I've got Dessauer's recent promotional mailing. Someone was good enough to mail it to me. Dessauer claims to be ranked #1 by Hulbert for all newsletters on a "risk-adjusted" basis, and #4 for total gains over the last 16 years. He says he's written two books on global investing, and he is widely quoted in Barron's, WSJ, U.S. News, and Forbes. The gist of it is: there's no crash coming, but there's to be a huge rift between the winners and the losers in the stock market. Only a "relative handful of stocks will soar, as most others go nowhere."
"Most investors will earn nothing. . . even as others reap several decades worth of profits in just the next few years."
Then he talks about the poor schmoes who bought Apple at its peak in the mid-90s (damn it, I was one of them, thanks to him) and how this darling of the investment world with a "big ego" "fell by the technological wayside" and is now struggling to sell low-end products because ruthless Microsoft just about drove it out of business.
The problem now is cutthroat competition,from Asia and elsewhere.
"But you and I- if we work very very carefully- will sidestep the losers and ride the winners to glorious profits."
"At best, most mutual funds guarantee you nothing but mediocrity."
"This is still a low-risk stock market if you accept that the opportunities today are much different"
Next, he talks about his success with Ericsson and his friendship with Lars Ramqvist, the CEO.
Next he's got a chart and graph showing IW's "complete and independently verified track record". The numbers look pretty impressive, for every year from 82 to 98. Hey guess what? He claims, and this is tricky, that your investment via his newsletter grew from 824% to 947% from January to June of this year!!! He calls that the "cumulative gain". Now, that was really clever: making the cut-off at the end of June, since the market peaked in July and then swooned.
He next talks about Cable and Wireless, without naming it.
Then he talks about his Dad and said how his dad made multi-millions investing in Xerox, and "I've had the good fortune to do it myself."
"Investing in great companies with clear vision is never truly risky."
He next claims that at the beginning of each of the last four years, 95 ,96, 97 and 98 that he has named a "fast-track portfolio" on television and in IW. (his Wall Street week portfolio? what Dan claims is not a buy list for stocks?) Then he says that "the four yearly portfolios boast compound gains of 250% through the first six months of 1998." (I don't know for sure what that means, and other figures he gives are just as confusing)
Next, without naming it, he talks about LSI Logic.
Next, after taking credit for Glaxo, he talks about the next big pharmaceutical winner: Rhone Poulenc.
Next, without naming it, he talks extensively about Hilton.
Next, he talks about Diageo, naming it.
Next, he talks about ESF without naming it, calls it "Portugal's Citicorp".
He claims to have made 697% on GTE.
He claims to have made 1000% on Australia's New Corp (don't recognize it, must have been before my time)
He claims to have made 1998% on HSBC Holdings (he makes the point of saying it is from England, not Hong Kong).
He says, "Here are my Promises to you:
"You'll never need to take big risks to make a lot of money. Risks are for gamblers and "investors" who don't really know why they're investing or what they're investing in."
"No need to chase dozen of investments. You can make all the money you'll ever need from just the cream of the crop."
"no taking chances on risky start-ups or "submerging" markets", "avoid getting fleeced when you buy small stocks", "the case against emerging markets"
He says that he won't let you "sit in investments that are past their peak".
He's offering a free special report that supposedly identifies "Losers that will shock Wall Street"
He says that he has 100,000 satisfied readers.
He's offering 12 monthly issues, the hotline, plus "Flash Alerts as needed" ??? for $149.
The finish is tricky again. First he offers a money-back guarantee "with no time limit, no proration for issues unsent." "I'll refund the full cost of your subscription whether you ask during the first month or the last." But then on the final page, he qualifies it to say that the full money back guarantee only lasts for "six months." After that, he says you are entitled only to a "refund for the balance of your subscription term."
So, which is it? I don't know. It's tricky. My head is still spinning from the whole thing. I can see how this mailer could deceive people by the tens of thousands. All I can say is, when it comes to putting himself in a favorable light, he is good, he's really, really good. He's slick. He's slicker than Slick Willie. Remember how Clinton said that his answers in the Paula Jones deposition were "technically accurate"? Well, I'm sure Dessauer has a basis on which to say that all the information in his booklet is technically accurate too. But like Clinton, he is a liar and a deceiver.
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