Stephen Leeb: 20,000 subs in nine months.

So much for anemic direct mail response. Launched last September, The Complete Investor reached a subscription mark of 20,000 this month, editor-publisher Stephen Leeb, Ph.D. told NL/NL. He is using traditional direct marketing drawing on traditional mailing lists from other investment advisory publications. His marketing consultant told us, "It's almost like the good old days."

The $99/year monthly is a "diversified newsletter concentrating on general investment advice," Leeb said. It includes "an integrated suite of portfolios" in every issue, including Big Cap Growth, Growth and Income, and Speculative Investing (called Fast Track).

A "Downmarket Strategy Option" and a Question Center enable subscribers to have their specific investment questions answered over the telephone. Available only in print, The Complete Investor is also complemented by full internet support (www.completeinvestor.com). If a stock declines

five percent, for example, an "Instant Alert" is immediately e-mailed to subscribers, Leeb said.

The young newsletter has already won an award for editorial excellence.

Leeb edited Personal Finance for more than 13 years and, until recently wrote Leeb's Index Option Alert, which was published by Allie Ash's KCI Communications Inc.

Asked if his background was Wall Street or journalism or both, Leeb said, "Academia." Note this interesting academic trifecta: a bachelor's from the Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania, a master's in mathematics, and a doctorate in psychology.

"Twenty-thousand subscribers is good," Leeb said, but he is looking at a much higher figure. Future marketing will include newspaper space ads. Leeb, the author of The Oil Factor, is also getting generous media play, in print and on television.

TCI Enterprises, 500 Fifth Ave., 57th Floor, New York, NY 10110, 212-653-1717, www.completeinvestor.com