Boring Portfolio Report
Friday, November 22, 1996

by Greg Markus (MF Boring)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Nov. 22) -- A rip-roaring Friday to finish a rip-roaring week. The Dow surged over 50 points (+0.83%) to close at 6472. The S&P 500 rose 6 (+0.80%) and the Nasdaq composite zoomed 16 (+1.28%), thanks to a buying riot in the chip equipment sector. All three stock indices set new highs. Big board volume was well over a half-billion shares, while the Nasdaq had over 650 million shares zip through the wires.

For the week, the Naz rose just under one percent. The S&P, a percent and a half. And the Dow, just under two percent. The Boring Portfolio topped them all with a 2.24% gain, including Friday's 1.26% advance.

On Friday, six Boring stocks rose, while Prime Medical held steady and Borders booked a quarter-point decline. For the week, seven of the eight holdings gained ground, with only Borders closing lower -- although it's still easily the Borefolio's current top stock, with a 57% gain in less than 9 months.

Friday was the day for technology stocks to strut their stuff, and the three Boring techs complied. Solectron jumped $1 1/2 to equal its all-time high of $59 7/8. Cisco sprang ahead $1 5/8 to $67 1/2 (bid), a new high. And the Borefolio's newest member, Oracle, leaped $2 5/8 to $49 3/4 -- yup, another record.

For folks who catch up on Borefolio happenings on a weekly basis, I added Oracle on Thursday (Nov. 21). Why Oracle? Well, they tell me that this is the Information Age, so I figured it made sense to invest in a company that helps folks manage information. But which one? The Boring, no-brainer solution is simply to buy the leader, and that's Oracle.

Oracle has software that'll run on almost anything from laptops to supercomputers, and Oracle 7.3 handles far more than your basic alphanumeric data. It can manage video, audio, graphical, spatial ... pretty much anything. Oracle 8, currently in beta and due for release next year, promises to be very, very slick. Oracle's new on-line analytical processing (OLAP) software enables users to perform complex data-crunching on the fly. Toss in the "Internet appliance" wild card and you've got the makings of yet another record-breaking year in 1997 for Sensei Larry's most excellent company.

At current prices, ORCL ain't cheap -- although I think it's more fairly priced than, say, the S&P 500. As I noted on Thursday, my objective in purchasing ORCL this week was not to time an entry point. It was to acquire a stake in of one of the premier technology companies on earth, and at a fair price. Although what with today's excitement, it looks like maybe the entry point wasn't so bad, either.

No news on any Borefolio stocks today, so let's call this a wrap. Boring's gonna take a bit of R & R next week. Fear not, though, your nightly Borefolio recap will be right here as always, thanks to MFs Fletch, Raleigh, BudFox, and Czar -- as solid a line-up as you're likely to find anywhere in cyberville.

Gee, that *is* quite a team. I hope I can get my slot back.

Enjoy your week-end and week, folks. See you in December. I'll be the one wearing a down parka and flip flops.

MORE FOOLISHNESS: Investing for Growth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Stock  Change    Bid
--------------------
BGP   -  1/4   35.38
CSL   +  1/8   56.88
CSCO  +1 5/8   67.50
GNT   +  1/4   40.88
ORCL  +2 5/8   49.75
OXHP  +1 1/2   54.38
PMSI  ---      11.38
SLR   +1 1/2   59.88

   
                   Day   Month    Year  History
        BORING   +1.26%   5.47%  18.42%  18.42%
        S&P 500  +0.80%   6.16%  20.44%  20.44%
        NASDAQ   +1.28%   4.32%  22.41%  22.41%

    Rec'd   #  Security     In At       Now    Change

  2/28/96  200 Borders Gr    22.51     35.38    57.14%
   2/2/96  200 Green Tree    30.39     40.88    34.51%
  6/26/96  100 Cisco Syst    53.90     67.50    25.23%
  5/24/96  100 Oxford Hea    48.02     54.38    13.22%
   3/8/96  400 Prime Medi    10.07     11.38    12.97%
 10/15/96  100 Solectron     54.52     59.88     9.81%
  8/13/96  100 Carlisle C    52.65     56.88     8.02%
 11/21/96  100 Oracle Cor    48.65     49.75     2.26%


    Rec'd   #  Security     In At     Value    Change

  2/28/96  200 Borders Gr  4502.49   7075.00  $2572.51
   2/2/96  200 Green Tree  6077.49   8175.00  $2097.51
  6/26/96  100 Cisco Syst  5389.99   6750.00  $1360.01
  5/24/96  100 Oxford Hea  4802.49   5437.50   $635.01
 10/15/96  100 Solectron   5452.49   5987.50   $535.01
   3/8/96  400 Prime Medi  4027.49   4550.00   $522.51
  8/13/96  100 Carlisle C  5264.99   5687.50   $422.51
 11/21/96  100 Oracle Cor  4864.99   4975.00   $110.01

                             CASH  $10570.94
                            TOTAL  $59208.44