Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust Performance - Returns by Year 2002 to 2015

Updated for 2016: Jim Cramer's "Action Alerts Plus" Charitable Trust Portfolio Performance

January 26, 2015: The January 2015 issue of Mark Hulbert's Financial Digest (HFD) "Long Term Performance Ratings" (LTPR) tabulates the performance for over 500 newsletter portfolios. Hulbert updates this report twice a year. For the full 2014, Hulbert says Cramer's Action Alerts Plus" portfolio had a total return of 1.1% with a compound annual return over the past five years of 8.4%. Below in Chart 1, I show Cramer's portfolio returns by year since inception and I also check my math with Hulbert's in Chart 2, further down the page.

Finally, in Chart 3 below, I show excerpts from the recent HFD issue with Jim Cramer's Action Alerts Plus returns compared to benchmarks. It seems like a lot of noise and trouble to under perform simple indexes since inception.

Chart 1: Jim Cramer's Action Alerts Plus Charitable Trust Performance by Year For comparison, I also show the performance of my very easy to follow newsletter portfolios over the same periods.

In the table below, I show how applying the reported return for each year of following Jim Cramer's Action Alert Plus portfolio would do if you compound the returns, much as if you used your own money.

My portfolios grew to between 30.3% and 53.7% more money than Cramer's over the same period.

Jim Cramer's Action Alerts Plus Performance & Returns

Notes:

There is a lot of trading in Cramer's portfolio so if your portfolio is not as large as his, then your drag to commissions could be much, much higher. My "core & explore" results include commissions.
Jim Cramer says he gives the profits to charity so his actual compounding is less.
If you want to know exactly how this works, send an email to Cramer before you subscribe and ask for a complete accounting of returns by year back to 2002 BEFORE YOU SEND MONEY!
Ask Jim Cramer why he doesn't report his results up front like I do for my returns.
Make sure you read:

Timer Digest Features Kirk Lindstrom's Investment Letter on its Cover

Chart 2: Jim Cramer's Action Alerts Plus Charitable Trust Performance over the last 5 years

To verify my results, read these articles:

"Timer Digest Features Kirk Lindstrom's Investment Letter on its Cover" then
"Timer Digest Market Timer of the Year Awards" then
You can send me an email and I'll put you in contact with subscribers who have volunteered for this. One whom I've helped since before writing the newsletter in 1998 will talk to you on the phone or meet in person.
You can also write The Hulbert Financial Digest. I've sent them my newsletter since about 2000 but they have not yet started to write about me. They said not enough people has asked yet.

Chart 3: Mark Hulbert's LTPR for Jim Cramer's "Action Alerts Plus" Charitable Trust Portfolio

Source of Jim Cramer's Return Data:

2009 to 2014: "The Hulbert Financial Digest: Long Term Performance Ratings"
2002 to 2009: Various email exchanges and web pages that come and go.

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