Who Is Jim Shepherd?
The man who's been predicting the financial future since 1982
Founder & President
During the late 1970s Jim Shepherd identified the top of the real estate market and sold all the holdings in his development company making his first million dollars at 26 years old. A couple of years later when people began forming line-ups around banks waiting to buy gold at over $800 per ounce, Jim knew it was time to sell once again. The price of gold collapsed shortly thereafter.
However, Jim's success in commercial real estate development and precious metals had not been complimented by the advice he was receiving about the stock market. He had become increasingly unhappy with recommendations that were coming from so-called professionals who always seemed to promote an investment that had risen dramatically or one that fell shortly after being recommended.
From Jim's research it was disturbingly clear that most Wall Street firms' interests are routinely put ahead of their clients to the detriment of their clients' financial wellbeing. For example, investors who attempt to do their due diligence by following articles in the financial media, soon discover that Wall Street's interests often come ahead of good journalism in their search of continued advertising revenue provided by Wall Street firms.
Seeking a more reliable method, Jim did extensive research during the 1970s and eventually developed a model that accurately forecasted every major change in the US market while being back-tested over the previous 100-year period. During this research he gained further experience as an options trader for a firm in the San Diego area. In 1982 he began using his model in real time and since that time it has never failed to correctly predict a major change of direction of the US market. Jim receives data that are important indicators about changing economic conditions from a wide variety of independent and governmental agencies. The data, which is used in the mathematical calculations of his model, produce short, medium and long-term indicators about market direction.
Jim's first big success occurred in 1987 when his model signaled an approaching stock market crash approximately three weeks prior to the event. That knowledge allowed him and his clients to make millions on the day of the crash, October 19, 1987. During subsequent years Jim's model has issued several signals that have allowed him to either step aside to avoid steep losses in stocks or to be invested in stocks to take advantage of approaching upswings. Some memorable signals included a warning during the summer of 1998 about approaching equity problems that turned into what we now call the Asian debt defaults. A couple of months later Jim's model issued a new 'buy' signal during a period when most of the world's financial analysts were warning about an imminent stock market crash. In the months following that 'buy' signal the markets went on to make new highs until late 1999, when Jim's model signaled the end of the 'Great Bull Market for Stocks' by issuing a strong sell signal. At that time he recommended that his clients and newsletter subscribers sell all equities and use their funds to buy US 30-year Treasury Bonds. The sell-off in stocks began in earnest a few months later and by the spring of 2000, investors were well on their way to experiencing losses in their portfolios that would amount to several $Trillion dollars. Jim's clients and subscribers were insulated from those stock losses and when it came time to exit those Treasury Bonds they had accumulated gains of over 91%.
Subscribers read his monthly newsletters and follow his investment recommendations in order to protect their investments and stay informed about approaching changes in the US markets and the economy in general.
Jim's philosophy is to avoid investing in individual stocks (to avoid owning the next Enron or Global Crossing), preferring instead a basket of stocks by owning a fund - usually an ETF - that represents a sector or an entire index such as the S&P 500, DJIA, or NASDAQ etc.
During periods when his model remains under the influence of a sell signal for stocks it would not be prudent to follow Wall Street's frequent advice to attempt to play bear market rallies, opting instead to follow Jim's recommendation to step aside or possibly purchase a bear market fund or ETF to capture profits during sell-offs that he identifies.