Empire Stock Investor Review – Whitney Tilson Scam?

Empire Stock Investor is a monthly stock newsletter from Whitney Tilson.

Unfortunately there's a lot of scams in the stock picking world.. and I'm sure you want to know if Empire Stock Investor is a scam before purchasing.

You'll get a clear answer to that in this review.

I went through the newsletter and highlighted all the important information about this service below.

You'll have a good idea of what Empire Stock Investor can do for you when you go through it all.

Let's get started!

Is Whitney Wilson A Scam Artist?

Whitney Tilson is a veteran in the investing world and he's had some serious ups and some serious downs.

He ran a hedge Fund called Kase Capital that was successful for a number of years.

However, once the recession hit in 2008 his stock returns for his clients plummeted.

After years of struggling to beat the S&P Tilson shut down Kase Capital in 2017.

Despite the failure of his hedge fund he's still respected.

He correctly called the Bitcoin bubble and 2018 cannabis stock collapse.

In 2019 Whitney turned his attention to individual investors and created Empire Financial Research.

What Is Empire Stock Investor?

Empire Stock Investor is an affordable stock selecting newsletter.. it recommends a stock a month and each newsletter is delivered the first of every Wednesday.

Each newsletter is dedicated to why the stock is being selected and it's usually pretty easy to understand.

The picks are mainly large cap stocks and they're not beholden to a single sector or anything like that.

The returns on the investments typically aren't going to be realized for 3 to 5 years.

So anyone looking for fast profits and quick returns should look elsewhere.

Additionally, you'll get commentary on stocks that are in the portfolio (there's usually 25 to 30 stocks in the portfolio).

Recommended: The Best Place To Get High Return Stock Ideas

What Do You Get With Empire Stock Investor?

There's various aspects to Empire Stock Investor.

Here's a breakdown of what you get:

Newsletter

This is the main part of the offer and what I described in the last section. You get 12 yearly issues of Empire Stock Investor.

You'll get in depth analysis on a stock every month and you'll get portfolio updates.

Whitney Tilson's Daily

Every day before the markets open you'll get an email from Whitney.

It will give his thoughts on the market and different recommendations. 

Empire Financial Daily

This is another daily newsletter and this time it comes Berna Barshay. 

This one comes out after the markets.

Updates On Trades

A month is a pretty long time to get updates on your portfolio.

Sometimes major market moves shake things up and you might need to sell or buy before you get your newsletter.

You'll get alerts if anything serious happens and need to take action.

Research Report #1: Electric Vehicle Boom

You get a special report on how to profit from the move towards electric cars. 

You'll learn about an electric car company that Tilson believes will be a major player for years.

Research Report #2: Driverless Car Technologies

There's various technology companies that contribute to driverless cars.

In this report you'll learn about 3 companies that will be influential in this space in the future. 

These are companies that work with major car manufactures like Toyota, Mercedes Audi and more. 

Research Report 3: TaaS Speculation

TaaS stands for transportation as a service.

This report focuses on a technology that's needed in all self driving cars and the company that has 20% of its materials used in the market. 

Beware The Marketing Funnel

I just want to point something out before I move onto the rest of the review.

I'm an expert in online passive income and internet marketing.

I started this website to help people avoid scams in the investing world. 

The reason I care so much is the marketing is very advanced with some of these newsletters and publications.

They 10000% know how to get you to spend money and know how to get you to spend thousands.

Empire Stock investor is just the start of a larger marketing funnel and this is why it's so inexpensive.

There's plenty of other products at Empire Financial Research that cost thousands per year.

These are the products that Whitney truly wants you to buy.

You'll be marketed these programs through email and stuff like that.

My advice is not to spend thousands on any of these programs until you see a return from Empire Stock Investor.

Tilson Is Once Again Trailing The S&P

Tilson shut down is hedge fund because he was trailing the S&P and so far things aren't looking good again.

There is a little time to go, though, and most of the positions have a couple years before they mature. 

There's only 4 positions that have closed since the inception in 2019 and the total unrealized gain of the other stocks is 42%.

The S&P has gained 74% since the start of Empire Stock Investor.

Even more confusing was the decision by Tilson not to recommend buying any stocks during the covid induced crash in 2020.

A lot of people made obscene money in that time period and anyone with money could have profited.

To sit back in a time like that is a weird decision. 

Recommended: The Best Place To Get High Return Stock Ideas

Who Is Empire Stock Investor For?

This newsletter is definitely a better fit for some compared to others.

Here's what I think is a must for people considering Empire Stock Investor:

Have Around $40,000 To Invest

While this newsletter maybe affordable it's not for people that have little to invest.

Tilson even recommends that you have a *minimum* of $1000 per recommendation:

There's anywhere from 25 to 30 picks in the portfolio and if you want to be invested in all of them you'll need $25,000 to $30,000.

On top of that you'll need $1,000 every month for the new stock pick.

If you don't want to invest in the portfolio and just want to invest in new picks, you need at least $12,000 per year.

Need To Be Patient

This isn't a day trading or swing trading program - you won't be getting returns daily or weekly.

You're going to be buying stocks and holding them for YEARS.

Tilson claims most positions will stay open for 3 to 5 years.

That's a pretty long time but if you want to get your full returns you'll need to wait.

Must Like Reading

The reports can be lengthy and every day you'll be getting market analysis.. before the market and after the market.

This is all through newsletters and emails.

You won't be getting video or audio or anything like that.

So you're going to need to set aside some time to read everything and have the desire to read. 

Don't Like Risk

This newsletter isn't getting spectacular returns but the odds of it losing money are very low.

The picks in Empire Stock Investor are very safe and are mostly large cap, well known corporations. 

Plus the portfolio is pretty diversified.

You won't wake up one day to see you lost all your money if you follow the suggestions from this service.

Empire Stock Cost And Refund Policy

The price and refund policy are both pretty good.

The initial cost of Empire Stock Investor is $49 for the first year and then $199 per year after.

If this newsletter is making you money than $199 per year isn't terrible either.. there's plenty of other newsletters that are much more expensive.

Also, the refund policy is 30 days, no questions asked.

You won't be able to see if the picks get returns or not in this time but you will be able to determine if you look the newsletter. 

However, you need to call to get a refund which is strange.

Recommended: The Best Place To Get High Return Stock Ideas

Final Thoughts

Tilson is well known in the investing world but so are his failures.

While he had a good run in the early 2000's and has made some good picks in the last few years, he just hasn't performed that well in over a decade.

His original hedge fund couldn't beat the market average of the S&P and his newsletter is struggling to do the same.

There are gains, though, and overall these picks are very low risk.

If you just want some returns without ever having to worry this newsletter can work for you.

Here's A Better Opportunity

Empire Stock Investor is a decent service but there's better out there.

There's many newsletters that beat the S&P..

I've reviewed all the top ones.

To see my favorite (which is also affordable), click below: