Fearless Rick Called The Bear Market; Contributing To A Fund? You Are A Bag-Holder

There are very few people who ascribe to the discipline of Dow Theory.

I, Fearless Rick, am one of them. I am also the only person I know who has read Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations," and I am currently re-reading sections of that lengthy tome because it's important to understand.

I'm making these statements not to blow my own horn, but to point something out that readers of this blog and the millions of non-readers should acknowledge.

When I wrote this post on April 9, I had complete confidence in what I was delivering. There were no caveats, what-ifs, or other murky scenarios by which I could hedge my declaration that the bull market in stocks was over and that the next 18 months to three or four years would be losers for stock holders.

It's nearly a month later - and three months since the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped out at 26,616.71 (sorry, that number has been hard-wired into my brain) on January 26 - and nothing has changed. Stocks are still hovering between their 50 and 200-day moving averages. In fact, since the Dow Transports confirmed the bear market, the Dow Industrials are up - as of today's close - a whopping 184 points, a gain of less than one percent over the past 15 trading days.

Thus, I am here to say that it sure looks like I nailed it, called it, that I'm absolutely right. This is a bear market, and it will be a bear market until the Dow Industrials find some bottom and the Dow Transports confirm the primary trend change back to the bullish side.

And I will tell you when that happens and not a moment sooner.

I'm pointing this out because I've grown a little bit weary of toiling in obscurity while outright frauds like Dennis Gartman get to bloviate on CNBC in stultified language how "we" erred on the bullish side, or how he's "long gold in yen terms," or other such nonsense. He is getting paid to tout garbage. I get nothing, not even faint praise, when I'm absolutely right, 100%.

OK, so maybe I'm having a little hissy fit here, but I'm not going to lower my voice, nor am I going to stop speaking my mind, making my calls and writing this daily blog. My reward is out there somewhere, I just hope I get some of it before I get to heaven.

As for today's action in the markets, it was the same old saw that I've been commenting upon in previous blogs: up at the open, then a long, slow decline into the red, a typical and obvious chart pattern that the mainstream media will not ever acknowledge because they and their Wall Street banker masters want you to continue contributing to their ponzi schemes, at your own peril.

Fund holders will be the eventual bag-holders of this bear market. They'll lose anywhere from 30 to 60% of their portfolio if they don't reallocate their investments out of growth stocks and ETFs and into something more sustainable, whatever that may be. Bonds are probably a good spot as yields are rising. Commodities may not be bad, depending on the asset mix. Cash is more than likely to be king. You can send me some by clicking here.

We are entering a period in which it is more important to preserve capital than risk it and hope for gains. Hope is not an investment strategy. Watching your magic fund sink month after month is not pleasant, and being a bag-holder while the smart money runs for the exits is not what any rational person would do.

As anyone can clearly see, after taking losses in February and March, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished with a gain of 50.81 points. That's not a gain, that is a rounding error, a pimple, a dot. It didn't even beat inflation. You lost money over time.

Get out, reallocate, or die.

Dow Jones Industrial Average April Scorecard:

Date	Close	Gain/Loss	Cum. G/L
4/2/18	23,644.19	-458.92	-458.92
4/3/18	24,033.36	+389.17	-69.75
4/4/18	24,264.30	+230.94	+161.19
4/5/18	24,505.22	+240.92	+402.11
4/6/18	23,932.76	-572.46	-170.35
4/9/18	23,979.10	+46.34	-134.01
4/10/18	24,407.86	+428.76	+294.66
4/11/18	24,189.45	-218.55	+76.11
4/12/18	24,483.05	+293.60	+369.71
4/13/18	24,360.14	-122.91	+247.80
4/16/18	24,573.04	+212.90	+460.70
4/17/18	24,786.63	+213.59	+674.29
4/18/18	24,748.07	-38.56	+635.73
4/19/18	24,664.89	-83.18	+552.55
4/20/18	24,462.94	-201.95	+350.60
4/23/18	24,448.69	-14.25	+336.35
4/24/18	24,024.13	-424.56	-88.21
4/25/18	24,083.83	+59.70	-28.51
4/26/18	24,322.34	+238.51	+210.00
4/27/18	24,311.19	-11.15	+198.85
4/30/18	24,163.15	-148.04	+50.81

At the Close, Monday, April 30, 2018:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 24,163.15, -148.04 (-0.61%)
NASDAQ: 7,066.27, -53.53 (-0.75%)
S&P 500: 2,648.05, -21.86 (-0.82%)
NYSE Composite: 12,515.39, -78.64 (-0.62%)

The Gartman File (It's about time this fraud was exposed)

Well, after publicly calling out Dennis Gartman, celebrity investment advisor and frequent guest on CNBC, and trying to sign up for his newsletter (thegartmanletter.com), Money Daily editor Fearless Rick has received no response.

Now, maybe it's because the people at The Gartman Letter are really, really busy, tracking stocks and currencies and ETFs and what not, though that's a serious doubt. It would make more sense to believe that Gartman is indeed lying - to his subscribers, primarily - about his year-to-date (as of March 10) performance of 12.3% and outperforming the S&P by 14%, especially after digging into Mr. Dennis Gartman's history.

On March 29, 2016Gartman "admits" that he's up 8.2%.

At one time, Gartman was pegged to manage an ETF for Horizons, a Canadian-based investment firm with various funds and ETFs under management. Specifically, the fund was known as the Horizons AlphaPro Gartman ETF, which was founded in March 2009 (perfect timing, being that was the market bottom), and went out of business four years later, on March 22, 2013.

Gartman, expert trader and analyst he claims to be, managed to lose money for the ETF and its clients while the S&P was up something on the order of 132% (from about 670 to roughly 1550).

Here's an article from the UK's Guardian (note: no mention of this on CNBC or any other US news media), published just before the AlphaPro Gartman ETF closed its doors at 7.90 per share, after opening four years earlier at $10.00.

But the Gartman ETF, named after advisor Dennis Gartman, ubiquitous author of the Gartman Letter, an investment advisory, couldn’t harness the benefits of its fortunate timing. The fund went public at $10 a share. Those same shares now fetch around $7.90.

More astonishing is that this closed-end fund actually saw the equivalent of massive redemptions. That’s unheard of in the closed-end world. With the asset base, and therefore fees, down sharply, it’s no surprise that Horizons Alphapro has decided to shut the fund down next month.

Here's an earlier article on Seeking Alpha, (June 23, 2011) that notes the fund had done OK for some time, but as of the article's writing, was down 7.7%.

Here is a rather humorous note from Peter Grandich, on Gartman's performance with a chart comparing his fund to the price of gold.

Nowhere to be found on any of Mr. Gartman's various postings and appearances are mention of his Hedge Fund, formed in August of 2009, as the River Crescent Fund (apparently named for the street on which he lives and likely does business from, in Suffolk, Virginia). At the time, Gartman was looking to raise the modest sum of $200 million from investors, and, according to his SEC filings, would accept a minimum of $5 million for starters.

Apparently, anybody with five million bucks didn't need Gartman's advice, because since its inception, there's been no news, no investments, no nothing, except for a lonely SEC filing. That's probably a good thing for most investors.

So, what does Gartman manage today, after failing miserably during one of the great bull markets of all time? According to sources, he manages his own retirement fund. And that's the one he claims is up 12.3% on the year, while the stock market was beaten down severely in January and early February, and gyrating in negative territory for the better part of the past month.

Essentially, from March 2009 through March 2013, Gartman should have had worn disclaimers every time he appeared on CNBC. whether he was or not is a question for the way-back machine. Certainly, there are clips from that time period and Money Daily will investigate further. Oddly enough, no mention is made of Gartman's failure with the AlphaPro Gartman EFT on his official CNBC biography.

Here's a particularly bad call, when Gartman said he was getting out of stocks in August of 2012, just prior to the Fed's launch of QE3, a mammoth stimulus, less than a month later.

Also, as far as can be discerned, Mr. Dennis Gartman is neither a registered equity trader, a member of FINRA, nor a futures trader (since 2005). Nor is Mr. Gartman a registered investment advisor.

The only conclusions one can reasonably assume is that Dennis Gartman, being well past his prime, is living off the $50 to $100 per day he makes appearing on CNBC and whatever meager earnings he derives from his newsletter.

Speaking of his newsletter - which I have never seen and doubt ever will as my request on his website has not elicited so much as a response - here are a few reviews. They're generally unflattering, again, begging the question as to why the clownish Gartman is even on CNBC at all.

Updating on April 21, 2016, Gartman says he likes Alcoa (AA) and Gold in Yen or Euro terms. Naturally, as soon as he had finished his on-air mouthings, gold fell $20... in US dollar terms, of course. As for the Alcoa call, it's a pretty safe one, since AA has been as high as 17.75 (November, 2014) and, recently, down to a multi-year low in January of 6.12 (intra-day). Calling it a buy around $10 a share isn't exactly rocket science. Gartman may actually have a winner here, but it won't be much of one.

UPDATE: Gartman has gone from bearish (in light of a face-ripping 200-point rally on the Dow, May 24) to bullish in 24 hours. This is the typical Gartman flip-flop and more evidence that he's a complete buffoon and plays with imaginary money.

What a clod!

Oil Beaten Down Along With Gold, Silver, Stocks

After yesterday's run-up in crude, the obligatory return to red was the order of the day as WTI crude ended below $37/barrel. Not to be missed were the turn-about in gold and silver, but stocks remain mostly on hold for Mario Draghi and the ECB's rate announcement on Thursday.

This is what happens when the entire world revolves around central bankers: lots of nothing, and all investment vehicles returning essentially zero returns on capital, unless one's timing is extraordinary, you're a professional horse handicapper turned day-trader, or one of the various front-running HFTs.

Speaking of timing, Money Daily editor, Fearless Rick, has called out Dennis Gartman of the Gartman Letter, and his somewhat flimsy assertion that his proprietary fund is up 12.3% year-to-date. Mr. Rick emailed Gartman (see here), and tried to get a subscription to his newsletter, but has heard nothing yet. Money Daily will update with any developments (some interesting information on Mr. Gartman has already been discovered on the internet and a file is being updated... stay tuned)

Today's Mangled Mess:
S&P 500: 1,979.26, -22.50 (1.12%)
Dow: 16,964.10, -109.85 (0.64%)
NASDAQ: 4,648.82, -59.43 (1.26%)

Crude Oil 36.46 -3.80% Gold 1,263.20 -0.06% EUR/USD 1.1006 -0.08% 10-Yr Bond 1.8320 -3.68% Corn 360.75 +0.49% Copper 2.22 -2.89% Silver 15.43 -1.33% Natural Gas 1.72 +1.54% Russell 2000 1,068.18 -2.37% VIX 18.75 +8.07% BATS 1000 20,677.17 0.00% GBP/USD 1.4215 -0.33% USD/JPY 112.6420

US Stock Markets Are Massive Frauds, So Are Banks, How About Investment Advisors?

Thanks to frequent articles on Zero Hedge, Money Daily has been entertained by following the investment "wisdom" of one Dennis Gartman, a regular contributor on CNBC, especially on the show, Fast Money.

Now, not everybody has done well this year, but according to his own words, Mr. Gartman claims to be up 12.3% year-to-date. See below (and the original quote on ZH):

For those who wish to follow our progress, we are up 12.3% for the year-to-date, outperforming our International Index rather pleasantly and outperforming the S&P too by 14.4%. We have been quite lucky thus far this year. We are simply hoping that our good fortune thus far obtains through the remainder of the year. If we continue to “Do more of that which is working and less of that which is not”… perhaps our most important Rule of Trading…

So, after the Erin Andrews $55 million verdict set hair on fire yesterday, editor Fearless Rick sent the following request to liz@thegartmanletter.com:

I keep reading that Dennis is up 12.3 to 14% year-to-date, and I would like to know how he’s managed to outperform the markets this year.

Mr. Gartman makes bold statements that affect the thinking of many investors and speculators by his frequent appearances on CNBC.

Essentially, I think he’s a fraud and unless you offer bona fide proof that he’s ahead by what he says he is, I will expose him.

Best regards,

Rick Gagliano
Downtown Magazine
dtmagazine.com

Awaiting a response, or a subpoena. Maybe a drone strike. Stay tuned.