I wanted to take some time today to address a few questions that have been asked of me over the past 3 weeks since we launched the paid version of Babylon Burns.
Editor's note (October 2026): the $299 launch offer described here closed on 7 September 2026, and everyone who joined at $299 keeps that price on renewal. Membership is now $399 a year or $100 a month, and every member, monthly or annual, gets the web app and all its features.
So today I wanted to address some of the questions which have been asked the most often.
What does a subscription to Babylon Burns include?
You get all my research on finding alpha in these markets where we have no choice but to do things differently in the past. We’re on an unavoidable route to global fracture and devaluation of currencies, and relying on a 60/40 portfolio or index investing is likely going to lead to subpar results from here.
Every member also gets the web application we built, so you can see the portfolio live, receive email alerts for trades, and download the tear sheet of the portfolio at the end of each month.
Below is a preview of the August one:
I read the free posts. Why pay?
I give some stuff away for free, but all of my picks, the position sizing, the trade timing, the stop losses, the entries and exits, are for paid members only.
One good trade could literally pay for the whole subscription many times over.
Is this a tip sheet?
No a tip sheet is two words: a ticker, and buy/sell.
This is global equity research + macro all wrapped into a model portfolio where you can see how I size, trade, and manage risk in real time.
What’s the track record?
The book is three weeks old, I think we’d be getting ahead of ourselves.
My personal track record is that the 3 portfolios I’ve managed at the Dividend Freedom Tribe have beaten the S&P 500 despite being invested in a diversified portfolio of conservative dividend stocks.
I was CIO of Havelet Bay Capital, a macro hedge fund.
I believe we will do quite well with Babylon Burns, even if I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to promise anything of the sort.
Who are you?
Sam Kovacs, born in the UK, grew up in Luxembourg and France, have lived in Canada, Indonesia, and the UAE, which is currently home. I am somewhat of a perpetual traveller spending a lot of my time between Cape Town, Bali, HK, Morocco and Europe.
I got a BBA at HEC Montreal, and a Masters of Economics at Sciences Po Paris. I never had a proper “job”, I launched my first business out of my student flat and never looked back.
What does a membership buy?
You can expect research to go out every week covering either stock picks, a macro dossier, or portfolio updates. I will drip content at the cadence needed to follow the strategy.
Why pick annual instead of monthly?
Monthly is $100 and annual is $399. Both get the web app and everything in it. Annual costs a third of what twelve monthly payments would, because these letters aren’t built to be followed month to month.
Why is the price going up?
$399 is the price of the newsletter.
$299 was the launch offer, which ran from 15 August through Labor Day so the people who backed the publication before it had a record got in under the sticker price.
Everyone who joined at $299 renews at $299. Everyone who joined after that pays $399.
What if it’s not for me?
Substack refunds in full within seven days. Read the archive, open the web app, decide.
I’m retired and my first priority is not losing money.
That is also my approach to investing: don’t lose money. However this is an equity investing strategy and equities carry risk and come with no guarantees.
I’m not in the US.
Neither am I. The portfolio currently holds NYSE, NASDAQ, TSX, TSX Venture, AIM, and OTC listings. Interactive Brokers covers all of them from almost anywhere in the world. This is a global equity strategy. It currently has a US bias, but that could change very fast.
How much time does it take?
The time it takes you to read a weekly report, the odd trade alert, and chose whether you’re going to act on it.
Do you own everything you write about?
Yes. Entries and exits go into the web app the day they happen. I cook what I eat and eat what I cook.
What happens when you’re wrong?
I sell and move on.
Is this investment advice?
No. It’s my portfolio, my scenarios, and my exits, published as I make them.
How many people are in?
Just over 500 paid members since August 15.
As Babylon burns, we light the cigars.
So if you’re convinced by the depth and breadth of my research and want to be part of this community, click through below and join.
