Farewell, Mr. Sheard

"Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends." - Richard Bach

After Reading, Please Join Us Here

Ladies and gentlemen, Fools all, it's with a heavy heart that The Motley Fool must bid adieu to a long-time friend tonight. After frolicking in these Fields of Folly for more than three years, Robert Sheard (TMF Sheard) has told us that he would like to move on and manage money professionally. It's The Motley Fool's Policy that none of our full-time employees run a money management business, so Robert will be returning to the ranks of a contributing member/reader of The Fool community beginning in September.

Once upon a time, Robert, like so many of the Fool's employees, started by making a simple message board posting at The Fool Online. Recognizing his enthusiasm for a new subject, noting his excellent writing skills and his ability to make the complex simple, Tom and David brought Robert into the Foolish fold. Since then, he's led the charge to educate Fools the world over about the Foolish Four and the Dow Dividend Approaches. He's also been a champion of the experimental screens and models so many of you have come to love in our Foolish Workshop area. We're saddened to lose Robert, but at the same time we're extremely happy for him and wish him nothing but good fortune.

When Robert told us about his decision to move on, we began to think about what we should do with the Fool Four area and the Foolish Workshop. The decision was simple, we will not be discontinuing either area. To the contrary, we plan to make more significant investments in them and build them up even further. Our community has made it exceptionally clear to us over many months that they absolutely love the Workshop and the Foolish Four areas. Our business is now, has been in the past, and always will be one where we listen intently to you, our members. Thy will be done.

So, what lies ahead?

Dow Area -- For the Dow Dividend/Foolish Four area, expect more of the same stuff that has grown this spot into a hotbed of research for those not willing to settle for Wisdom. We've also got some exciting new things lined up for you -- a handful of new writers and a slew of new data. Our elves have been crunching numbers and we'll have new two-year data on the approach to share with you soon. You should also keep your eyes out for our Fool Four primer coming soon, where we'll share new information that hasn't been published before. Finally, we'll join you in the message folders and continue to relentlessly search for better data and better modifications to the Dow Dividend approaches.

Foolish Workshop -- In the Workshop, we'll continue to provide you with the rankings for some of your favorite Workshop screens. We'll be asking you to tell us what screens you like the most and want us to concentrate on. We'll also be introducing some promising new screens as well.

If there's one thing we've learned from reading our Workshop message board, it's that folks like IrishSpy, JimStevns, Cormend, GlowingFire, JeanDavid, Sparfarkle, and Mikeraz are as capable of coming up with useful investment ideas as we are. So, we'll also be looking to the community for suggestions on new screens to run, as well as introducing a few of our own favorites. It's likely that we'll take the conventional screening methods a step further than we have in the past. Once we run a screen, we'll then help you examine the businesses that meet the criteria and decide together what the best ideas might be. We think you'll really enjoy how the Workshop develops in the next few months.

Finally, please join us all on a very special message board to discuss your thoughts and wishes regarding the Workshop and Dow Area. And feel free to use the message board as an opportunity to pat Robert on the back, wish him well, and thank him for all of his hard work. You should also tell us what your favorite screens are and which ones we should absolutely continue to follow. Finally, if you want to propose some new ideas, we're taking all comers!

Fool on!

The Entire Fool Team