Empire Financial Research Review – Scam Or Legit?

Empire Financial Research is an investing publisher run by Whitney Tilson.

There's a bunch of products and services available - are they legit or a scam?

We'll get to the bottom of this question in this review.

Additionally, we'll look at some background information about Empire Financial Research, Whitney Tilson and more.

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

Let's get started!

3 Things To Know About Empire Financial Research

Before we get into what Empire Financial Research is offering let's take a look at some important background information.

Here's everything you should know about Empire Financial Research.

1) Whitney Tilson Is A Failed Hedge Fund Manager

The creator of Empire Financial Research is a guy named Whitney Tilson.

Whitney was a successful hedge fund manager for a number of years and pretty well known on Wall Street.

However, after the recession in 2008 he really couldn't find his grove again.

Whitney eventually shut his company Kase Capital down after years of underperforming the market.

After this Whitney turned to stock picking for retail investors.

This is when Empire Financial Research was born.

The flagship product at Empire Financial Research is Empire Stock Investor and since inception is underperforming the market.

So it looks like Whitney's luck hasn't quite turned around yet.

2) Empire Financial Research Is NOT Independent

Another important thing to note about this publisher is it is not independently owned by Whitney or anyone else.

Instead it's part of a larger network and owned by a company called Marketwise.

Marketwise is a publicly traded company and there's a dozen or so publishers under their umbrella.

This includes popular ones like Stansberry, Brownstone, Palm Beach Confidential, Rogue Economics, InvestorPlace and more.

This is a BIG problem for a lot of reasons.

Firstly, all of these publishers cross promote each other's products.

For example, Whitney promotes products from Palm Beach Confidential in his emails.

Why is this a problem?

Palm Beach Confidential is run by a fraudster named Teeka Tiwari who is literally banned from Wall Street.

Another publisher you'll get promoted is InvestorPlace. 

InvestorPlace was founded and heavily features a guy named Louis Navellier who was fined $30 million for defrauding investors.

Many of the products from these people cost thousands as well.

I personally wouldn't want to give any of these guys my money.

3) Is Whitney Getting Paid To Promote Stocks?

One thing that I find interesting is earlier this year Whitney started promoting a company called Ginkgo Bioworks as a $4 inflation stock.

Whitney calls this company a 10/10 and went as far as to say he'd "bet his wife's retirement fund on this stock."

What's weird is other people in the Marketwise umbrella are also pitching this stock.

For example, Luke Lango is calling Ginkgo Bioworks "the next Microsoft."

And just recently Joel Litman is calling Gingko Bioworks one of his favorite "synbio" stock picks in his newsletter Hidden Alpha.

This concerns me because a successful hedge fund called Scorpion Capital calls Ginkgo Bioworks one of the biggest scams in American History:

This is all part of a 175 report they put out that claims all revenue is basically made up and that they don't have any products to actually sell.

They even claim Ginkgo Bioworks is partnering up with different hedge funds to "pimp" the stock.

Since shorting the stock Ginkgo has fallen 74%. 

I personally think it's more than a coincidence that 3 people from Marktewise are pushing this stock all at the same time.

It wouldn't surprise me if they were compensated to market this company. 

Recommended: The Best Place To Get Stock Picks

Stock Picking Performance

The most important thing about stocking picking newsletters is if they recommend good stocks.

Here's a look at some stock picks from Empire Financial Research and how they've performed since being recommended.

CRISPR Therapeutics, Ginkgo Bioworks and PG&E Corp In April 2022

This stock presentation mainly focused on Ginkgo Bioworks which is the company we just covered in the last section.

Additionally, Whitney was teasing two other companies called CRISPR Therapeutics and PG&E Corp.

Here's how the stocks have performed starting with CRISPR Therapeutics:

This is a Biotech company that other Marketwise publishers have pushed in the past.

The stock has only been recommended for 4 months now but it's up overall.

Next we have Ginkgo Bioworks:

Ginkgo Bioworks is another biotech company that makes synthetic cells that'll be used to fight disease and produce food.. supposedly.

The stock is down pretty big since being recommended 4 months.

Remember, this is a company that Whitney called a 10/10 and that he would bet his wife's retirement fund on!

Lastly we have PG&E:

This is an energy company in California that has gotten some pretty bad press in the past.

It's currently down slightly overall.

All three of these stocks are too early to judge, though.

5 Metaverse Stocks In January 2022

In the beginning of the year Whitney recommended five "secret" metaverse stocks.

These stocks are actually all well known and are:

• Meta
• Universal Music Group
• NVIDIA
• Ethereum
• Electronics Arts.

Here's how each have performed since being recommended, starting with Meta:

Meta is Facebook and the stock absolutely plummeted after Whitney recommended it.

2022 has been a bad year for tech stocks.

Next up we have Universal Music Group:

A lot of people like this stock but it is down this year.

Next we have NVIDIA:

NVIDIA makes computer chips and was recently in the news because of a giant chip bill in America.

This company is one of the biggest in the world but is down a pretty good amount since January.

Next is Ethereum:

Ethereum is the second biggest crypto behind Bitcoin.

Tech stocks aren't the only asset struggling in 2022, though.

Crypto crashed pretty hard and so has Ethereum.

Lastly, we have Electronics Arts:

Electronic Arts is a gaming studio and the stock has been pretty steady so far in 2022.

It is down, though, just like every other stock recommendation in this presentation.

Aptiv And NXP Semiconductor In April 2020

In April 2020 pitched a couple stocks as "TAAS" picks.

TAAS stands for transportation as a service.

This means in the future Whitney believes self driving cars will earn you money as you work.

Basically, they'll just be out acting as a taxi.

Two stocks that were recommended in this pitch were Aptiv and NXP Semiconductor.

Here's how each as performed:

Aptiv makes technology for automobiles and this stock has done well - it nearly tripled at one point.

Even after a pretty big drop it's still up.

Next we have NXP Semiconductor:

This is another stock that tripled and the price is still double what Whtiney recommended at.

This was a solid stock presentation for Whitney. 

Voyager Digital In May 2021

Back in May 2021 Whitney called Voyager Digital "the most obvious 10X opportunity I've seen."

This company was like a Robinhood of crypto and was falling in price when Whitney recommended it.

Whitney still loved it, though.

Here's how it's performed:

The stock absolutely tanked during the crypto crash and the company went bankrupt.

This is why you never believe the hype of a stock picker without doing your own research.

They can get things MONUMENTALLY wrong and cost you a lot of money.

Recommended: The Best Place To Get Stock Picks

What Is Empire Financial Research Offering?

Empire Financial Research offers a bunch of different newsletters and investing services.

Here's an overview of what you can find there:

Empire Stock Investor ($49 Per Year)

Empire Stock Investor is the flagship newsletter at Empire Financial Research and is headed by Whitney.

This is probably the newsletter that you were considering and is why you're on my review right now.

This newsletter works like every other investing newsletter..

You get a monthly issue with new stock picks, a model portfolio, special reports, etc.

Additionally, the stock picks will be large cap and you're expected to hold the stocks for 3 to 5 years.

This is a standard and safe investing style.

Empire Breakthrough Investor ($3000 Per Year)

This newsletter is one of many upsells you'll receive once you get into the Empire Financial Research sales funnel.

Breakthrough Investor is run by Enrique Abeyta and focuses on SPAC, IPO and Pre-IPO investments.

This is an extremely long term investing style and you'll be holding some of these investments for a decade.

Additionally, it's recommended you have $10,000 to start.

Empire Elite Growth ($3000 Per Year)

Empire Elite Growth is basically a supplement to Empire Stock Investor.. except much more expensive.

I say supplement because this newsletter focuses on small and mid size stocks where Empire Stock Investor focuses on large cap stocks.

This is a very long holding service as well and you can expect to hold some of these investments for over a decade.

Empire Elite Options ($3000 Per Year) 

This service is for more active traders and people looking to get returns much quicker than the other services offered.

You will get option alerts twice a month and you'll buy and sell your positions in under a few months, sometimes a few weeks.

Empire Elite Trader ($69 Per Month)

This is another product that's headed by Enrique Abeyta.

Empire Elite Trader is a swing trading service that focuses on mid to large cap stocks.

You will get a trade alert every Wednesday and you will hold your positions from a few days to a few months.

Empire Investment Report ($3000 Per Year)

This is another small and mid size cap newsletter.

The only real different between this service and the previous one that focuses on smaller stocks is Empire Investment Report's holding period is shorter.

This service recommends holding stocks for two to three years.

Herb Greenberg's Investment Opportunities ($3000 Per Year)

The last investing newsletter is run by Herb Greenberg.

This newsletter focuses on industrial services and consumer and health stocks.

Additionally, Herb likes to recommend SPAC mergers.

The holding period is between two to five years.

Empire Financial Research FAQ's

Still have some questions about this newsletter?

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

1) Are The Prices At Empire Financial Research Fair?

The prices are identical to every other Marketwise publisher and most investing publishers in general.

There's certain marketing principles that Empire Financial Research follows that are well known in the industry.

The first is people who buy from you once are more likely to buy from you again.

And the second is people won't buy something that costs thousands unless they've already boughten from you.

The prices at Empire Financial Research make sense when you consider these factors.

Empire Stock Investor is the bait that get you into the sales funnel.

Once you're in you'll be bombarded with the more expensive products.

The more expensive products won't produce better results either.

The best product at this publisher is probably Empire Stock Investor.

2) Is There A Refund Policy?

Empire Financial Research does what every other Marketwise publisher does.. they offer a money back guarantee on the cheap newsletter (Empire Stock Investor) but not the more expensive services.

Instead you only get a credit refund meaning you can use the money on the other products at Empire Financial Research.

3) Is Whitney Tilson Legit?

I think he is legit.

He spent many years as a well known and successful hedge fund manager.

So he knows the game well.

However, he has been on quite a losing streak now - basically a decade.

This is a time when people were making a lot of money and stocks were getting massive returns as well.

Some of his current stock picks do well but others have been really bad.

4) Who Is Empire Financial Research For?

They pretty much have services for anyone.

If you want to just buy stocks and hold them for years there's products for you.

If you want to make faster returns by swing trading there's services for you as well.

The only people that should 100% avoid are day traders and people who want to invest in stocks outside America - they only recommend American stocks.

Recommended: The Best Place To Get Stock Picks

Empire Financial Research Conclusion

Empire Financial Research is just your typical investing publisher.

I wish more of these guys would get creative with their marketing or the way they sell their products.

But I guess this sales system has been developed for 20+ years and they know how to get people to buy.

Regardless there's nothing new at Empire Financial Research that you couldn't find in a dozen other places.

Plus Whitney is in a dry spell when it comes to beating the market.

If he does start picking market beating winners I'll make sure to update this review.

Until then I'd avoid.

Here's A Better Opportunity

I'd pass on Empire Financial Research for now.

The good news is there's still a lot of good places to get stock picks.

I've reviewed all the best places to get good stock ideas.

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