Favorite MKt commentator Dead or alive

[jrsiajdranch]

This last weekend I was thinking over past mkt classes and advisors as I was reminiscing with an old college buddy.  We had a mkt class together with Jim Hiliker at MSU ( spartys college) That guy was worthless! I don't even now if he is still around. 

WE both agrees didn't have much use for Bob Cropp either.

Got me to thinking about guys I had read or really enjoyed over the years.

Favorite all time had to be John Martin ( sorry SF guys) He seemed to have a way with putting things into perspective.

Years ago The old PCA office in Clinton county Michigan would have him up usually in March there at the Fair grounds  to give us an outlook for the next year. My dad first took me to one when I was 15 or 16.  He covered all the crops and all the livestock with such authority it just seemed like he knew what was going on. His presentations were always funny somewhat political and filled with stories of guys in the "know". I remember the year he passed away and the old PCA now FCS scrambled to find someone new. I didn't go. Won't be another like him.

Now for those who are still among us I really Like Roy Smiths take on things. Down to earth plus full of practical experience. Ray falls into the same category. 

I always liked listening to Walt Hackney on Who to.  That was/is another guy who took the mkts. and put them into real world applications. He wasn't shy about saying if something wasn't working. ( Haven't heard much of him is he still around?)

I think with all the new media and Info sources now it is harder for a guy to get up there and put out there guesses and then be able to defend those positions. The information that comes through is overwhelming to the point sometimes of feeling like the deer in the headlights.

Who do you guys recall as being the best?  Is that person still with us and can they be found on the web so we can all glean from another source? Also who did you find the most entertaining to listen to?
Do you think MKT advisors you pay for are worth the info they dispense. Or is the money spent worth it  just for the accountability and discipline they bring to your mkt. Plan?

[BA Deere]

Hey Jr, I don`t envy market advisors this year. The best selling opportunity came in the middle of last fall`s harvest from hell. I subscribe to John Roach, his sell signals have been very good ....if you follow them....I didn`t....I should have. You can just read between the lines of what a tough time he`s had reading the market. He`s issued sell sigs this spring at relativley  good levels but for .50 or $1 less than what most were hoping for. Lately I`ve had to laugh at what he`s said " Well make sales, 85% of the time sales in May turn out to be good ones". My market plan is hope for a dought and or inflation to make me look smart  :  )

[Artifice]

SoyRoy   net   adds value.

[Palouser]

Everyone knows I don't like technicals. However, Bill Gary does a good job for a number of reasons. First, he is consistent in his analysis. He doesn't pull 'conventional wisdom' gems out of his  *** to try and explain things off the cuff (almost always a way of covering for not knowing what you're talking about). He adds a historical comparisons to most of his comments, which allows thinking about how a situation may also be different than another time.

On the other hand he sometimes goes over the edge on specific situations. For instance, he has no idea how India works and fell in with the rest of the crowd who were sure India was going to export wheat this year without realizing why it would be almost impossible. He doesn't get specific about what to sell when - which is almost always a mistake. There are few advisories that beat the market average. Virtually none that can do it on a consistent basis. Many 'name brands' get beat by the market average consistently.

Another thing. Watch for the analyst or market commentary that picks up the quote of the month or season. My favorite this year has been 'the world is awash in .... (pick your commodity)'. It's usually a tip off they are going with the crowd and have no strong independent capacity for understanding the market.

[Mark, ncIA]

20-some years ago, when I thought I wanted to be a broker, I went and heard Jake "the snake"(as in snake oil) Bernstien a few times (when he was still free).  For shear entertainment, he was something else.  The crowd was usually grain industry folks, farmers & some college kids, Jake would whip in, about 1 minute before he was on, 100 mph sliding his Jaguar with the vanity plates into a no-parking or handicap spot, jump out in his $1,000 suit, Rolex, cufflinks, gold Jewelry, Italian shoes, etc. & run in like a Rock Star.  He was, and evidently still is, a piece of work, that guy.  Here's a review from the web:

I'M TEACHING YOU SOMETHING that I know works, says Jake Bernstein. It's real simple. Bernstein, 51, is in a Washington, D.C. hotel meeting room mesmerizing an audience of aspiring futures traders. Want to make a killing trading futures? All you need to know, says Bernstein, is that many seasonal price patterns occur year after year. Buy live hog futures on Oct. 30 and sell on Nov. 27. That's a trade that would have made you money almost every year in recent decades, he claims. Bet on the S&P 500 March contract to rise from Jan. 12 through Jan. 18. For 15 years, he says, this trade was a winner 93% of the time. Does anyone believe his nonsense?

He's a salesman, and has been in a little trouble over the years since I saw him.  Am surprised to find he's still peddlin it.

[beet farmer]

You got to go with Sue Martin:

Always bullish

Easy on the eyes

Better legs than any of the other analysts mentioned  😉  (Just guessing??)

Beetfarmer