Dear Mr. Berko: I made the mistake of writing a $198 check to Weiss Research for Larry Edelson’s stock market advice. Weiss promised to return my money if I wasn’t satisfied, but the publisher won’t respond to my requests for a refund. I can’t find a workable email address for Weiss Research or Martin Weiss. Please help me.
Secondly, my stockbroker recommended Granite Point Mortgage Trust, which is a real estate investment trust. He thinks it’s a good income stock paying 9 percent and says the dividend will increase again this year. I told my broker that you said that when interest rates go up, bonds and income stocks go down in price. He said that you are right but this is a special situation because when rates go up, this REIT’s dividend also rises. If this is so, I’ll invest $10,000. Please explain this to me.
— C.T., Wilmington, N.C.
Dear C.T.: I’ve looked and I’ve checked. And I’ve rechecked and I’ve inquired. But apparently, I didn’t do it well enough, because I can’t find one workable email address for publisher Martin Weiss, whose innumerous financial publications litter sewer floors like losing ticket stubs at a racetrack. I called Weiss Research’s Florida office and was put on hold for over 10 minutes three times and then gave up.
The Weiss people are extraordinarily successful, marketing various dazzling financial publications, the advice from which (my opinion) is extraordinarily abominable. Go to Google, and type in “Weiss Research.” Then click around and glimpse the comments. It won’t take you long to feel unclean. You’ll also see that despite the money-back promises, lots of people haven’t gotten their money back. And most should, because the many publications I’ve read haven’t been worth a bucket of river mud to me. Stay away from anything that has to do with Weiss Research or any Weiss co-conspirators. Their market comments and claims read like magnificent fairy tales.
