The Daily Dow
Wednesday, June 26, 1996
by Robert Sheard

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 26): Today was a good day to be a long-term Foolish Four investor. Don't get me wrong; the portfolio lost money along with the rest of the market. In fact, it lost more than the benchmark indices. ("Then what's so bloody good about it?" I hear some of you ask.)

Consider first the conventional wisdom about why the market's down lately. One ongoing explanation is that "the market" is worried about earnings reports being disappointing. Not specific company news, mind you, just general nervousness.

Another reason which crops up around the end of each quarter, and ironically used to explain both rises and drops in the market, is the fabled "window dressing" excuse. This is the process where portfolio managers fiddle around with their holdings at the end of the quarter so that their published holdings in their quarterly statements appear the way they want them. It doesn't seem to matter what they held all quarter or how well their portfolios are doing long-term as long as their end-of-quarter statements make it look like they're doing the right things.

Call me naive, but that seems both a shade ... well ... shady, and a bit silly. But those are the ways of the world. What's it all mean for a Fool? Not a thing, of course. By staying fully invested, we Fools will always be subject to the machinations of the overall market in the short term, but the long-term success of the Dow Approach more than makes up for the short-term gamesmanship of the Wise.

Back to my original proposition, then. Why indeed is it a good thing to be a Fool today? Quite simply because today is unimportant. With your eyes on the distant horizon and a tested road map to get you there, you're not going to get lost, even if you have some traffic along the way.

Did you ever notice the guys who jump lanes at every chance don't seem to get there any faster? They just burn up tires, gas, and precious patience. Even worse are the guys who jump off the road in search of the latest, greatest short-cut. Triple A pulls many of them out of ditches! To make sure I get where I want to go, give me the boring, well-marked, straight road any day.

Transmitted: 6/26/96

THE FOOLISH FOUR MODEL (6/26/96)  

           Day    Week  Quarter  Year  History
Fool-4   -1.27%  -1.55%  5.36%  13.65%  13.65%
DJIA     -0.64%  -0.39%  1.71%  11.05%  11.05%
S&P 500  -0.61%  -0.37%  2.93%   7.87%   7.87%
NASDAQ   -1.65%  -1.88%  4.71%   9.61%   9.61%


Rec'd    #   Security  In At   Now   Change

1/2/96  148  E. Kodak  67.00  76.75  14.55%
1/2/96  380  Chevron   52.38  59.88  14.32%
1/2/96  142  DuPont    69.88  79.13  13.24%
1/2/96  149  3M        66.38  69.75   5.08%

Rec'd    #   Security       Cost       Value     Change

1/2/96  148  E. Kodak    $9,916.00  $11,359.00  $1,443.00      
1/2/96  380  Chevron    $19,902.50  $22,752.50  $2,850.00      
1/2/96  142  DuPont      $9,922.25  $11,235.75  $1,313.50      
1/2/96  149  3M          $9,889.88  $10,392.75    $502.88     

      CASH      $1,082.61        
      TOTAL    $56,822.61         



Transmitted: 6/26/96

      
      

      
      

        

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