Empire Stock Investor Review
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Value
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Quality
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Ease of Use
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Performance
Summary
Every investor knows that a solid investing newsletter can provide a plethora of benefits. Empire Stock Investor is a monthly investing newsletter led by Wall Street veteran, Whitney Tilson. This newsletter tracks a portfolio of 25-30 stocks with a mix of tech stocks, banking stocks, healthcare stocks, and dividend stocks. Each monthly newsletter focuses on one specific stock with reasoning on why it is worth purchasing. Does this newsletter have the right picks? Read our thorough Empire Stock Investor review now to find out!
About Empire Stock Investor
Empire Stock Investor is a monthly investing newsletter created by Empire Financial Research. The newsletter tracks a portfolio of 25-30 stocks, representing a mix of high-growth tech stocks and more conservative banking, healthcare, and dividend stocks. The newsletter is led by Whitney Tilson, the founder of Empire Financial and a 20-year Wall Street veteran.
In our Empire Stock Investor review, weβll take a closer look at this newsletter to help you decide whether itβs worth subscribing to.
Empire Stock Investor Pricing Options
Empire Stock Investor costs $49 for the first year of your subscription, then $199 per year after that. You can also purchase a lifetime subscription for $799.
Empire Stock Investor Investing Style & Performance
The Empire Stock Investor portfolio consists of 25-30 stocks with an investing horizon of 3-5 years. The focus is broadly on large-cap US stocks, without a sector-specific angle. In fact, the portfolio includes a number of tech stocks as well as healthcare, bank, auto, and utilities stocks.
The unifying theme appears to be that all of the stocks in the portfolio represent strong companies that the Empire Stock Investor teams believes have room for growth. While diversification isnβt explicitly a goal of the portfolio, it does offer relatively balanced exposure across a wide range of sectors.
The Empire Stock Investor portfolio was set up in 2019 and, given that the investment horizon is 3-5 years, itβs difficult to scrutinize its performance too closely. At the time of writing, there are only 4 closed positions in the portfolioβs history (for a net gain of 60%). The open positions in the portfolio have a total unrealized gain of 42%, compared to the S&P 500βs gain of 74% since the start of 2019. Notably, Empire Stock Investor did not recommend buying or selling any positions during the COVID-19-induced market crash in 2020.
Newsletter Format
The Empire Stock Investor newsletter is delivered once per month. Each newsletter focuses primarily on a single stock and offers a deep dive into why that company is worth owning. Tilson and the Empire Stock Investor team keep their argument broad enough for everyday investors to understand, although the newsletter does occasionally dive into fundamental analysis to justify the portfolioβs price target. At the end of each narrative, the newsletter offers a clear instruction to investors β typically, an order to buy the stock in question up to a certain maximum entry price.Β
After introducing the new pick to the portfolio, the newsletter highlights changes to stocks already in the portfolio. Tilson provides a few paragraphs describing recent updates to stocks that are being re-recommended or sold, and then offers a clear buy or sell order for each stock. At the end of the newsletter, a table sums up the recommended changes to the portfolio and most recent advice for each stock.Β
Occasionally, Empire Stock Investor will issue mid-month updates. These are typically to recommend selling some or all of a stock position and are very brief.
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In addition, Empire Stock Investor includes special reports. In all of 2020, there was just one special report, but the investment team issued eight in the first half of 2021. The special reports focus on an emerging sector or trend β for example, SPACs or driverless vehicles β and tend to take a broader, industry-wide view than the stock reports in the standard newsletter issues. Still, most special reports offer buy recommendations for specific stocks, and usually stocks that are already in the Empire Stock Investor portfolio.Β
Empire Stock Investor Differentiators
Empire Stock Investor is one of many newsletters that helps investors build a medium-term portfolio of large-cap US growth stocks. The newsletter doesnβt have any special features that set it apart from competitors, although it is relatively cheaply priced β especially if youβre able to take advantage of the lifetime subscription. The main selling point is that itβs run by Whitney Tilson, an experienced Wall Street investor who predicted the dot-com bubble and the 2008 financial crisis earlier in his career.
While Empire Stock Investor appears to be picking up steam, it has underperformed the S&P 500 since its inception in 2019. The portfolioβs diversification may be partly to blame, since the market has been gaining ground aggressively for the past several years. It remains to be seen whether the more conservative stocks in the portfolio can buoy it during a prolonged downturn.
What Type of Trader is Empire Stock Investor Best For?
Empire Stock Investor is best for long-term investors who want to try to outpace the major stock market indices. The portfolio has a 3-5-year investment time horizon, and new picks are only issued once per month. So, following the Empire Stock Investor portfolio is relatively easy even for time-strapped investors. This newsletter can also appeal to more risk-averse investors since it only invests in long positions in large-cap US stocks and has a relatively diversified portfolio.
Investors looking for stock picks may also want to check out our reviews of the following services:
- Motley Fool Stock Advisor Review
- Motley Fool Rule Breakers Review
- IBD Leaderboard Review
- Gorillatrades Review
- Zacks Premium Review
Pros
- Diversified portfolio of 25-30 stocks
- Monthly stock picks come with clear instructions
- Special reports and mid-month updates
- Conservative picks may provide support in a downturn
- Lifetime subscription available
Cons
- Underperforming the S&P 500 since inception
- Only one stock pick per month