The Daily Workshop Report
by Jim Stevens (MF Tools)

BURLINGTON, VT. (Mar. 19, 1997) -- Hump day in this week of MF Dowman’s vacation, his absence and detached attitude toward his work here hasn’t had the desired effect. You know, the watched pot never boils thing. We’ve still got a couple of days when things could really turn around, then again they could also accelerate into the dumper! This was a mediocre to lousy day in the market for most of the Growth models.

It has struck me as sort of unconstitutional that the stock market of late, led by the bond market, gets creamed whenever there is GOOD economic news. Doesn’t the fact that everyone has a job mean everyone can all march down to the Chevy dealer and take out a loan on that new Cavalier? What gives? Somehow we seem to have been ushered into an era where moneyed speculators and small investors alike must be whipped into submission whenever unwarranted “exuberance” drives markets to heights that worry uncle Al Greenspan.

Do the Federal Reserve’s credit policies help the workers and families of this country as a whole? Do they protect speculator's money in the markets? Or do the policies strike a balance? Heck, I wouldn’t be able to tell if they were responsible for anything. One thing is for sure, I wouldn’t want the “job” of attempting to figure those things out and making monetary policy. My brain hurts just thinking about it.

On a closing note, I sampled the new Ben & Jerry’s <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BJICA)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BJICA)") end if %> flavor last night at the concert I attended: Fish Food. It is named for the band (same name spelled differently). Yummy phun. I say go out and get a pint, Fools.

Monthly Growth Screens
     (Jan. 3 to present)
   2.32%  Relative Strength  
   5.04%  S&P 500 Index  
   4.60%  Low Price/Sales  
  -3.25%  YPEG Potential  
 -12.36%  Investing for Growth  
 -16.09%  EPS Plus RS  
 -20.77%  Formula 90  
 -24.21%  Unemotional Growth  

Annual Value Screens
     (Jan. 1 to present)
  6.66%  Dow Jones Ind Avg  
  6.40%  Dogs of the Dow  
  4.98%  Beating the S&P  
  1.11%  Dow Combo  
  0.75%  Unemotional Value  
  0.75%  Beating the Dow  
 -3.66%  Foolish Four