<THE FOOLISH FOUR>

Foolish Four Report
by Robert Sheard

LEXINGTON, KY. (March 30, 1998) -- Have a Coke and a smile! Investors in Dow component Coca-Cola <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KO)") end if %> today are smiling after the company announced that it expects unit case volume to climb by 13 to 14 percent in the first quarter.

Last year in the first quarter unit case volume grew by 9 percent, so this year's strength is seen as an especially good sign, despite the strong U.S. dollar and the bulk of Coke's growth coming internationally. In Latin America, growth is even higher than the overall average, pacing 18 or 19 percent.

But we have to slap Coke with the business jargon atrocity-of-the-month award. Part of the great performance was ascribed to "unusual calendarization." It's a good thing these guys can sell lots of sweet syrup; they'd have a hard time passing basic composition in college with monstrosities like that one.

Language patrol aside, though, Coke shareholders enjoyed a gain of five percent as the stock price set a new record. And as both a Coke shareholder (disclaimer time) and a Coke drinker, I'll be popping the top on the Real Thing tonight as I root on my beloved Kentucky Wildcats one more time this season.

If you have Coke in your portfolio, you're sitting on a nice gain for this mega-large-cap growth stock in 1998 of approximately 18%. As much as I push people to consider the Dow Approach as one of their first investments in stocks, it's important not to overlook the growth stocks in the Dow also. Despite their low dividend yields, Coke and McDonald's <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MCD)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MCD)") end if %> have certainly rewarded their shareholders handsomely over the years. Fool on!

Current Dow Order | 1998 Dow Returns

[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.]

TODAY'S NUMBERS
Stock  Change   Last 
 -------------------- 
 UK   +   7/8   49.75 
 IP   +   3/16  48.75 
 MO   +   5/8   43.13 
 EK   +   3/16  64.00 
 
 
                    Day   Month    Year 
         FOOL-4   +0.97%   2.85%   8.14% 
         DJIA     -0.16%   2.77%  11.05% 
         S&P 500  -0.17%   4.22%  12.69% 
         NASDAQ   -0.27%   2.72%  15.81% 
  
     Rec'd   #  Security     In At       Now    Change 
  
  12/31/97  291 Union Carb    42.94     49.75    15.87% 
  12/31/97  289 Int'l Pape    43.13     48.75    13.04% 
  12/31/97  206 Eastman Ko    60.56     64.00     5.68% 
  12/31/97  276 Philip Mor    45.25     43.13    -4.70% 
  
  
     Rec'd   #  Security     In At     Value    Change 
  
  12/31/97  291 Union Carb 12494.81  14477.25  $1982.44 
  12/31/97  289 Int'l Pape 12463.13  14088.75  $1625.63 
  12/31/97  206 Eastman Ko 12475.88  13184.00   $708.13 
  12/31/97  276 Philip Mor 12489.00  11902.50  -$586.50 
  
  
                              CASH    $415.96 
                             TOTAL  $54068.46