The Daily Dow FOOL GLOBAL WIRE by Robert Sheard LEXINGTON, KY. (Apr. 1, 1997) -- For new investors, just laying the foundation of a life-long investing career, the Dow Approach is an obvious strategy to work with. The issue of costs, however, is something to consider when starting any portfolio approach. Just how much does it cost to run a Dow portfolio? In today's marketplace, the self-help mentality reigns supreme, with a spate of deep-discount brokers offering us cheaper and cheaper ways to trade. There are trade-offs, of course: no hand-holding, no research, no marble-front buildings to gawk at. But if you're using the Dow Approach, who needs to pay for Merrill Lynch's new lobby? Find the lowest discounts you can since you're making your own decisions and all you require is a reliable order taker. Don't let the full-service brokers snow you that they're going to get you better prices on the Dow giants, either. The spread on these stocks (the difference between the bid and the ask prices) is usually only an eighth. There's no room for them to get you better prices. So, let's see how much it costs. Take one of the new electronic brokers, Datek. They charge $9.95 per trade on Nasdaq and NYSE stocks, up to 5000 shares. With the 4-stock Dow Approaches, you can expect to replace two of the four stocks each year. Let's be extra conservative and say you replace three each year (or make some adjustments), generating six trades a year. At $60 a year in trading costs, this is a very cheap method to use. In fact, at $40-$60 a year, it doesn't take much to get started. Even starting with $2,000, your commission costs are still under our 2.5% of capital benchmark. So, don't let trading costs or worries about odd lots and the like frighten you away. Those days are gone the way of the University of Kentucky's basketball title <sniff, sniff>. For the do-it-yourself Dow Approach crowd, life is pretty sweet in terms of easy access to trading at very low costs. Happy Fool Day! (c) Copyright 1997, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool. ________________________________

The Current BTD 10 AT&T <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:T)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:T)") end if %> Intl. Paper <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:IP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:IP)") end if %> General Motors <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:GM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:GM)") end if %> Chevron <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:CHV)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:CHV)") end if %> Eastman Kodak <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:EK)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:EK)") end if %> Minnesota Mining <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:MMM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:MMM)") end if %> J.P. Morgan <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:JPM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:JPM)") end if %> DuPont <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write(":NYSE" & CHR(34) & ">(NYSE:DD)") else Response.Write("" & CHR(34) & " onClick=" & Chr(34) & "openWindow('http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=DD', 'quotebox', 640, 460); return false;" & CHR(34) & ">(NYSE:DD)") end if %> Exxon <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:XON)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:XON)") end if %> Philip Morris <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:MO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:MO)") end if %> NOTE: FOOLISH FOUR STOCKS ARE LISTED IN DARK RED. Updated Daily

Today's Dow Numbers Stock Change Last -------------------- T --- 34.88 GM - 1/8 55.13 CHV - 7/8 68.88 MMM +1 85.63 Day Month Year FOOL-4 -0.08% -0.08% -4.37% DJIA +0.42% +0.42% 2.52% S&P 500 +0.33% +0.33% 2.55% NASDAQ -0.39% -0.39% -5.74% Rec'd # Security In At Now Change 1/2/97 153 Chevron 65.00 68.88 5.96% 1/2/97 120 3M 83.00 85.63 3.16% 1/2/97 179 Gen. Motor 55.75 55.13 -1.12% 1/2/97 479 AT&T 41.75 34.88 -16.47% Rec'd # Security In At Value Change 1/2/97 153 Chevron 9945.00 10537.88 $592.88 1/2/97 120 3M 9960.00 10275.00 $315.00 1/2/97 179 Gen. Motor 9979.25 9867.38 -$111.88 1/2/97 479 AT&T 19998.25 16705.13 -$3293.13 CASH $431.29 TOTAL $47816.67

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