From Dustin Woodard,
Your Guide to Mutual Funds.
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Many do-it-yourself mutual fund investors use newslettersto help guide them through investing waters, but how are they suppose to decide which one(s) to use with the flood of newsletters out there?

To make it even worse, many newsletter publishers are able to hide behind 1st amendment rights, which means they can get away with misstating their returns (this brings back memories of the Beardstown Ladies).

Don't you fear, fellow mutual fund investors... there is a way! The Hulbert Financial Digestprovides objective ratings of over 160 newsletters and the 500 portfolios they recommend. I have personally dealt with the Hulbert Financial Digest and must say that they are a truly respectable organization. They sign up for the newsletters anonymously and track each portfolio on a daily basis. They provide in-depth analysis for each newsletter and provide risk-adjusted returns to help investors sort out which newsletter is doing a better job.

The Hulbert Financial Digestdoes charge fees for their reports, but it is fairly inexpensive considering the impact a poorly chosen newsletter can have on your returns. Free options you have include:

• Checking to see if the newsletter publisher is a Registered Investment Advisor. You can bet that the SEC won't allow any false advertising.
  
• Asking the publisher how long the newsletter has been in circulation.Stay away from the newbies.
  
• Asking the publisher how large the circulation is.Be skeptical of small circulations (must not work) and of the large circulations (was it just marketing?).
  
• Listening to your intuition.If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

My final advice:Always research what you are getting into, or else you may find yourself investing with the next Wade Cook!