History
Richard Russell began publishing Dow Theory Letters in 1958, and he has been writing the Letters ever since (never once having skipped a Letter). Dow Theory Letters is the oldest service continuously written by one person in the business.
Russell gained wide recognition via a series of over 30 Dow Theory and technical articles that he wrote for Barron's during the late 1950s through the 1990s. Through Barron's and via word of mouth, he gained a wide following. Russell was the first (in 1960) to recommend gold stocks. He called the top of the 1949-'66 bull market. And almost to the day he called the bottom of the great 1972-'74 bear market, and the beginning of the great bull market which started in December 1974.
The Letters, published every three weeks, cover the US stock market, foreign markets, bonds, precious metals, commodities, economics -- plus Russell's widely-followed comments, observations and stock market philosophy.
In 1989 Russell took over Julian Snyder's well-known advisory service, International Moneyline, a service which Mr. Synder ran from Switzerland. Then, in 1998 Russell took over The Zweig Forecast from famed market analyst, Martin Zweig. Russell has written articles and been quoted in such publications as Bloomberg Magazine, Barron's, Time, Newsweek, Money Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, and others. Subscribers to Dow Theory Letters hail from all 50 states and dozens of overseas counties.
A native New Yorker (born in 1924) Russell has lived through depressions and booms, through good times and bad, through war and peace. He was educated at Rutgers and received his BA at New York University. Russell flew as a combat bombardier on B-25 Mitchell Bombers with the 12th Air Force during World War II.
One of the favorite features of the Letter is Russell's daily Primary Trend Index (PTI), which is a proprietary index which has been included in the Letters since 1971. The PTI has been an amazingly accurate and useful guide to the trend of the market, and it often actually differs with Russell's opinions. But Russell always defers to his PTI. Says Russell, "The PTI is a lot smarter than I am. It's a great ego-deflator, as far as I'm concerned, and I've learned never to fight it."
In 1999 The Dow Theory Letters website was created, and Russell began publishing daily. The website is visited by thousands of his subscribers who tune in to read his daily market comments, observations and philosophy.
Investors Intelligence is the organization that monitors almost ALL market letters and then releases their widely-followed "percentage of bullish or bearish advisory services." This is what Investors Intelligence says about Richard Russell's Dow Theory Letters: "Richard Russell is by far the most interesting writer of all the services we get." Feb. 19, 1999.
In 2012, Russell's oldest child, Daria Russell Doering, came onboard to manage Dow Theory Letters and oversee its rebirth as a collaborative writing effort.
Doering says, “I am grateful for the opportunity to help my father, to carry on his business and extend its reach. He has touched so many lives with his investing wisdom, his curiosity about everything from science to the arts, and his honesty about his emotional and spiritual struggles. People who read his columns tend to respond in kind, and the letters and emails we get never cease to amaze me. Dow Theory Letters will continue to promote the values my father has embodied – conservative but profitable investing, honest and interesting writing, and ethics in the areas of investing and finance.”
Richard Russell passed away on November 21, 2015. His memorial website at Forever Missed has many pages of tributes, news stories, photographs and videos.
