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Those wily astronomers in Greenwich, England have come up with the answer (as far as I'm concerned) to the 2000-2001 controversy by naming 2000 the Millennium Year: Even though 2000 is not the beginning of the new millennium, it's the end of the old one and worth celebrating as such. I like it. And this way, we can all have another big party NEXT year!
Our millennium portfolio (OK, that's the last time I use the word millennium, I promise) will be purchased on December 27, which is as close as we can get to a year and a day after the purchase of the first portfolio on December 24, 1998. For some reason, the market isn't open on December 25. Oh, right, it's a Saturday. So we will be making our trades on the following Monday.
There is lots to talk about between now and then so today I thought I would give you a rough schedule of the topics I plan to cover -- just don't hold me to it too strictly. Sometimes topics tend to run over into a second column. I know that many of you have tons of questions about starting or renewing a portfolio, about the Dow change, and about which strategy is right for you. I will try to cover them all. In general, this is what you can expect for the next three weeks.
December 6 -- Getting ready to trade, including how to set up an account with a discount broker
December 9 -- This year's change in the Dow and what we are doing about it
December 10 -- The best and worst times to renew and why
December 13 -- Other Investing Options: The classic Foolish Four is not the only game in town
December 16 -- Why you shouldn't invest in the Foolish Four
December 17-- Matching our online portfolio: Should you or shouldn't you
December 20 -- The Mechanics of buying and selling: How to start a portfolio or renew an existing one, step by step
December 23 -- Stock selection announcement
December 27 -- The Switch and final statistics for the first year
If you have questions that you fear might not be covered, feel free to send them in. Since I suspect there will be lots of questions, I will have to confine my answers to the portfolio report just for this month, so forgive me in advance for not replying in person, but I promise I will be sure to cover everything that is of general interest.
By the way, as always, I am unable to provide personalized investing advice. If you have a question about your situation, you will get a much better answer by posting on our message boards. Seriously. The Dow Investing/Foolish Four board has a FAQ attached that covers just about everything. For more general questions, we have Ask A Foolish Question. Two of the most helpful boards are the Retirement Investing and Tax Strategies message boards. Or just take a stroll through our Managing Your Finances area. Take advantage of the collective intelligence of Fools who've been there!
Fool on and prosper!