I know that Jim Cramer of TheStreet.com/CNBC does do this with his RealMoney Pro subscription service.
ugh! cramer's picks, pre-this runup, have been atrocious. he has to hold his picks 6 months...and before he did his long-term picks (ie. when he was still at the hedge fund), he said the following: "I think you can invest better than I can. I don't think you can trade better than I can. In fact, I think I can out-trade you on most stocks, given that I get a call from every brokerage house and you don't" http://www.thestreet.com/_tscs/comment/wrongrear/867444.html
What could be better than NO DOWNSIDE? Unless you are in the Soros class, selling info is a great racket. It takes very little time away from trading, and all you can lose is your reputation, which probably came out of a crackerjack box anyway.
Agreed, selling info is quite a racket. I have had friends who were paying $3 a minute to listen to Robert Prectar's Elliot Wave hotline every day. Trading creates uncertainty, there are quite a few people out there who need lots of hand holding.
I think that if you are a great trader than maybe managing money will do o.k. but it depends on you style of trading. A great newsletter service is better because so many people have lost money with hedge funds and mutual funds and they just want to make money and have more control of their money. Its better for the trader because then he doesnt have the problem of regulatory oversite hanging over his shoulder. And most of all his performance is not hindered because people withdrawl their money. Newsletter is better. but not at $50.00 a pop. More like $400.00 per month! +........If your good then your good and worth every penny. p.s. some people are only in the market because they want notoriety and fame because they figured out the market and want to sell their system...........they are not interested in trading for profit.......While others just want to make money and dont care to figure out the market. They just want someone they can trust and have confidence in........someone who can make them money!
I guess I look at trading and selling advice as two distinctly different things. The "seller" doesn't necessarily know how to trade or want to trade OPM. Many do both,but most don't run money and gear advice to daytrading/scalping they tend to be longer term players. Cost for a newsletter can be minimal these days if delivered via internet. You need to either write or hire a writer, activate some credit card acceptance service, utilize some sort of web ads or links and do the research needed to 'qualify' your idea or method. Bring in maybe 500 subscribers on average( some cancel or don't renew etc) at maybe $400 bucks a year and you have $200k.If costs are even 50% that aint bad for what could be a part time job.Beats the stress of "jammie"trading. Of course if you look at multi million dollar funds manager then I know for a fact that most of the grunt work is farmed out,articles ghost written and a well known service will market the hell out of the material for you for a big cut of the gross(30-60%).
Is it really any different than Walsh, Parcells or Shanahan? These guys are great football coaches, yet none played pro football. So because they can't throw the football 60 yards in the air, should they not be coaching? Of all the great athletes, I can't think of many who have made great coaches. Maybe it's the same with great traders. As with great athletes, maybe great traders have great instincts. Which, by definition, is something you can't teach.
Those who can't do, teach. Unless, of course, they are brilliant and made millions trading their own account and got tired of looking at the monitor all day.