<FOOLISH WORKSHOP>

March Workshop Madness!      

by David Forrest ([email protected])

Milwaukee, WI [Courtside] (March 12, 1999) -- As I type this report, my Rhody Rams are taking it to UNC Charlotte and things are getting exciting. The MADNESS has begun, and to be quite honest, I don't really care much about stocks today (or yesterday). Ya see, true Fools know that making cashola in this market is only a way to create opportunity for us. It allows us to be able to sit back and relax, pound down a few root beers, and watch the Rams dunk on UNC Charlotte. It's all about quality of life, babeee!

With that said, I know some of you are not hoops fans (gasp), or perhaps you're genuinely interested in what's going on in the 'Shop. So let's run it down for you and get out of here so we can all enjoy the weekend.

[Oh, man, UNCC just pulled ahead. This is killin' me.]

Workshop Returns

Each week we calculate the returns from the beginning of the calendar year for the model portfolios we track. You can see the full results here, but suffice to say, the Workshop screens are kicking the market's rear end so far this year.

Of the 10 screens we officially track [get explanations here], 8 of them are beating the performance of the Nasdaq Composite and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Five of the screens are more than doubling the Nasdaq Composite returns and quadrupling the S&P 500 returns so far. It's still very early in this game... er, year... though, so let's not get too carried away. Here's a list of the big winners so far:

 37.79   RS-IBD        
 27.12   PEG 5        
 26.73   RS-26 Week         
 22.55   Spark 5        
 22.43   Beta         
 10.01   Nasdaq         
  5.94   S&P Spiders

[Odom just drained a 7-footer! Rhody pulls within one. 6 minutes left.]

Most Appearances Port

Most Appearances continues to outpace the averages. Since inception (January of 1998), the Most Appearances port is up 48.26%, versus the S&P 500 up just 17.27%. Oracle's <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") end if %> weakness today isn't helping matters there. Also, remember that Dell <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") end if %> split recently and you have to adjust your portfolios to reflect that. If you're looking for info on the Most Appearances port, click into these two articles:

02/19/99, Most Appearances
02/26/99, Most Appearances - Part Deux

[Darn, UNCC is pulling away here. Rhody down by 4]

Keystone Dozens

Last week I did a complete overview of the Dozens approach. Click in if you're new here or if you missed it: 03/05/99, A Dozens Tutorial. To update you, Keystone Dozens is up 59.58%, versus the S&P 500 up just 13.38% in the same time period. For those of you who missed it, Tele-Communications Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TCOMA)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TCOMA)") end if %> merged with AT&T <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: T)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: T)") end if %> recently. Shareholders of TCI who owned the class "A" stock received 0.7757 shares of AT&T.

[Oh man, Rhody tied it up with 12 seconds. We're going to OT!!]

Beta Portfolio

Another screen that we've been following that I introduced last year is the Beta Portfolio. This portfolio tracks stocks that are by definition more volatile than the market itself. The theory is that with all other things being equal, high beta stocks will significantly outperform the market during an up market, and significantly underperform during down markets. Fortunately, the market tends to rise over time. So far, the results are decent, with the Beta Portfolio up 22.43% versus the S&P, up just 5.95%, and the Nasdaq Composite, up just 10.01%, this year. For more info on the Beta Port, read the original write-up.

Finale

Well, the Rhode Island Rams ended up getting smoked in OT. It was a great game, though, as are most of the March Madness matchups. If you're a basketball fan, this is just the best time of year. So if you've gotten this far in the report, stop reading, turn off this stupid computer, and go have some fun!

Happy weekend,

Bogey
New Rankings | Workshop Returns