Nate Pile

Nate Pile is a top-performing editor of a stock and options newsletter called Nate's Notes.

Mr. Pile's stock recommendations are independently tracked and rated for actual profitability by The Hulbert Financial Digest - the de facto standard for gauging the real performance records of more than 130 financial newsletters.

According to Hulbert rankings, Nate's Notes has consistently appeared in the Top 5 for real returns for the last five years, held the #1 ranking for the 12-month period ending August 31, 2005, and was ranked #1 over the prior 5-year period for a portion of 2007 (currently ranked #3 over the past five years with an annualized return of 32.5% (HFD - May 2008)).

If an investor wants to maximize their chances of making strong (but realistic) returns following an unbiased analyst who always thinks for himself rather than following the herd on Wall Street, the ultimate independent evidence says Nate's Notes is a great way to go.

Way back in 1988, when he was a sophomore who had recently left the Electrical Engineering / Computer Science program at U.C. Berkeley to become "undeclared," Mr. Pile's roommate started getting phone calls every morning at 6:30 am.

Though the early morning wake up calls were annoying at first, Mr. Pile become more intrigued when he learned it was actually an opening bell call from a day-trading pro who hailed from Mr. Pile's hometown of Healdsburg, California! His college roommate was heeding the telephone advice to actively trade the markets every day, and Mr. Pile wanted to know more!

Mr. Pile had always loved puzzles, and mathematical puzzles really tickled a personal passion. As he began to follow his roommate's stocks in the paper, Mr. Pile soon realized he was perhaps looking at one of the biggest puzzles he had ever seen… and he was soon passionately learning all he could about the stock market!

During his last three years at Berkeley, Mr. Pile earned his degree in Mathematics while working 20-30 hours per week with legendary investor and newsletter publisher Jim McCamant (Founder and still Editor-at-large of The Medical Technology Stock Letter).

Mr. Pile was given increasing levels of responsibility in the office as time went by, and when he finished his degree at Cal, he was named Associate Editor of a now defunct sister publication of MTSL called The AgBiotech Stock Letter.

The in-depth, nitty-gritty experience of providing individual investors with unbiased, conflict-of-interest-free advice aimed at outperforming the markets while working with McCamant struck a solid chord within Pile. In a climactic moment, what had previously been diverse interests suddenly converged.

His mathematics mastery… his passion for one of the greatest puzzles ever created by man… his evolving knowledge of the fine detail variables that distinguish top-performing stock pickers from their less successful peers… all found a calling. The outlet could be monetized and, as a result, it offered him the potential to let this passion become a full-time pursuit.

Says Nate, "I can't tell you how excited I was when I finally realized that this game into which I continued to dive deeper and deeper - and in which I was beginning to make key realizations that still serve my subscribers even today - could actually become a career option."

The Creation of Nate's Notes

Shortly after leaving McCamant's operation to spread his wings with a small boutique investment banking firm in San Francisco, Mr. Pile began to formulate plans to start his own newsletter… and Nate's Notes was born in February 1995.

Nate was determined to pour every nuance of his background into the project, with the goal of producing a newsletter that would be easy to follow and yield above-average results for its readers.

However, instead of hyping his performance like most of the others in the space, he wanted to let his bona-fide results speak for themselves over time. After all, at the end of the day, what subscribers really want is profitable growth that outperforms the generic act of simply parking money in an index fund.

Given his long-term approach to investing, a subscriber almost certainly will not be able to make 10,000% in four weeks following Nate's advice. However, independently-tracked past performance does prove that it is possible to significantly outperform the index funds when following the portfolios contained in Nate's Notes.

If you would like to risk your investment dollars by following the advice of someone promoting ridiculous returns over short periods of time, more power to you. On the other hand, if you would like to put your dollars to work following someone with a proven history of actual performance, give Nate's Notes a try!

Today, Nate's Notes is continuing to build its track record around the remarkable philosophy and approach to investing developed (and continually refined) by Nate Pile.

Nate's Accomplishments

* Have held the #1 spot on Hulbert's list on numerous occasions, currently ranked #3 for prior 5-year period (annualized return of 32.5%)
* recognized in Feb '06 Barron's article
* has been following the stock market for 20 years
* publishing Nate's Notes for over 13 years
* started in the Electrical Engineering/Computer Science (EECS) program at UC Berkeley, finished with a degree in Mathematics
* worked as an analyst in the corporate finance division of an investment banking firm in San Francisco
* earned license to become a Registered Investment Advisor in California in 2001
* serves as the advisor to Elensius Capital, LP
* earned California Teaching Credential and started teaching mathematics in 1997, including 2 years at the prestigious Sonoma Country Day School

When he is not living and breathing the stock market, Nate has a variety of other interesting hobbies that fill up his time.  He is an avid jogger and plays disc golf on a regular basis.  Corals are his latest fascination, and he is passionate about the four saltwater reef tanks he maintains in his home.  

In addition, he also enjoys gardening, astronomy, and home wine making.  He also occasionally finds time to play his clarinet and banjo (though never simultaneously!), and he is one of just a handful of people who have ever achieved the rank of Full Mystic in the massive multiplayer online game Clan Lord.