The Daily Dow
Thursday, July 3, 1997
by Robert Sheard

LEXINGTON, KY. (July 3, 1997) -- I'm sure a number of columnists are going to make a great deal about linking tomorrow's Independence Day holiday with financial independence, so I'm not going to belabor the point. But I would like to celebrate the individual investor's independence from Wall Street with a few crucial facts.

Over the last ten years, 82% of stock mutual funds in existence during the whole period failed to keep pace with the industry benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. I'm not talking about bond, gold, or money-market funds, just stock funds.

During that same stretch, investors using the Foolish Four or Unemotional Value Four approaches would have placed in the top ten of all mutual fund returns (all without trading more than once a year).

A four- or five-stock Dow Approach portfolio costs as little as $40 to $60 a year in total trading costs at today's deep-discount rates.

A $10,000 investment in 1971 in the Foolish Four or Unemotional Value Four would have grown to nearly $1.8 million by the end of 1996 (assuming a 22% annual return and excluding taxes).

The entire approach takes thirty minutes a year.

Enough said? Happy Independence 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. ________________________________


1997 Foolish Four Model
Stock  Change   Last
--------------------
T    -   1/8   35.88
GM   ---       56.94
CHV  +   3/8   75.88
MMM  +  13/16  101.81

                 Day   Month    Year
        FOOL-4   +0.18%   1.74%   3.94%
        DJIA     +1.29%   2.80%  22.45%
        S&P 500  +1.42%   3.59%  23.78%
        NASDAQ   +0.82%   1.77%  13.68%

    Rec'd   #  Security     In At       Now    Change
   1/2/97  120 3M            83.00    101.81    22.67%
   1/2/97  153 Chevron       65.00     75.88    16.73%
   1/2/97  179 Gen. Motor    55.75     56.94     2.13%
   1/2/97  479 AT&T          41.75     35.88   -14.07%

    Rec'd   #  Security     In At     Value    Change
   1/2/97  120 3M          9960.00  12217.50  $2257.50
   1/2/97  153 Chevron     9945.00  11608.88  $1663.88
   1/2/97  179 Gen. Motor  9979.25  10191.81   $212.56
   1/2/97  479 AT&T       19998.25  17184.13 -$2814.13


                             CASH    $767.60
                            TOTAL  $51969.91