<THE FOOLISH FOUR>

DowMan's Farewell
by Robert Sheard

LEXINGTON, KY. (August 24, 1998) -- To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of the Foolish Four and Workshop areas' deaths are an exaggeration. But there are some changes afoot, and I'd like to take today's column space for a personal message to readers past and present.

It's with mixed feelings that I have to inform you that Friday will be my final day with The Motley Fool. I've been with the Fool, part-time and then full-time, since October of 1994, and the time has come for DowMan to move on.

For a variety of reasons, chief among them an economic one, I have decided to manage money professionally. To that end, I am now a principal in a registered investment advisory firm, Sheard & Davey Advisors, Inc. For now, my business partner (Don Davey) and I are managing portfolios individually for private clients, but down the road, we may open an investment partnership or a mutual fund, or both, depending on the interest. Obviously, we'll be using the kind of investment strategies and research I've been writing about online for the last several years.

But my decision to open this door means I have to close another one. The Motley Fool has a policy that full-time employees may not manage money professionally, so I had to agree to step down as a writer for the Fool in order for us to open our firm.

The primary question most readers will ask, if they haven't already done so, is what happens to the areas I've covered for the past several years? And the answer is that they are not being closed. I've talked with several of the editors at Fool HQ and they have plans not only to continue these areas, but to make them even better. In fact, they want your help in planning the changes. Click this link and you'll head to a letter drafted by the Fools outlining their plans for the areas and providing you with a place to express your views on how to make the areas more helpful.

As for me, I won't say good-bye entirely. I still hope to do some writing as a freelancer and am attempting to nail down another book contract. And I'll pop in and out of the Fool's areas frequently. You'll see me online under my original AOL screen name after this week ([email protected]), so feel free to drop me a line in the future. For a brief time after I leave, my TMFSheard screen name will remain available, but only temporarily.

The last several years have been a remarkable period of change in my life, both privately and professionally. I look forward to the future with the same sense of wonder I had when I joined the Fool in 1994. I hope you'll keep in touch.

The rest of the week I'll be taking a walk down memory lane, revisiting some of the topics we've explored together in recent years. I hope you'll join me.

Current Dow Order | 1998 Dow Returns

[Robert Sheard is the author of the The Unemotional Investor (Simon & Schuster, 1998) available now at Amazon.com and your local bookseller.]

08/24/98 Close
Stock  Change   Last 
 -------------------- 
 UK   -   1/4   46.56 
 IP   +1  3/8   42.69 
 MO   +   1/2   44.25 
 EK   +   3/8   85.13 
  
 
 
                    Day   Month    Year 
         FOOL-4   +0.97%  -1.05%  12.78% 
         DJIA     +0.39%  -3.56%   8.32% 
         S&P 500  +0.64%  -2.90%  12.13% 
         NASDAQ   -0.38%  -4.36%  14.04% 
  
     Rec'd   #  Security     In At       Now    Change 
  
  12/31/97  206 Eastman Ko    60.56     85.13    40.56% 
  12/31/97  291 Union Carb    42.94     46.56     8.44% 
  12/31/97  289 Int'l Pape    43.13     42.69    -1.01% 
  12/31/97  276 Philip Mor    45.25     44.25    -2.21% 
  
  
     Rec'd   #  Security     In At     Value    Change 
  
  12/31/97  206 Eastman Ko 12475.88  17535.75  $5059.88 
  12/31/97  291 Union Carb 12494.81  13549.69  $1054.88 
  12/31/97  289 Int'l Pape 12463.13  12336.69  -$126.44 
  12/31/97  276 Philip Mor 12489.00  12213.00  -$276.00 
  
  
                              CASH    $754.73 
                             TOTAL  $56389.86