Bonner Private Research Review – Bill Bonner Scam?

Bill Bonner is back with a new investing service called Bonner Private Research.

You can either get it from Stansberry Research or from Substack.

Before buying I'm sure you want to know if it's a scam or not..

That's what this review will answer.

Below you'll find everything you need to know about this product including background information, price to join and you'll see any red flags that I can find.

You'll know if Bonner Private Research is worth it by the time you're done reading.

Let's get started!

Bill Bonner - The Man Behind Agora

Before we get into the (very) bad about Bonner I do want to mention there's a lot I agree with him about.

Bonner is a big time Libertarian and he's knowledgeable about the economy.

In terms of his political opinion and ideas about the federal government I agree with him a lot.

But.. there's way more to Bill Bonner than his political insights.

He built a horrible company called Agora that was predatory and used some of the most underhanded sales tactics I have ever seen.

Here's a few things to know about Agora.

Fined Millions For Defrauding Seniors

One of the things that made Agora so especially bad is who they were targeting.

Mainly it was elderly people.

Agora was known to trick senior citizens into spending thousands of dollars for products they didn't need.

For example, a couple years ago Agora was fined millions for defrauding elderly people with health and finance scams:

Basically they promised to cure older people's diabetes without exercise or change in diet.

Additionally, they promised to give people access to a secret government program where they could get thousands a month for free, which was a lie.

You'd think something like this would force a change but it hasn't.

Truth In Advertising has proven that Agora didn't change a thing after getting fined:

At its peak Agora was making $500 million per year.

So they'll happily pay $2 million fines in order to market the way they do.

Bill Has Retired And Agora is Crumbling

In the last few years Bill Bonner has stepped back from controlling Agora and has entered into semi-retirement.

He still runs massive vineyards in Argentina and property around the world, like this French chateau called Chateau de Courtomer:

Apparently Bonner is worth nearly a billion dollars!

However, it's not from leading Agora anymore.

He's stepped back from the empire he once ruled over.

And Agora isn't the company now that it was five years ago.

Publishers have started to flee and most are now under the MarketWise umbrella (a publicly traded company that owns dozens of investing publishers).

It's basically Agora 2.0

I searched through some files and saw MarketWise pays Bonner around $50,000 a month as an editor.

When you buy from Stansberry Research (publisher owned by MarketWise) Bonner's Private Research is thrown in for free (at least a version of the service)

But it does seem like Bonner is completely out of leadership when it comes to MarketWise.

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Stansberry Research Vs. Substack Version

Before we cover what is being offered by Bonner Private Research I just want to talk about the difference between the Stansberry version and Substack version.

When you buy certain newsletters from Stansberry Research they throw in Bonner Private Research for free.

According to Stansberry Bonner no longer wants the stress of running a newsletter.

He just wants to write and have someone else get his writing out for him.

So Stansberry has agreed to do that for their long time friend (and former owner) Bill.

However, this doesn't seem to be the full service.

It seems you get the monthly newsletter and some special reports.

But the daily updates and weekly updates seem to be missing.

So keep that in mind if you're considering this newsletter.

What Is Bonner Private Research Offering?

There's a few different aspects to Bonner Private Research.

Here's everything that you get:

Bill Bonner's Musings

This product has Bill's name on it but Bill probably contributes the least to Bonner Private Research.

There's other authors that do most of the heavy lifting.

However, Bill does seem to chime in from time to time with musings and blog posts.

His latest post lamented race based policies of the Biden Administration.

Additionally, he wrote about a personal anecdote about lithium mining.

And how it's harder than people think to start a lithium mining operation.

Bonner is hinting that the switch to battery will be slower than people think and slower than the media is letting on.

Weekly Update

The weekly updates are more long form insights into the market and economy.

These are mostly handled by Dan Demming and Tom Dyson.

There's also a quarterly update that seems to be run by Bonner himself.

That only goes out four times a year and is pretty in depth.

Monthly Report

The monthly report is where you'll get investment ideas.

These reports are longer than the weekly update and will cover the market and investing news.

Special Reports

This is the last major feature of Bonner Private Research.

You'll get a series of very in depth reports that cover investment ideas and trends.

For example, one of the most recent ones was written by Bill Bonner and is titled "The Day America Dies."

It's over 100 pages:

This is a report that explains what American's should do as inflation rises and America transforms into a new and worst country.

Like I said earlier Bill is an interesting guy and has good insights about the market, economy and country.

Bonner Private Research FAQ's

Still have some questions about Bonner Private Research?

Here's answers to any remaining questions you might have:

1) How Much Does Bonner Private Research Cost?

The price is either $39 per month or $395 per year.

This isn't a bad price for what you're getting and is a pretty standard price.

The good thing is there's no upsells to this newsletter.

It seems Bill has stepped away from the intense marketing he used at Agora.

Now it kind of seems he just wants an outlet for his investing ideas.

2) Is There A Refund Policy?

I don't think there is.

I looked and couldn't find anything about one.

If you want to sign up and this scares you just go for the monthly to see if it's right for you.

This way you won't lose too much if you're not happy.

3) What Is The Investing Strategy?

Bonner is a well known libertarian and is friends with people like Ron Paul.

This means a major theme of this service will be gold and silver investments.

The strategy is explained as following: 35% cash and 35% physical gold and silver, and 30% stocks.

In terms of stocks this service recommends safe income investments.

So established dividend paying stocks will be what you want to invest in.

4) Is Bill Bonner Legit?

I guess there's two ways to look at this.

In one aspect Bill built an extremely unethical and predatory company.

Bonner is probably the person most responsible for the current state of investing newsletters and the stock picking industry.

The crazy marketing, the insane return promises, the big upsells.. that's all things Agora took to the next level.

So I personally don't like Bill for his effect on investing and the industry as a whole.

However, he's a good businessman and is wildly successful.

Bill is experienced in global affairs, runs businesses around the world and is very knowledgeable.

Bonner Private Research is a way more scaled back version of his previous investing services.

There's no insane marketing or upsells or promises of being rich off of a secret stock pick.

This is a much more digestible Bill Bonner product and is a lot of ways more legit than his previous ones.

5) Are There Similar Newsletters?

Yes, there's many similar newsletters out there.

Some include:

• The Distortion Report
• Stansberry Investment Advisory
• TradeStops
• Retirement Watch
• Intelligent Income Investor
• The Opportunistic Trader
• Jeff Clark Trader
• Behind The Markets
• The Oxford Income Letter
• Power Gauge Report
• Chaikin Analytics
• The Ferris Report
• Extreme Value

A lot of these products were owned by Bill and Agora in the past.

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Bonner Private Research Conclusion

I'm a little torn about this one.

In the past I've rarely recommended Agora newsletters because of the baggage.

I knew if you bought you'd be treated like a cow to be milked dry.

Agora would be trying to get thousands from you with the most deceptive marketing imaginable.

I've only recommended a few of the hundred or so Agora newsletters I've come across and those newsletters were exceptional.

However, there were newsletters from Agora I would have recommended if they were independent.. but because they were Agora I didn't recommend them.

Bonner Private Research comes from Mr. Agora himself.

However, this isn't sold in the same way as Bonner's previous services.

The newsletter is laid back and there's no sensationalist marketing.

There's no stock presentations teasing 40,000% gains or other ridiculous promises.

I think Bill is a person worth listening to because he has a ton of experience.

And now that he's not nickel and diming customers his newsletter is more attractive then ever.

But Bill isn't too involved in Bonner Private Research.

He writes some blog posts and does quarterly updates but most of the work is done by two other gentleman.

In the end the recommendations are simple and you don't really need to subscribe to this newsletter to learn them.

Have some cash, stack gold and silver and invest in some safe dividends.

You'd only sign up if you wanted the daily and weekly updates.

There's plenty of free alternatives to find these kind of insights.

So I'd just skip over Bonner Private Investment.

Here's A Better Opportunity

I'd pass on Bonner Private Research.

The good news is there's better stock picking services out there.

I've personally reviewed 100+ of them..

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