publisher
Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
and author. Stansberry founded Stansberry Research (previously Stansberry & Associates Investment Research), a private publishing company based in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
, in 1999. He was the author of the monthly newsletter ''Stansberry's Investment Advisory'', which covers investments and investment theory in commodities, real estate, and the stock market. Stansberry was also the creator of the 2011 online video ''The End of America'', in which he predicted the imminent collapse of the United States. In 2002, the SEC brought a case for
securities fraud
Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information.
SEC case
In 2002, Stansberry sent out an email offering to sell for $1,000 the name of a company purportedly about to obtain a contract to dismantle nuclear weapons for Russia. The
Securities and Exchange Commission
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...
sued him in 2003 on this basis and for his newsletters containing "nothing more than baseless speculation and outright lies", accusing him of a "scheme to defraud public investors by disseminating false information in several Internet newsletters." The case went to trial in 2005, and a federal court found that Stansberry had sent out a newsletter to subscribers predicting one company's stock, USEC Inc., would increase by over 100%. Stansberry maintains his information came from a company executive; the court ruled he fabricated the source. The verdict was upheld on appeal. The court rejected Stansberry's
First Amendment
First most commonly refers to:
* First, the ordinal form of the number 1
First or 1st may also refer to:
Acronyms
* Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array
* Far Infrared a ...
defense, saying "Stansberry's conduct undoubtedly involved deliberate fraud, making statements that he knew to be false." In 2007, U.S. District Court Judge Marvin J. Garbis ordered Stansberry and his investment firm, then called "Pirate Investor", to pay $1.5 million in restitution and civil penalties for defrauding "public investors by disseminating false information in several Internet newsletters."
At the time of the trial, many media outlets spoke out due to their views that the case was relevant to First Amendment rights. A group of newspaper publishers urged the Supreme Court to reverse the decision by the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district cou ...
that Stansberry was liable, and signed an ''
amici curiae
An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an ''amicu ...
'' in defense of Stansberry. They claimed that a guilty verdict was "a significant threat to the free dissemination of news about the financial markets and specific investment opportunities" and could lead to a situation that "would be contrary to the spirit of our system of a free and independent press." When the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, a ''New York Times'' editorial column noted that "the implications of the S.E.C.'s action are potentially profound: newspapers or Web sites promising their paying readers stock information that later turns out to be untrue suddenly leave themselves open to fraud charges. Any financial commentator who passes on bad information in good faith could be sued."
Continued career
Stansberry was also previously the editor of the internet financial newsletters Porter Stansberry's Investment Advisory and Porter Stansberry's Put Strategy Report.
He became the first American editor of the Fleet Street Letter, Britain's longest-running financial newsletter.
Rivera case
On May 16, 2006, Stansberry's childhood friend and coworker Rey Rivera went missing and was later found dead inside the Belvedere Hotel. The case was portrayed in the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
Stansberry claims to have made a number of successful financial market predictions. In June 2008, Stansberry claims that he predicted that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would go bankrupt in the next 12 months, as well as going on to say that he positioned his clients to profit by shorting stocks, and that he does not know of any other firm that "more accurately forecasted" or warned of the
2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
. By September 2008, both mortgage companies were placed into government conservatorship.
The End of America
In 2011, Stansberry produced a 77-minute
promotional video
In video production, a promotional video is marketing or advertising:
Arts, media and entertainment
* Promotional recording, an audio or video recording distributed to publicize a recording
* Trailer (promotion), a commercial advertisement for a ...
titled ''The End of America''. Adam Wiederman of
The Motley Fool
The Motley Fool is a private financial and investing advice company based in Alexandria, Virginia. It was founded in July 1993 by co-chairmen and brothers David Gardner and Tom Gardner, and Todd Etter and Erik Rydholm. The company employs over 3 ...
referred to ''The End of America'' as a mixture of valid points and hyperbole.