Bob Brinker just called it quits! Marketimer is gone!

[rmcelwee]

I listened to Bob Brinker's Money Talk on the radio for 30 years. I subscribed to his Marketimer newsletter for the last 15+ years. I watched him give a sell signal a few days after the peak of the dot com bubble, watched him give a buy signal at the bottom of the financial collapse in 2009 and recently saw him call the bottom of the bear market (7 days early) last October. I believe he called for the purchase of only 3 or 4 individual stocks (one was MSFT back in the 80's). I never followed his advice to the letter (it cost me a fortune not to) but it was really nice having someone cut through all the financial noise and give simple truths. I didn't get my letter yet but a friend just received a letter saying Marketimer has published its last issue and will be sending out refunds for all non-published issues. I don't see any info about this at all on his webpage.

For those of you who never purchased it, Marketimer has called for further investments below 3700 in the S&P and predicts we will see a new record high in 2024.

 

[rk911]

i used to listen to Bob’s radio show on the weekends. I guess he has reached ‘Critical Mass’.

 

[W2R]

He's 81-82 years old, so I'm impressed that he worked this long before "hanging it up". A lot of people back at my workplace listened to his shows when I first got there. I feel like he's been around forever.

 

[jazz4cash]

Bob was a tremendous boost to my education and confidence in the markets. I subscribed for awhile. I didn’t necessarily follow his buy and sell calls to the letter (except that one disastrous call to buy the Nasdaq). In the pre-streaming days I would sit in my car in the driveway to pick up his program from a station in Chicago. Thanks and Farewell, Bob.

 

[EastWest Gal]

My dad listened to Bob Brinker in the car all the time when I was growing up and we were doing stuff as a family, and I really enjoyed the show. think his influence on us FIREd folks cannot be overstated. I remember his discussions about critical mass like it was yesterday. I was quietly very intrigued by the idea that once you reached critical mass, you could quit working for a paycheck. Isn’t that why we’re all here?

 

[iloveyoga]

I will really miss his monthly newsletter. I just opened my notice in the mail this morning.

 

[iloveyoga]

My dad listened to Bob Brinker in the car all the time when I was growing up and we were doing stuff as a family, and I really enjoyed the show. think his influence on us FIREd folks cannot be overstated. I remember his discussions about critical mass like it was yesterday. I was quietly very intrigued by the idea that once you reached critical mass, you could quit working for a paycheck. Isn’t that why we’re all here?

Listening to Bob Brinker on the radio was where I got the first idea to do this.

 

[Midpack]

I listened to Bob Brinker's Money Talk on the radio for 30 years. I subscribed to his Marketimer newsletter for the last 15+ years. I watched him give a sell signal a few days after the peak of the dot com bubble, watched him give a buy signal at the bottom of the financial collapse in 2009 and recently saw him call the bottom of the bear market (7 days early) last October. I believe he called for the purchase of only 3 or 4 individual stocks (one was MSFT back in the 80's). I never followed his advice to the letter (it cost me a fortune not to) but it was really nice having someone cut through all the financial noise and give simple truths. I didn't get my letter yet but a friend just received a letter saying Marketimer has published its last issue and will be sending out refunds for all non-published issues. I don't see any info about this at all on his webpage.

For those of you who never purchased it, Marketimer has called for further investments below 3700 in the S&P and predicts we will see a new record high in 2024.

Fans like to highlight the good calls, but like every other advisor he had his share of horrible calls as well. Here are two:

Humor is the only medicine for those who took Bob Brinker's advice to be 100% in equities at the start of 2008 and to hold those 100% positions all the way down. (Advice for Model portfolios #1 and #2. Model portfolio #3 was about 66% in equities at the top.)

I think that many will remember Brinker for his inability to see the signs of a bear market, just as many remember him for the QQQQ-disaster, but I think it's wishful thinking to believe that his newsletter will dwindle to zero. Brinker’s subscribers got a special bulletin vial USPS mail advising the they could"Act Immediately" and buy QQQ in anticipation of a 2 to 4 months "counter trend rally" for a 20% or more gain. Confused callers to the Marketimer office were told "Bob is comfortable with QQQ at $86" by office staff. You can read the rest of what happened at Bob Brinker's QQQQ Advice but basically the QQQ(Q) fell from a high of $87 to just under $20 and Bob held all the way down.

https://bobbrinkerfanclub.blogspot.com/2008/11/two-of-worst-stock-market-calls-in.html

https://bobbrinkerfanclub.blogspot.com/2007/09/affect-of-bob-brinkers-qqqq-advice-on.html

 

[rmcelwee]

Bob was a tremendous boost to my education and confidence in the markets. I subscribed for awhile. I didn’t necessarily follow his buy and sell calls to the letter (except that one disastrous call to buy the Nasdaq). In the pre-streaming days I would sit in my car in the driveway to pick up his program from a station in Chicago. Thanks and Farewell, Bob.

I don't remember the call to buy the Nasdaq. When was that? The only time I ever had a problem with his calls was his missed SELL call during the 2008 crisis. He did make a fantastic BUY call at the bottom though.

I called his show in 2015 to ask him a question. I said I had reached critical mass and was going to retire in 7 years, which I did. I recorded the conversation but I am not sure how to upload it. No one would be interested in it anyway. He did his run around answer that he liked to do but it was still nice to talk to him.

 

[rmcelwee]

Humor is the only medicine for those who took Bob Brinker's advice to be 100% in equities at the start of 2008 and to hold those 100% positions all the way down. (Advice for Model portfolios #1 and #2. Model portfolio #3 was about 66% in equities at the top.)

Yes, I would have liked to jump out of the market for a while during the crisis but I don't think dollar cost averaging into the market is ever a bad idea. I would love to buy some S&P at 1500, the high before the crisis, right now as would most of the people here. A bad call would have been to get out at the bottom and there were PLENTY of calls by others to do just that. I remember that Bob was doing his best to keep people in the market during the crisis and that was fantastic advice.

 

[razztazz]

Yes, I remember Bob. Listened like going to church every weekend. I had surmised a "Critical Mass" concept but he put it into words and gave it a soul. Then he pretty much blew the first crash. I remember he wouldn't even take calls on it. Talked about bonds, fishing, anything but what was happening with the market. I continued listening on an occasional basis and then the 2008 thing happened. I wish I had had a radio show! Couldn't believe how this expert can look at the bloomin' obvious and miss it so totally. But my memories of Sat and Sun afternoons listening to him are fond memories of youthful adulthood.

 

[Time2]

Fans like to highlight the good calls, but like every other advisor he had his share of horrible calls as well. Here are two:


https://bobbrinkerfanclub.blogspot.com/2008/11/two-of-worst-stock-market-calls-in.html

https://bobbrinkerfanclub.blogspot.com/2007/09/affect-of-bob-brinkers-qqqq-advice-on.html

First I have to say, Bob was my guru, I started listening in Late 89 or early 90. I was an independent contractor doing electronic repairs, every Saturday and Sunday I would show up at the shop a little before 3pm (CT) and I would do repairs while I listened and got educated by Bob. His show ended at 6pm and I went home. He is the reason we got to a very comfortable FI on a middle middle class income. He is the reason we were able to pay $300k to get our kids through college and get one a dental degree and it has no effect on our retirement comfort. I appreciate all his efforts.

That said, I wrote off my losses on QQQ for over 20 years, it would have been longer, but I took some LTCGs against the loss balance I had.
As I recall he said to put 30% into QQQ, I did more :-(
He did make the Jan 11, 2000 call to sell everything, 30 days later the Nasdaq dropped from 8412 to 1969 over the next 31 months. I followed that advice, but then later bought on his QQQ advice. Nobody's perfect.
A big thank you to Bob!

 

[rmcelwee]

I called his show in 2015 to ask him a question. I said I had reached critical mass and was going to retire in 7 years, which I did. I recorded the conversation but I am not sure how to upload it. No one would be interested in it anyway. He did his run around answer that he liked to do but it was still nice to talk to him.

Link to my call is below (it is nice to hear his opening themesong). I did manage to run the HSA up to $250K last week so his comment on HSA's missed the mark.

 

[karen1972]

I haven't listened to him in years but he had a huge impact on where I am today. I really liked that he talked about the reports and what one should be looking at.

I remember listening to him in 2006 when he was explaining the new IRA changes that were going to come out and how it was going to be a game changer. So in 2006 I went back to contributing to my traditional IRA so that in 2010 I could do my first Roth conversion...and then do backdoor from then on.

For me the biggest thing is he got me thinking about finances beyond put 15% in your 401k and then magically you retire one day.

 

[Koolau]

For all his apparent financial acumen, he was no poster boy for FIRE!

 

[jazz4cash]

His big contribution IMO was embracing DIY and low cost index funds. He coached listeners on buying Treasuries back when you had to mail a form to purchase. I remember buying 5 yr notes at 6.38%. He had 2 newsletters that he only pushed moderately. The subscription was $185 for as long as I can remember. No books, seminars, etc.

 

[JoeWras]

I listen to radio a lot and never heard of this guy. Wrong market?

I just hear shady characters like the one I recently started a thread on. We figured out his trick he'd present at seminars was Land Conservation Easements. Otherwise known as a beacon for an IRS audit.

 

[jazz4cash]

I listen to radio a lot and never heard of this guy. Wrong market?

I just hear shady characters like the one I recently started a thread on. We figured out his trick he'd present at seminars was Land Conservation Easements. Otherwise known as a beacon for an IRS audit.

He famously cited their first program aired on Superbowl Sunday in 1985 (Bears v Pats). It was originally carried on ABC radio network but got sold to other distributors over the years. In its heyday it was 3 hrs on Saturday and Sunday. Even though he was on for many years there were not too many stations carrying the show. Decline of AM radio was in full swing before streaming became popular.

 

[rmcelwee]

I listen to radio a lot and never heard of this guy. Wrong market?

His show was on from 1986 to 2018. In the later years I had to listen to it on the internet on KCMO when they stopped broadcasting it in the Charleston, SC area.

 

[Koolau]

I listened a few times, but it always seemed he was helping someone with some sort of minutia that I would never encounter. If I had a show, it would last one episode as I told everyone: Save at least 15%. Invest with one of the big houses like Fidelity or Vanguard. Pick an AA between 40/60 and 60/40, Go with low-fee MFs only. Fill up your 401(k) until you got the company match. Then do all Roths up to the limit. Decide which is better future tax-wise (more 401(k) or more taxable in your MFs.) Keep your spouse informed and involved. Try never to buy depreciating assets with credit. Buy the least desirable house in a desirable neighborhood. Buy "The Millionaire Next Door."

Come back next week. We're gonna talk about Mortgages. Should you pay them off early or invest the money you have on the side?

 

[Montecfo]

I did hear the guy from time to time. I never engaged particularly as I found the content kind of boring. Mutual funds? Guess I should have given him more of a chance. I did like to listen to financial radio shows when in my car. Favorite was the great Bruce Williams (RIP).

 

[timbervest]

I used to listen to him in the early 80's. His mantra was "Microsoft and Treasuries". I guess he wasn't too far off.

 

[mpeirce]

I credit Bob with a lot of my financial education - and especially my DW's financial education.

We'd take long drives on the weekend listening to Bob. Lots of what he talked about - dollar cost averaging, index funds, avoiding shark attacks(!) - sunk in.

 

[jazz4cash]

I did hear the guy from time to time. I never engaged particularly as I found the content kind of boring. Mutual funds? Guess I should have given him more of a chance. I did like to listen to financial radio shows when in my car. Favorite was the great Bruce Williams (RIP).

Bob and Bruce are The Big Two for me. Bob for market stuff and Bruce for everything in life.

 

[rmcelwee]

I listened a few times, but it always seemed he was helping someone with some sort of minutia that I would never encounter. If I had a show, it would last one episode as I told everyone: Save at least 15%. Invest with one of the big houses like Fidelity or Vanguard. Pick an AA between 40/60 and 60/40, Go with low-fee MFs only. Fill up your 401(k) until you got the company match. Then do all Roths up to the limit. Decide which is better future tax-wise (more 401(k) or more taxable in your MFs.) Keep your spouse informed and involved. Try never to buy depreciating assets with credit. Buy the least desirable house in a desirable neighborhood. Buy "The Millionaire Next Door."

Come back next week. We're gonna talk about Mortgages. Should you pay them off early or invest the money you have on the side?

Hehe, that would be a great show and I would listen to that one episode! That was the thing with Bob. We were starved for good investment information and his show filled us up. Paying off your mortgage early was never a thing for him and he would tell you to put off your SS for as long as you could. These are polar opposites from what Dave Ramsey would tell you Monday thru Friday on the same station. When rates were low Bob talked about rates vs bond duration quite a bit. He would usually have a guest on for the 3rd hour of a show. A financial book author, John C Bogle (Vanguard founder), etc.