Nate is a serial entrepreneur, part-time investor, and founder of WallStreetZen. He holds a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from UAlberta Law - but don’t hold that against him. He’s passionate about building great software that delights users. He occasionally writes about himself in the 3rd person.
In a Nutshell: What Happened to Reitmeister Total Return?
Reitmeister Total Return, a popular, market-beating stock portfolio run by veteran investor Steve Reitmeister on StockNews.com, officially closed on July 1, 2025. However, if you’re a fan of Reitmeister’s insights, don’t worry. He has launched a new portfolio called Zen Investor, available exclusively on WallStreetZen, where he continues to deliver high-conviction stock picks designed to outperform the market.
What Is Reitmeister Total Return?
Reitmeister Total Return (RTR) was an actively managed portfolio featured on StockNews.com, which launched in 2020 and closed in July 2025.
The service was the brainchild of Steve Reitmeister, a seasoned investor with over 40 years of market experience and a knack for blending growth, value, and momentum into a results-driven strategy.
Reitmeister has since moved on to create the Zen Investor portfolio.
By blending traditional fundamental research with technical analysis, he was able to quickly shift gears between offense and defense. This nimbleness served subscribers well — especially when markets got rocky.
Reitmeister Total Return Performance
Here are a few highlights from RTR’s 5-year duration:
- +31.61% return in 2021, far outpacing the broader market
- +5.13% gain during the COVID crash in March 2020, while the S&P 500 dropped -14.97%
- +6.95% return in the second half of 2022’s bear market
These gains weren’t just lucky.
They were the direct result of Reitmeister’s strategic use of conservative stocks and inverse ETFs, giving subscribers an edge in bear markets when most portfolios suffered.
To further highlight RTR’s successes, let’s take a peek at some of the top winners in the Reitmeister Total Return portfolio starting from inception:
Also worth noting? Reitmeister issued an alert to short Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) in December at $453 … Considering the fact that TSLA is currently trading in the $340s, it was a timely trade that continues to pay off.
Why Did Reitmeister Total Return Close?
The only constant in life is change — Reitmeister Total Return is simply closing because Reitmeister has shifted gears.
After years of running StockNews.com and spearheading RTR, Steve sold his stake in the company and transitioned out of his leadership role. But he didn’t hang up his hat.
Currently acting as Editor-in-Chief of WallStreetZen, Reitmeister has helped launch the Zen Ratings system and manages the market-beating Zen Investor portfolio.
Introducing Zen Investor
Reitmeister now manages Zen Investor, a curated stock-picking newsletter offered exclusively through WallStreetZen.
Zen Investor blends deep quantitative research with seasoned human judgment to deliver a polished, low-effort yet powerful investment strategy.
Here are some key features of the service:
- A hand‑picked portfolio of 20–30 long-term stocks, selected through a proprietary 4-step process using WallStreetZen tools
- Stocks chosen meet strict criteria: top-quartile analyst ratings, “A”-grade from the Zen Ratings quant model (which has delivered ~+32.5% annualized returns), and a rigorous 38-point due‑diligence check
- Actionable insights, including why each stock was chosen, an ongoing trading plan, and clear buy/hold/sell signals
- Member benefits like monthly commentary, portfolio updates, sell alerts, and exclusive webinars
How Zen Investor Works
Unlike Reitmeister Total Return, this service does not focus on ETFs or hedging, but instead focuses on stocks with the strongest potential to deliver market-beating returns; as part of this vetting process, Reitmeister uses the proprietary Zen Ratings system.
This quant ratings system distills 115 factors proven to drive stock growth into an easy-to-read letter score, with additional Component Grades so you can see specific areas of strength or weakness. For instance, here’s the Zen Rating and Component Grades for a recent Stock of the Week feature, Radware (NASDAQ: RDWR):
As you may have noticed above, the ratings system includes an AI Factor. It employs machine learning using a Neural Network trained on 20+ years of fundamental and technical data — or in layman’s terms, the tech can detect patterns beyond human capability. That means you get a deeper view of not only past performance but potential for future price movements.
And it’s adaptable. Thanks to advanced cross-validation that adjusts for things like market volatility rather than just past market trends, the artificial intelligence avoids overfitting — ensuring it adapts to the market today and in the future.
Related Reading: How Can AI Help My Stock Investing?
Already, the Zen Investor portfolio has seen some impressive wins, such as Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC), which was recommended on 10/2/2024 and is currently up over 60%:
Zen Investor offers an accessible and uncomplicated entry point for investors at all levels — and its price point is reasonable too.
The standard price for Zen Investor is $99 per year. However, for a limited time, you can get an introductory “Charter Member” offer: $79 per year.
Who is Steve Reitmeister?
Steve Reitmeister’s 40+ investing career, which has spanned major market cycles including the dot-com bust, the 2008 Financial Crisis, and the 2020 Covid crash.
Known for staying one step ahead when the market gets rough, Reitmeister’s signature strategy seamlessly blends traditional due diligence, razor-sharp market instincts, and cutting-edge technology. His singular style has landed him features on Yahoo Finance, CNBC, CNNMoney, Seeking Alpha, Investor’s Business Daily, and MarketWatch.
Prior to developing Reitmeister Total Return, he spent nearly two decades as Executive Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at Zacks.com, where he led a transformation that grew site revenue 20‑fold and pioneered several popular stock-picking newsletters.
Reitmeister also enjoyed a stint as Chief Product Officer at TipRanks, where he accelerated sales by 55 % and helped launch the retail-facing TipRanks.com.
For several years, he served as CEO of StockNews.com, where he worked to integrate it with Magnifi by TIFIN to leverage AI and alternative data to help everyday investors.
After selling his portion of the company, Reitmeister maintained a consultant position for a pre-determined period of time; with that period coming to a close, Reitmeister is moving on from Reitmeister Total Return.
The journey isn’t over yet.
Continuing his commitment to helping everyday investors maximize returns, Reitmeister has established the Zen Investor portfolio, offered exclusively through WallStreetZen.
Final Word:
Reitmeister Total Return may have closed, but Steve Reitmeister’s market insights live on. With Zen Investor, he’s offering a continuation of his proven strategy — one that employs his decades of real-life experience and cutting-edge research tools.
If you’re looking for a smart, well-rounded approach at an accessible price point, Zen Investor is where Reitmeister’s best ideas live now.
