trading. Some people started calling Brinker to get his thoughts. I can't remember his words anymore but his comments were quite negative about Google. I still trusted Brinker's judgement at that time so I passed on the stock. Oh well, we know the rest of the story."

Jim,

Same here....I was influenced by his negativity and never bought it.

Did you notice that in his 1AM interview, he mentioned only Apple as an example of a fine Silicon Valley stock. Perhaps he's afraid that too many listeners would remember what he said about Google?

His only two individual stock picks go back many years -- on hold. (He added Suncor a couple of years ago. It's on hold too.)
.; March 26, 2011 4:03 PM
Honeybee said...: Jeffchristie said: "I remember Brinker getting a call from a lady years ago about Google. I think her name was Laurel. She said she was taking one third of her money and buying Google. It was selling for less than $200 and she said it would go to $300. Brinker was aghast. I have to admit that I agreed with him on this but we were both wrong. Hope Laurel didn't sell when it hit $300."

Jeff,

What a memory! I had forgotten that caller, but as I read your post it came back clear as day.

I remember thinking that Brinker was right too. How could Google possibly got to $300?!

One has to wonder what she actually did. How wonderful it would be if she found this blog and would write and tell us "the rest of the story."

Obviously she would NEVER be allowed on the air again -- whether or not she sold, it would make Brinker look ridiculous.

.; March 26, 2011 4:09 PM
Paul in Palua said...: Here come 15.April again....

Callers have tried to mention Flat Tax or Fairtax to Bob. He has much criticism of them. BUT, can he not offer a reform plan that would be simple for us all and dramatically lower the wasted money in compliance costs?

If he doesn't like the Fairtax, why not comment on its good points and tell us what should be thrown out?

Originally posted here; March 26, 2011 7:25 PM
Anonymous said...: 7:25

Da Brink is fer any tax that does not effect him. Remember he blames those nasty, mean spirited people in California who passed prop 13 for Ca financial woes.

tfb; March 26, 2011 7:41 PM
Honeybee said...: TFB,

You have that right. I have often wondered how many months out of the year he spends in Nevada so that he can file as a resident of a no state tax state.

Did you know that the address on Marketimer is in Colorado. That is where the second Bob Brinker lives.

Now that leads to another question. Is the second Bob Brinker actually writing and publishing Marketimer now?

Is the man behind the microphone just a figure-head and a salesman?

Why does he keep working on Sundays and even late at night promoting his "investment letter" WELL PAST retirement age?

I expect you to answer all my questions. LOL!!!!

.; March 26, 2011 7:53 PM
jeffchristie said...: Speaking of federal income taxes, I just did my return and it looks like I owe more than General Electric, General Motors and Chrysler combined. Brinker talked about a plan that Arthur Laffer had. It is a flat tax of 13% with no deductions. Laffer thinks he could achieve a balanced budget with this but Brinker was very skeptical. I think this is an interesting idea to look into. If Brinker is right and 13% isn't enough then what is the actual percentage needed. If it is 20% or less I might go for it.; March 26, 2011 8:20 PM
Steve said...: Medicare rise could mean no Social Security COLA...AGAIN

WASHINGTON – Millions of retired and disabled people in the United States had better brace for another year with no increase in Social Security payments.

The government is projecting a slight cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits next year, the first increase since 2009. But for most beneficiaries, rising Medicare premiums threaten to wipe out any increase in payments, leaving them without a raise for a third straight year.

About 45 million people — one in seven in the country — receive both Medicare and Social Security. By law, beneficiaries have their Medicare Part B premiums, which cover doctor visits, deducted from their Social Security payments each month.

When Medicare premiums rise more than Social Security payments, millions of people living on fixed incomes don't get raises. On the other hand, most don't get pay cuts, either, because a hold-harmless provision prevents higher Part B premiums from reducing Social Security payments for most people.

David Certner of AARP estimates that as many as three-fourths of beneficiaries will have their entire Social Security increase swallowed by rising Medicare premiums next year.; March 27, 2011 6:30 AM
Anonymous said...: Flat Tax:

That will break my rice bowl! No more need for my services as a tax preparer! But you know what, I would go for it in an instant, IF the people who are paying NOTHING now and are getting back all their withholding and then some, will end up paying something.

-- Frankj; March 27, 2011 12:34 PM