Investors Business Daily Print Magazine

Many years ago I actually subscribed for a while to the paper publication of Investor's Business Daily (IBD) and found it informative but since I really wasn't trading stocks - I let the subscription go. Recently signed up for the free daily summary of market action from that day and it is a brief - very quick - overview of what happened that day on Wall Street. Nothing very deep just a summary. So I was interested when I got an ad from them for a free 4 week trial subscription to Investor's Business Daily (IBD)online and decided to give it a try to see if it fit into my life. I figured - no harm - no foul - give it a shot for a month and see what happens (by the way - a month is NOT four weeks as we shall see).Turns out, that although the information provided in IBD is voluminous; it just didn't do it for me as I was unwilling to put in the time - at this time. I am certain that if I had - the information would be invaluable on trading / investing in stocks. As a side note, editorials seen in this publication are way right of the Tea Party. So I put a note in my calendar to cancel the subscription after one month on November 1st (signed up October 1st - I would cancel November 1st - one month - four weeks ). Oh, by the way, to get the free trial subscription - I had to give up my credit card number to them - figuring that this is a reputable company that should be no problem. So, I signed up on October 1st and I would cancel on November 1st if it didn't work out.My wife tells me that she paid the latest credit card bill and there was a $28.95 charge from IBD on the bill. The charge was made November 1st. I figure that the charge will be reversed once I let them know that I had cancelled so send an email to their support desk letting them know that the credit card had been charged after I had already cancelled the free subscription. I get a notice back that they will respond to my inquiry shortly. I also gave them a "piece of my mind" in the email stating that the reason most people don't do free trials is that my credit card gets charged anyway (as in this case). I waited a few days and nothing back from IBD. So, I started sending them messages everyday that if the charges are not reversed - I will contact the BBB and contest the charges on my credit card. Many days of this email process go on.Finally get an email back from them that because I hadn't cancelled before October 31st (remember it was a four week free trial - not a month) and stated that I had waited until November 6th to cancel so I own the bill for $28.95. I immediately filed a complaint with the BBB and contested the charges with my credit card company - sending them a PDF copy of the cancellation email clearly showing November 1st (at 4:30 AM Pacific Time) date and which also shows a notice back that IBD received the cancellation email and assigned it a trouble ticket number.They recently reversed the charges (after weeks) - I am told by the BBB - with a message saying that "We take customer's requests very seriously and apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced". Their original correspondence said erroneously that I didn't cancel the subscription until November 6th and that I was responsible for the charges. How's that for talking out of both sides of your mouth (if a liberal had talked out of both sides of their mouth - they would have been castigated in the editorials of IBD - here it is OK because IBD is doing it).Remember: FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED

I have been reading IBD since 2000. I am still on my free trial. Just kidding, I get the used papers from my neighbor and do most of my reading on the weekend. This paper is the publication that goes with the CANSLIM method of investing. CANSLIM has a strict set of rules, starting with finding stocks with good fundamentals, then "buying right", then selling right. In the beginning, I found it VERY difficult to follow the rules. Human nature is emotional and I found myself holding a stock waiting for a comeback after it had passed the mandatory stop loss rules. I found myself cheating and buying a stock before the proper breakout. But the rules are good and the paper and online resources will help you find the stocks that meet them. You must learn to become a computer, not a human.Before you get your free trial do this:1) go to Investors.com every day and (free signup for public data) review the market commentary and stock selection of the day, etc. Do this for at least two weeks to get a feel.2) run through ALL the free online educational data at the site.3) read the O'Neil book "How to Make Money In Stocks".4) From the book, learn to read the signs of the market to see if you are in an uptrend or downtrend. (If there is a place that sells the paper, take a free look at the "Big Picture" spot on the top left of front page and see if market is in uptrend, correction or under pressure.5) if you don't have the discipline to do this, don't even bother with the paper!Some of the fundamental CANSLIM rules you probably violate all the time...1) NEVER buy a stock when the market is in a correction2) NEVER average down on a losing stock (but do average up properly on a winning stock)3) NEVER let your loss exceed 7-8%4) Buy right (good fundamentals first, then proper chart pattern and breakout).5) NEVER hold too many stocks, you can't keep up with them and there are only so many great stocks (if your stock is not proving to be at least good shortly after the proper buy point, then sell it and wait for another opportunity or invest proceeds in a better stock you own (at proper add on point)).If this seems odd, read the book FIRST!

I really like IBD and so does my 84 yr old mother. However, just this year she will no longer be getting the printed copy as they are discontinuing the print editions that she has relied upon for years. They will only print one days paper and the rest must be electronically read for the other week days. She is 84 and very active in reading the IBD and trading in stock. Loves the articles as well. But, she has no way of reading or understanding of the computer to get the electronic edition. This will hamper her investing. What a shame for the elderly who have no computer skills or computer.

Been a subscriber to IBD for many years, and I have learned a lot from their educational content -- both written and videos. If you are a new investor it is a good return on investment to pay someone to teach you the basics and some advanced techniques of growth investing. The men and women investors at IBD are quite genuine in their approach and are balanced about investing reward and risk.Where IBD falls short, as many others have noted, is the non-stop advertising and upselling. Not sure why they do this since their products are already expensive. They don't seem able to distinguish between existing customers and prospects because they will constantly pitch you services which you already subscribe. It is pretty annoying and makes them feel a bit untrustworthy. Another thing I don't like is that they continue to pitch ideas like "stocks near a buy zone" even when they note the market is in a correction...a practice that is contradictory to CANSLIM...and quite different than what their investors say on IBD live or other videos.Bottom line, IBD is a good place to learn about growth investing, but they are diminishing their products and the brand with their non-stop and sketchy salesmanship.