Tuesday, February 17, 1998
Follow the Bouncing
Fools?
By David Quinby
(TMF Python)
The DRiP Port is buying Campbell Soup Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:CPB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:CPB)") end if %>!! The new Cash-King Port is buying Microsoft <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq:MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq:MSFT)") end if %>, Pfizer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: PFE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: PFE)") end if %>, and Intel <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") end if %>!! The Fools are buying!!!!!
Yes, the Fools are buying. The above-mentioned portfolios are buying those stocks. Does that mean that they are the right stocks for you? The only person who will ever be able to answer that question is you. The purpose of The Motley Fool is to Educate and Amuse. David and Tom Gardner never wanted to control your investments. What they did was create an environment for the average person to learn how to control his investments, in other words, the tools needed to do the job yourself.
Among the tools they use are the "Real Money" portfolios. They wanted to show you and me how a real-money portfolio can be managed. How to make your own decisions on buying and selling. How to share information on companies, be it companies that you want to invest in, or companies that you're dying to sell short. How to look at a stock and decide for yourself if it's worth investing in.
This brings me to the question, Why do so many people wait for a Fool Portfolio to announce a buy on a stock, and then procede to call their broker and buy the exact same stock? My own feeling is that this defeats the purpose of The Motley Fool. If you're going to invest in the exact same companies as The Motley Fool, why not just call your Full Service Broker and let him make your investment decisions for you? (I know, you save a few bucks on commissions this way, don't you?)
I like to read the Fool buy reports. I read them and sometimes I will run the numbers just to see if I come up with the same numbers. There have been a few times that I looked at a buy report and decided that I didn't want to invest in the company. It could be because I came up with different numbers, or I just didn't understand what the company does. Other times I agreed with the Fools and have sat back and watched the stock to see if both of us were correct. Have I ever bought a stock simply because the Fool is buying? My answer is, and always will be a big NO on that! I'll buy my stocks because they fit into my investment objectives.
The DRiP portfolio has just completed its search for an investment in the Food sector. They examined a slew of companies and narrowed the list down to four. With those four, they reexamined them and made their decision. They will be investing in Campbell Soup Co. As for me, I decided that after looking at their reasons for buying Campbell Soup, I won't be joining them. I have decided to go another route with my money. A company that I think will be a solid investment for many years to come. But the best thing about my company is that I found it, did my research on it, and made my own decision to buy it. If it soars, I'll take all the credit; if it fails, I'll have nobody to blame but myself. It is, after all, my own money that I'm investing.
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