A while back fool.com put up another one of their sales pitches entitled "Don't try to beat the market". I checked it out. With a title like that how could I not?

What you get, in a nutshell, is a come-on for Fool's Hidden Gems newsletter. The pitch goes something like this:

1. You can beat your brains out and use up all your time picking stocks. It's a brutally difficult way to beat the market or...
2. You can buy an index fund and get the same returns as the market or...
3. You can go the smart route and let someone else recommend which stocks for you to buy

The Fool's Hidden Gems is their small-cap value stocks newsletter service. If you follow the link at the end of the "article" you'll find a very long sales pitch for Hidden Gems. You'll read several dreamy stories about fabulous returns, whetting your appetite for your first 100-bagger.

The close - to save you the trouble of scrolling all the way to the end - is an "order now" button for either a 1 year subscription for $199 or a 30-day free trial. Now, before you go rushing off for the free trial, be advised you'll need to enter your credit card information for that too. If you don't cancel after the first 30 days (and surely you won't, will you?) your credit card will be automatically charged.

Tempting though it is, I always pass on these offers. Call it fear of the unknown. I have yet to talk to anyone who has profited consistently from an investment newsletter.

Have you? Do you know of anyone who has? I'd be curious to hear what others' experience has been.

Link to Don't try to beat the market