Known primarily for correctly calling which insurance companies will fail, Martin Weiss now uses his unique rating system to analyze and rate stocks.
TERRY: I’m Terry Savage from MoneyShow.com and today we’re talking with Martin Weiss of Weiss Research. He’s best known for his insurance company and bank ratings. Martin, you’ve always been known for digging behind the facts that other ratings companies use, and really calling the shots on ratings, but now you’ve got stock ratings. What are those all about?
MARTIN: It’s the same basic principal. We don’t accept any money from the companies we rate and we’re 100% unbiased; no bearish bias, no bullish bias. That means that unlike other ratings, stock ratings that you see on the web or you get, we have a very comfortable balance between protecting you from the downside of the stock market and helping you with the upside. Now, other ratings are almost entirely focused on the upside.
TERRY: But wait, how do you rate companies? Is this based on earnings or based on the current price and the outlook? What goes into it?
MARTIN: It’s based on lots of factors; the earnings, the growth, the dividends, the stability and risk factors also are important, and that’s what other stock ratings are missing, so ours, by the way, there was a global settlement where all the brokerage firms had to buy ratings from independent providers, and the SEC, the NASD setup a meritocracy, which awarded that business to the ones that had the best track record. Guess who got the single largest share of that business and the meritocracy. Weiss Ratings, because our ratings are accurate.
TERRY: Now are these – these are strength ratings or are they buy and sell?
MARTIN: Buy and sell.
TERRY: So, if ABC company has a very strong rating, but the stocks gone up from 10 to 19, does the rating change?
MARTIN: It’s buy and sell and valuation is definitely a part of that, so if the stock has gone up beyond what the company should be valued at, yeah it’s a negative on the rating, so with their buy and sell ratings, Wall Street Journal reported on a study that was done. Not only conflicted research firms, but also independent firms were in that study; total of 19. Weiss Ratings ranked number one.
TERRY: Where do people find these ratings and what does it cost?
MARTIN: You can go to WeissWatchDog.com. You can put your stocks in there, up to a limited number, and you get the rating instantly, plus alerts on downgrades or upgrades for no cost.
TERRY: No cost. Martin, how do you make money on this deal?
MARTIN: How do I make money on this deal?
TERRY: Sure.
MARTIN: Well, we have other services we can offer you to give you specific recommendations, but you can also use the buy and sell stock ratings on your own without charge.
TERRY: Martin, you’ve spent 30, maybe 40 years helping individual investors understand the real facts and figures. Congratulations to you. Thanks for joining us.
MARTIN: Thank you.
TERRY: I’m Terry Savage. We are talking with Martin Weiss; WeissWatchDog.com.
