Wednesday, October 16, 1996

Handlebar Mustache and Big Ol' Texas-Sized Boots -- A Fool's Fashion?
By NCN Bolt

As I walked down to the dry cleaner from work this morning, I caught a quick glimpse of myself in the reflective glass of a nearby building. I've got on a bow tie today, and my image dredged up a sartorial query I've considered before -- dapper or dorky, Fool or fool? Before I had even advanced another ten steps and settled on my standard conclusion (dorky), I was treated to a fashion spectacle.

Riding by on an ancient three-speed bike was a fifty-ish gentlemen in basically the same gray business suit that I donned this morning. However, his outfit included a handlebar mustache and big ol' Texas-sized boots. I didn't have time to stop him and ask how or why he settled on these particular habiliments, but I decided that he was a Foolish fellow. Why Foolish, you ask? And if so, what in the world could a particular type of dress teach any of us about investing? It's a good question, or at least I thought it interesting enough to scribble a fribble.

I'm often too quick to categorize all things that are unique or atypical as Foolish. "Hey, this guy has on non-standard work attire; he must be Foolish." However, I think this really misses the pragmatism that undergirds Foolish investing. It's just too easy to devise new approaches to investing. I can concoct an investment scheme based on the financial terminology that I least understood during my business school days, but it has no value: "Lug Nut Associates uses a proprietary statistical model that compares the inverted Durbin-Watson statistic for our S&P 500 model with the Modified Duration for a portfolio of adjustable rate mortgages. The firm then develops a delta-hedged derivative strategy to achieve risk neutrality against the benchmark." Over the agonized screams of my business school professors, who tried to teach me this stuff, and my wife, who paid for me to be there, I'll admit to understanding none of these terms. Unique is useless in this instance.

What has most impressed me about the Motley Fool since its inception has been the willingness of its participants to embrace ideas that work, whether new or old. Fools embrace upgrades to what is already proven (The Foolish Four, IFG's upgrade to standard Value Line timeliness portfolios). What is new, different, and fun has been presented as Foolish only when it works.

Looking back on this morning's cyclist, I wonder why he chose his peculiar outfit, complex facial hair and aged bike. Judging from the twinkle in his eye as he passed, I'm guessing he did it because it was fun, different, and because it was useful to him in some way. After all, the Fool wore the belled cap not because it felt great to get slapped in the head every fifteen seconds by a metal ball. The cap was donned because it made the king laugh.

Transmitted: 10/16/96