By: Bob Haegele
May 27, 2021Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. This means we earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you purchase a product through our links.
If you think investment newsletters are a thing of the past, think again. They might feel a bit web 2.0 nowadays, but these newsletter remain one of the best ways for investors to stay ahead of the curve.
Whether you are brand-new to investing or you’re a seasoned professional, the best investment newsletters can be an invaluable resource. After all, the market is always moving and shaking. Thus, if you aren’t watching it full-time, you can easily fall behind.
That’s where investment newsletters come in. They give you quick-hitting, digestible tips you can follow to make informed trading and investing decisions.
Now, let’s get to it as we go through some of the best investment newsletters.
Best Investment Newsletters: The Complete List
In this list, you will find the best investment newsletters we have been able to find. Keep in mind, this list is not necessarily all-inclusive; we may add and update it as time goes on. However, these are the best newsletters we have found at any given time.
Now, let’s get to the list!
- Motley Fool Stock Advisor
Motley Fool Stock Advisor is the flagship service of The Motley Fool, and it’s one of our favorite investment newsletters. The returns you get with Stock Advisor are unrivaled, yet it’s also one of the most affordable services around.
This investment newsletter was first launched in 2002, and so far, its cumulative return is well over 500%. That’s compared to just over 100% for the S&P 500 during the same time period.
Truthfully, these numbers sound almost too good to be true. So, I did what any skeptical person would do: I tried it myself. I’m happy to report that since June, 2020, my return is nearly 300% on the money I invested in Motley Fool stock picks.
Stock Advisor gets high marks not only for its performance but for its thorough analysis and transparency. They tell you exactly why each pick is a winner, along with all historical performance figures.
Subscribers can receive a number of emails and SMS messages from the service, but the most important one is Fool’s Best Buys Now, which sends you one new stock pick on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor cost: The regular cost is $199/year, but new members can sign up for $99 for the first year.
To learn more about Stock Advisor, see our Motley Fool review.
- Motley Fool Rule Breakers
That’s right: our second investment newsletter on the list is also courtesy of The Motley Fool. As good as Stock Advisor is, Rule Breakers still manages to bring something to the table that makes it worthy of its own mention.
Whereas Stock Advisor is the every-man investment newsletter with several blue-chip stocks in tow, Rule Breakers focuses on companies that are changing the game. Or, as the company’s website puts it, “high-growth businesses we think are poised to be tomorrow’s market leaders.”
Rule Breakers works much the same way Stock Advisor does with two new stock picks per month. As ever, those picks come with in-depth analyses and any risk that may come with it.
You also gain access to valuable Motley Fool resources, such as Best Buys Now, Starter Stocks, the community forum, and more.
Motley Fool Rule Breakers cost: The regular cost is $299/year, but new members can sign up for $99 for the first year.
- Trade Ideas Trade of The Week
The Trade Ideas Trade of the week is a free investment newsletter. Anyone can sign up by providing their name and email address on the Trade Ideas website.
This investment newsletter gives you one suggestion every week using Trade Ideas technology. Not bad at all for a free service.
In this newsletter, Trade Ideas breaks down several key considerations, including:
- How it identified the Trade of The Week
- Technical conditions in place for the stock
- Why they believe it will perform well
- How to find more trades like this one
While the Trade Ideas platform is ideal for active traders and day traders, the Trade of The Week can be one that traders can hold onto for weeks on end. Plus, these trades have the potential to beat the market (and have done so in many cases).
To learn more about Trade Ideas, see our Trade Ideas review.
- Mindful Trader
Mindful Trader is technically a swing trade alert service, but it’s worth considering. Why? Because it does what it does well, and there still are not many services out there like it.
While Mindful Trader hasn’t been around as long as some of the best investment newsletters, Eric who runs the program, has over 20 years of trading data. That data shows he has had positive returns every year, with several three-digit years.
Eric is very transparent in his approach and goes in-depth on his website about how he picks each trade. Every alert comes with key pieces such as buy/sell price and stop-loss price. They come in as he finds good opportunities based on testing scenarios against his code sets.
Mindful Trader cost: The cost for all members is $47/month.
To learn more about Mindful Trader, see our Mindful Trader review.
- The Street Action Alerts PLUS
Action Alerts PLUS (AAP) from The Street helps investors track founder Jim Cramer’s investing strategy. Chief among member benefits is access to the team’s charitable trust portfolio of 30+ stocks. Plus, you can access to AAP’s investment indices which include value, growth, blend, and income stocks.
You’ll also be alerted of any trades Cramer and his team make with real-time alerts. Those come in the form of email or SMS. For each stock that is part of the program, you’ll be given a fundamental and technical analysis, along with a rating.
There are a several more features included with the service, such as weekly market roundups & analysis and a library of educational materials.
If you are more the interactive type, you can interact with Jim and the team in a community forum or participate in a monthly, members only conference call.
Pricing for AAP is based on your time commitment:
- Monthly: $29.99/month
- Annually: $299.99/year
- Two-year plan: $499.99/2 years
Overall, Action Alerts PLUS is a solid offering with a ton of value at an affordable price point. We recommend it as one of the best investment newsletters.
- Benzinga Options
As you might have guessed, Benzinga Options is an investment newsletter that focuses on options trading. In particular, you’ll be following the trading strategy of Nic Chahine, who presents you with high-probability options trades. According to its website, the average win rate of all of the options trade is 91% with an average return per trade of 23%.
Benzinga has followed suit of other services with its Options service, providing two new trade suggestions per month. When Chahine makes a trade, he explains it in detail so you know exactly why he is making each trade. Also as with other services, you gain access to educational tools and market analysis.
Plus, you get access to starter-level options trades—perfect if you are just starting out. However, the goal is to help you eventually become an independent options trader rather than keeping you as a subscriber forever.
Benzinga Options is a great value, similar to Stock Advisor (but for options trading).
Benzinga Options Cost: $97/year, with free access to Benzinga Boot Camp.
- Fidelity Investor
Fidelity Investor is considered one of the best investment newsletters, particularly if Fidelity is your main (or only) broker. It has been around for over 20 years and the typical subscriber gets more than double the returns of the typical Fidelity Investor.
The newsletter is run by Jim Lowell, who used to work at Fidelity but is now independent. Thus, he has some inside knowledge of Fidelity, but his main goal is to help you get better returns.
Features of the Fidelity Investor newsletter include:
- Monthly newsletter: Every month, subscribers get specific, concrete recommendations for how they can achieve better returns than the average Fidelity investor.
- Weekly hotline updates: These updates keep you informed of changing market conditions. Those conditions change frequently, so weekly updates are useful.
- Bonus reports: You get bonus reports detailing specifics about Fidelity investing, such as the best funds and the inside scoop on the company’s fund managers.
- 30-day free trial: Speaks for itself. Try it risk-free.
Fidelity Investor cost: $34.95 per quarter. A 30-day free trial, plus new members get their first three months free.
- Morningstar Premium
Morningstar Premium is an investing service best suited to advanced investors. It gives you access to some of the best stock research tools, but it isn’t going to hold your hand. You’ll have to do the work to find the best investments based on your goals.
That being said, Morningstar does have some features to help you differentiate between the good and the bad, and perhaps find a winner. Namely, its mutual fund ratings from 1-5 stars. 5-star funds are expected to perform the best, while 1-star funds are the worst.
Morningstar does have a free membership that lets you read articles, but it is pretty limited in what it allows you to do. To get access to fund ratings and all its advanced features, you have to sign up for Morningstar Premium.
Morningstar Premium cost: $199/year. A 14-day free trial is available.
- Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Kiplinger is a monthly personal finance magazine that gives personal finance and investing tips. This is one of the oldest personal finance magazines still in production, having first been published in 1947. Of course, the magazine was only in print format back then, but today you can get it in either print or digital (or both).
While the magazine isn’t all about investing, it has a few sections that regularly give some good investing tips. It also covers both individual stocks and ETFs, making it a good resource for those who are not all-in on one particular strategy.
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance cost: The cost is $29.95 for 12 issues or $39.90 for 24 issues.
Which Investment Newsletter is Best?
There is no “best” investment newsletter. Some are geared toward general stock investing, some are good for options, and some are for day trading. It really depends on what your goals are.
That being said, one of our favorite investment newsletters (and one that should appeal to the broadest audience) is Motley Fool Stock Advisor. That’s because it’s a simple, affordable service that gives you easy-to-follow recommendations. Plus, you can hold onto most of your Motley Fool stock picks for years.
Do Your Own Research
All of the investment newsletters mentioned here are excellent. We wouldn’t recommend them if they weren’t. Still, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your own due diligence. There are a number of reasons you may not want to buy a stock recommended by one of them.
For example, perhaps one of the stocks is in an emerging industry and you aren’t confident in its long-term viability. Maybe you don’t know enough about the company’s fundamentals to feel confident. Or, perhaps you don’t want to support the company because it isn’t socially responsible.
There are lots of reasons you might want to skip any of the recommendations given by one of these newsletters. Thus, be sure to do your own research first.
Avoid the Up-sells
Some of these newsletters might come with up-sells. In other words, they use the newsletter as a way to sell additional products. While those products can sometimes be worth it, they aren’t something I would generally recommend.
There is nothing wrong with trying to make money, but if you are going to fork over your hard-earned dollars, you should be sure it’s worth it. If you aren’t sure, it’s probably best to steer clear, at least until you have more information.
Pick One or Two Favorites
While all of the newsletters on this list are good, it isn’t realistic to follow every one of them (and implement all of their strategies). I would recommend picking one that aligns with your investment strategy and goals, then maybe you can add another one later.
There are some that don’t overlap very much, like Benziga Options for options trades. Thus, you might want to try a couple of different strategies in order to find out which one is your favorite.
If you aren’t sure where to begin, we recommend youtry Stock Advisor for $99 for the first year. This is one of the best investment newsletters around, and one of the best values, too. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
