This new discussion is about Steve Sjuggerud's DailyWealth offer to identify a government backed investment in what they call "virtual banks". It was mailed to me following signup with Stansberry Research >customerservice@stansberryresearch.com< (see other discussion on this general service).

I.e from the letter pitch:

> We call these small banks, "virtual banks." Why? Because they aren't like typical banks at all. They don't have typical bank buildings. They don't have tellers. Or guards. Heck, there's no vault to guard. There are not ATM machines... no customers. You see, these 'banks' aren't really banks at all... but rather simple corporations designed to access the government's cash handout program.

After all, these virtual banks can make investments that are "guaranteed by an agency of the U.S. government or by a U.S. government sponsored enterprise (GSE)."
And here's the great news for you and me...

Some of these "virtual banks" trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which allows you to make a fortune from this government boondoggle.

* Virtual Bank #1 is based in New York. It has fewer than 40 employees. They don't have any ATMs... they don't offer savings accounts or checking accounts. All they do is cash in on the "Economic Security Fund" giveaway, originally organized by the U.S. government.

In roughly the past year, this company has made $220 million... and during a recent 4-year span, returned 518%, including 109% in dividends.

* Virtual Bank #2 is also based in New York, and has just 15 employees. Again—they don't offer any typical banking products. But they make a fortune thanks in part to this government loophole. They've made $15 million in the past 12 months. And during a recent 4-year span, have paid 368% total gains... including 34% in dividends.

* Virtual Bank #3 is based in California, and is worth about $400 million. They have just 11 employees. Incredible. But that doesn't stop them from making millions, especially when the stock market is risky. During a recent two-and-a-half-year period, this virtual bank paid investors gains of 461%, including more than 100% in dividends.

* Virtual Bank #4 is based in Texas. They have just 12 employees, and during one three-and-a-half-year period, paid investors gains of 327%, including 140% in dividends.

As you can see, these are not ordinary banks whatsoever. They hardly have any expenses. They have just a few employees... and yet they make hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Like I said, they're not really banks at all... but rather little-known corporations that are set up to take advantage of the biggest corporate welfare program in America.

Most of the time, people in the financial world pay little attention to these "virtual banks." But during times of uncertainty, they become extremely important—one of the simplest and safest ways to make money.

Oh... there's one more thing I haven't mentioned about these "virtual banks"...

They don't pay federal taxes.

Thanks to a tax break from the IRS, these Virtual Banks don't pay a penny to Uncle Sam, as long as they pay out 90% or more of their profits to shareholders (that's you and me).

As the Wall Street Journal reported: These virtual banks "aren't taxed themselves, providing they pay out at least 90% of their taxable income. That means fat dividends for shareholders..."

The point is, you can put just some of your money into these cash machines over the next few years, and safely make a fortune—while everyone else has to worry about real estate prices, and a risky stock market.<

Has anyone signed up for this report and what is your impression? Is there a better definition for a "virtual bank"?

The "Virtual Bank" is Annaly Capital Management (NLY) If the Fed. government bails out the housing sector by lowering interest rates, NLY will do quite well. Sjuggerud's True Wealth has been the best investment letter I've read. This is out of probably 15/18 letters over the last 3 years.

what are the other 3 banks?

Inspector, I can give you two of them.
The first is PCL, Plum Creek Lumber. He's been hawking it for a few months. Has a 4% divident at this point, but he's really hawking the value of the lumber, etc.
Another is Timber West, symbol twf-un.to. It trades on the canadian Toronto exchange, and has a 7% dividend. However, the most recent newsletter (September) recommended it as a sell at this point. A lot of it has to do with him being skittish about commodities in general.
KYN is another one that loosely fits the land use and development phrase. It's not a REIT, but returns a 6% dividend. He's had it on the list for a few months.
Also, in addition to NLY, he's now recommending MFA instead, as you can buy it (at time of writing) at a discount.

Continuing on the same theme about the relationship of various investment advisory services:

Dr. Steve Sjuggerud served as the chairman of IU from the inaugural issue in December 2001 through October 2005, penning more than 400 IU e-letter issues. Dr. Sjuggerud is also the editor of TRUE WEALTH, one of the fastest-growing investment newsletters in the country. He's a former investment director of TOC and an expert on global investing and emerging-market currencies. During his far-reaching investment career, Dr. Sjuggerud ran a global mutual fund, directed his own offshore hedge fund, and served as the research director for an international investment advisory firm. In addition, he's often quoted in places like WSJ.com and Barron's.

Dr. Van K. Tharp has been a peak performance coach for investors and traders since 1982. He is the only trading coach featured by Jack Schwager in his best-seller The Market Wizards: Interviews with Great Traders. He is the founder of Investment Psychology, Van K. Tharp Associates and the INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TRADING MASTERY. Over the last 12 years, Dr. Tharp has collected profiles on more than 4,000 investors and traders, consolidating over a decade of research to determine how the most successful investors and traders get their results. He received his Ph.D. in psychology in 1975, and is an expert in the use of NeuroLinguistic Programming (NLP) for creating trading models.

In addition to managing the IU E-Letter and related resources, Managing Editor Alex Williams is also an editor for one of the world's most distinguished associations of private investors, TOC. Prior to joining the IU team, Alex served as the news editor of a daily newspaper in Southwest Virginia, as well as a researcher and writer for a renewable resources non-governmental organization in Washington, D.C. He is also a former investment advisor for one of the largest U.S. regional banks.<<

Therefore, in our discussions, keep in mind that:
Dr. Steve Sjuggerud = DealyWeath = True Weath = Oxford Club = INVESTMENT U = HULBERT FINANCIAL DIGEST = INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TRADING MASTERY = Alexander Green = Dr. Mark Skousen = Julia Guth = Dr. Van K. Tharp = Alex Williams

While these may appear to be separate entities, they probably meet together regularly for victory dinners on the number of subscribers they have garnered. (There may be other links if anyone else has discovered it...lay it on us.

Has anyone listened to Steves new webcast only where he talks about "two bank" opportunities that were just too small to mention in front of a such a large audience? One stock is less than $3.00 a share and expects a 3oo% return. Another I believe is a mutual fund of financials. He does mention KRE and ITB but won't disclose the other two unless you subscribe to Sjuggerud Confidential. Any insight from Steve's followers?

True Wealth subscriber. Like his ideas and he has made me money.
His timing seems to be early. Now have a habit of waiting before I buy.

I have subscribed to the free Daily Wealth newsletter for a few years now. I have noticed a disturbing tendency by Dr. Sjuggerud to market high risk investments as low risk. If they work out, he loves to flaunt the numbers. If they crash and burn, you will not hear a peep. The best example is what happened in Iceland. Daily Wealth had dozens of articles that were pushing Icelandic government bonds in 2005-2007. When it all blew up last year, not a word about it in Daily Wealth. I have documented everything in a new article on my site - check it out: Beware of False Prophets.

Here's Travis' solution:

http://www.stockgumshoe.com/2008/10/treasurys-gold-glitch-make-money-after-gold-rises-sjuggerud.html