From Porter Stansberry in the S&A Digest:

Investing involves a strange and horrible paradox... Most people don't actually want to make money with their investments.

It's true. If people really cared about their investment results, they'd be far more logical, skeptical, and cautious about their investment strategies. What happens instead is people like to gamble - on penny stocks or options. Or they like to do what's popular - even if it's crazy and sure to lose money, like buying Internet stocks at 100 times earnings in 1999 or rental houses in 2005 and 2006, after real estate prices had doubled. If it's a horrible investment idea, you can count on it being wildly popular.

The truth is, the overwhelming majority of people who invest for themselves lose money - lots of it. If you doubt that's true, ask a leading local accountant, the guy who does all of the rich people's taxes in your hometown. He'll tell you the same thing: 70% or more of his clients lose money with stocks, year after year.

Why do people insist on doing foolish things with their money? I have a few theories. They feel guilty about being rich. Or they like the thrill of gambling more than the pressures of wealth. But probably the biggest reason is most people simply don't really care about their money. If they did, they'd make a lot better decisions.

You're probably thinking... "Porter is out of his mind. I care about my money. I work hard to make good investments. That's why I'm reading newsletters and educating myself." And maybe that's true - for you. But I know for a fact most people simply don't care about their money. They're ready to lose it at any time if you can give them the right big, crazy idea.

Just think about how many people have invested in solar power, how many people believe we're running out of oil, or how many people believe in global warming. People will believe anything if it is a big enough lie - especially if you can lose a ton of money believing in it. I know this is absolutely, 100% true because a big part of what I do for a living is marketing investment strategies to investors. And I know, nothing sells better than the biggest, most outlandish story our copywriters can concoct.

My problem is, I truly care about the results our subscribers achieve. I've canceled several profitable newsletters because I came to believe our subscribers were likely to lose money following the strategy. That's why we killed Real Estate Shareholder in 2006, for example. We knew real estate was going to collapse. If we had kept publishing it, I know folks would have kept buying it - all the way to the bottom (which we reached in 2008).

And here's the really crazy part of the whole paradox: We publish truly excellent newsletters that follow proven strategies, written by intelligent and experienced analysts with world-class track records. But we can't sell those letters.

Our two most proven newsletters with the best and most consistent track records are Extreme Value and Inside Strategist. Both follow proven strategies that produce market-beating results (value investing and insider buying). Both are written by talented, experienced analysts (Dan Ferris and Braden Copeland) with more than a decade of investment experience. Both of these newsletters produced positive average results in 2008 - when most investors were down by 50% or more. And both letters have enjoyed outstanding results this year.

I've pointed out these facts to many clients over the years... to no avail. Extreme Value and Inside Strategist have been our worst-selling newsletters for years. Both are more or less charities. Labors of love. I continue to publish them, not because we make much money doing so (we don't) but because these strategies are the best ways I know to make money in stocks. Lots of professionals read these publications. They bring us professional recognition and the respect of our peers... but if all of our letters were this difficult to sell, we'd have gone broke a long time ago.

And so, as we approach the New Year, I would like to encourage you to turn over a new leaf. Make 2010 the year you finally "get serious" with your investing. Whether you do it with our best products or not, I don't really care. But I can promise you this: Had you been reading (and following) Extreme Value and Inside Strategist over the last year, you would be far richer today.

Crux Note: The S&A Digest comes FREE with a subscription to any of S&A's leading advisories...  including Dan Ferris' Extreme Value and Braden Copeland's Inside Strategist. To learn more about Extreme Value, click here. To learn more about Inside Strategist, click here.

More from Porter Stansberry:

Stansberry: How to fix the U.S. dollar

The bankruptcy of the United States is now certain

Porter Stansberry: The best long-term trade in the world today