Entering The Fool's
Portfolio
by The Motley
Fools
"How do I enter your Fool Portfolio
stocks?
Do I buy the ones you already have, now,
even after they've fallen and risen?"
This is, has been, and will continue to be one of the most frequently asked questions in Fooldom. The Fribble below is for those who are asking specifically about buying the stocks currently in our Fool Portfolio. If you're an enthusiastic new investor just seeking advice about starting your own investment portfolio, please read our article "How To Invest What You Have," in the Fool's School area.
So. . . you're interested in buying the stocks we own. You have a few options.
First, you should think long and hard about getting Foolish via the Beating the Dow approach. Covered in our Motley Fool Investment Primer (available in the AOL Store), outlined by Michael O'Higgins in his book entitled "Beating the Dow," supported by Dow historical information and useful tools in our Electronic Fool Library, and perhaps best of all, written about and researched daily in our Beating the Dow folder on the Fool's School Boards (a *must* read), the approach has compounded returns double those of the market's average over the past two decades. Hear ye, hear ye. . . it has verily womped virtually every mutual fund vis-a-vis returns over that period. We recommend it; it's safe, logical, astonishingly profitable, and easy to implement. We think it should be everyone's first step out of Wisdom into Folly.
Second, you can just buy the stocks in our portfolio. At the current prices, we like each of our stocks, whatever their current returns. In fact, if we didn't like each, we'd have exited the position by now. So you should know that the de facto mentality (as it has always been) as regards The Fool Portfolio is that if it's still there, we probably like it at its current price. This is in keeping with our long-term investment strategy, where the actual entry point is not terribly important. Please look at the target prices in our Fool Stock writeups in the Portfolio Area as well. It's fair to ask yourself, "What? Buy America Online (say), which is already up 200%?!" Actually, yes. We always encourage investors to forget the past; we couldn't care less what a stock has already done. All that matters to you when you buy is what happens in the future. When America Online was up 100% for us, one might well have been equally incredulous. . . and look what it did afterwards.
A third entry approach exists, if you have a shorter-term mentality, or don't want to buy the existing stocks, but STILL want to play with Fool Portfolio stocks. Just ignore our existing positions and take a look at our future recommendations. That's one way you have of guaranteeing yourself the same price and performance we get. We set things up that way from Day One expressly so that anyone who was Foolish enough COULD duplicate us. That's something that virtually no other investment newsletter or magazine does; it's part of our reformatory zeal regarding the somewhat questionable practices of the investment-advice industry.
Fourth, and final, you may wish to buy a few Fool stocks, and ignore others. That's really up to you. Consider not buying any and just following along with us. Keep in mind, we're fellow private investors, simply showing you what WE'RE doing and WHEN. Your portfolio is completely up to you. As long-time Fools know, the whole heart and soul of Folly is to make up your mind yourself, and accept the responsibility for your own successes or failures. That's the only way any Fool will ever learn and take true satisfaction from investing.