Richard E. Band is the newsletter world's #1 authority on investing for low-risk growth. His flagship Total Return Portfolio has more than quadrupled in value since its inception in 1990, while taking far less risk than the popular stock market index funds.

A self-proclaimed "New Hampshire skinflint," Richard designs his investment philosophy for safety first. Through good markets and bad, his recommendations for conservative investors have grown 1,100% since 1984. Twice in the late 1990s, Profitable Investing ranked #1 for 5-year risk-adjusted return—according to independent analyst Mark Hulbert. For the past seven years (through December 31, 2006), his Total Return Portfolio has comfortably beaten the Standard & Poor's 500 index, despite a hefty weighting in bonds and cash.

Some say this "thrifty Yankee" is also clairvoyant. In 1982, he was one of the few who foresaw the rebirth of Chrysler. "Chrysler is going to survive to fight another day...pick up a few shares of this common stock." Within 12 months, Chrysler soared 426%.

In 1987, he issued urgent warnings to "cut back your stock holdings" four weeks before Black Monday. In 1998, at the bottom of the August market panic, Richard told his subscribers to buy with fervor. Stocks and funds he recommended then have since risen as much as 150%-500%.

At the height of the dot.com fervor, Richard kept his subscribers in "unpopular" investments like REITs and small-cap stocks. He issued a dramatic warning in March 2000 that Internet stocks would soon collapse, a prediction that came true as the average dot.com plummeted more than 90% over the next two years. Meanwhile, Profitable Investing subscribers banked gains of over 250% in a single REIT and made an average of 60% in several small-cap stocks.

2002 was one of the most difficult investing environments in history, but Richard correctly pinpointed the market's tops and bottoms to help subscribers enter and exit at the most opportune times. Richard successfully took advantage of the market's "sucker" rallies by advising selling at temporary peaks to raise cash. Subscribers were able to rid their portfolios of losers and avoid overpaying for new investments. This is why Profitable Investing is called "Your Financial Guide to All Seasons."

After calling the major stock market bottom in October 2002, Richard has guided investors to four consecutive years of excellent gains. In 2003, while most of Wall Street ignored gold, Richard recommended subscribers buy a single mining stock and a low-risk gold fund. Within five months, gold soared, and Richard's readers locked in gains of over 50%. By year's end, Profitable Investing was up 20% overall and 31% for stock investments alone.

2006 was another blockbuster year for Richard's subscribers, with eight of his recommended stocks soaring 30% or more. Spectacular winners included the iShares China index fund, up 83% for the year; British Telecom, ahead 62%; Hewlett-Packard, up 45%; and Entertainment Properties Trust, which skyrocketed 44% in just six months. Overall, the Total Return Portfolio clocked a sparkling 17.3% gain, as verified by Hulbert.

And the beat goes on in 2007. In the first half of the year, Richard led his readers to pocket an eye-popping 198% return in Alliant Energy, 127% in National Fuel Gas and 98% in India's blue chip ICICI Bank. The ICICI Bank win took only six months, start to finish!

Besides editing Profitable Investing, Richard is a popular speaker at investment conferences. He is the author of Contrary Investing, which was named "Best Investment Book" of 1985, subsequently updated. Barron's called it "one of the most moving and readable presentations on the subject." He has appeared on financial radio and TV and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Forbes and other leading publications. Richard's straightforward style and low-risk "value" approach to wealth building have won numerous awards, including seven in the "Best Financial Advisory" category by the Newsletter and Electronic Publishers Foundation.

Richard Band graduated from Yale University, magna cum laude, and has been a respected investment commentator for almost three decades. Subscribers to Profitable Investing rest easy because they know Richard invests his family's money in many of the same investments he recommends to them, and watches them like a hawk. Married for over 30 years to Enid, his Sunday school sweetheart, Richard drives a 1959 Studebaker, sings in the church choir...and burned his mortgage at age 36. Richard and Enid live in New Hampshire and have three grown daughters plus two grandchildren (with a third on the way!).

To learn more, or to subscribe to Richard Band's Profitable Investing Letter, please click here.

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