Friday, April 03, 1998

The Daily Workshop Report
by Robert Sheard (TMF Sheard)

LEXINGTON, KY. (April 3, 1998)-- We came close to ringing our first Double Gong in the Workshop this week. Relative-Strength sprinter Best Buy Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BBY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BBY)") end if %> is up 94% in 1998 (through April 1). And a slew of additional stocks are posting big gains as well. Notable among them are Dell Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") end if %> and Ethan Allen <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: ETH)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: ETH)") end if %>, both up 63% in the first quarter. In fact, 12 of the Workshop's 49 stocks for 1998 are sitting on gains of better than 30%.

On the downside, the culprits we've been watching in recent weeks remain in the Slough of Despond. ADC Telecom <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ADCT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ADCT)") end if %> is off 35%. Adaptec <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ADPT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ADPT)") end if %> has given up 46%. Input/Output <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IO)") end if %> is down 23%. And Fool Portfolio glory stock Iomega <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IOM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IOM)") end if %> still languishes, off 44%.

Today also marks the end of the March accounting period for the Unemotional Growth model. (UG periods are marked from the first Friday of each month). And once again, there's virtually no change in the current rankings. AirTouch Communications <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: ATI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: ATI)") end if %> slips out of the top five to slot # 6. Replacing it in the official top five is last month's #7 Cambridge Technology <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CATP)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CATP)") end if %>.

Based on not-quite-final numbers today, the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 6.3% from March 6 through today. Over the same stretch, the 10-stock Unemotional Growth model gained 7.4% and the five-stock model picked up 9.5%.

Year-to-date, the 10-stock model is up 22.0% and the 5-stock model is up 28.7%. Unemotional Growth investors who suffered through last year's miserable 1% profit are feeling a little bit better after one quarter of 1998. As always, this approach can be very volatile and one quarter's return can be wiped away just as quickly as it was gained.

Have a Foolish weekend!

Check out the latest file updates for the Workshop:
New Rankings | 1998 Returns | New Database

[Robert Sheard is the author of the forthcoming book, The Unemotional Investor, due out from Simon & Schuster on May 12. To pre-order your copy, please visit Amazon.com, where it's available at a discounted price.]