<FOOLISH WORKSHOP>

Killer Portfolio Update      

by Ethan Haskel ([email protected])

Baltimore, MD (April 14, 1999) -- We might as well call this Ben Goldman Week at the Workshop. Monday, Jim Stevens tracked Ben's 1999 Killer Net Portfolio as it left the atmosphere. That portfolio, reportedly surviving on nothing but a strict liquid diet of Jolt, has (theoretically, at least) chalked up a 111% gain through yesterday. Although some skeptics have reportedly renamed this portfolio "The Tulip Group," it might make sense to own some of these highfliers as a small portion of your overall portfolio.

Returning to earth, let's direct our attention to Ben's other portfolio, which I profiled three months ago. Titled simply "The Killer Portfolio," I thought it offered an excellent choice for a diversified group of stocks based on some of the best of the Workshop screens. Keep in mind that this portfolio is a real money portfolio, with Ben's hard-earned cash being put to work. The returns represent those calculated from the actual prices paid for the stocks during the first trading day of the year. Here are the updated portfolio returns for the year, as of April 13, 1999: 

Killer Portfolio               +21.0%
Rule Breaker Portfolio         +72.7%
Rule Maker Portfolio           +18.4%
Foolish Four Portfolio         +13.6%
Drip Portfolio                  +3.3%
Boring Portfolio                +0.4%

Standard & Poor's 500 Index     +9.3%
Dow Jones Industrial Average   +12.4%
Nasdaq                         +16.4%

PEG Semi-Annual (stocks ranked 1-5)   +28.8%
Owens & Minor <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: OMI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: OMI)") end if %>             -32.6%
Amer. Eagle Outfitters <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AEOS)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AEOS)") end if %> +37.3%
AnnTaylor Stores <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: ANN)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: ANN)") end if %>          +29.3%
Best Buy Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BBY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BBY)") end if %>              +73.2%
Biogen Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BGEN)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BGEN)") end if %>            +36.7%

Keystone EPS (stocks ranked 2,4-7)    +23.9%
America Online <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AOL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AOL)") end if %>           +112.4%
Oracle Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") end if %>           -18.5%
Int'l Business Mach. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IBM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IBM)") end if %>       -2.8%
Cisco Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") end if %>          +19.7%
Home Depot <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: HD)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: HD)") end if %>                  +8.7%

Spark (stocks ranked 1-5)              +27.0%
Microsoft Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") end if %>         +24.6%
Dell Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") end if %>            +9.1%
Nokia Corp. ADR <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: NOK.A)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: NOK.A)") end if %>          +31.8%
EMC Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: EMC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: EMC)") end if %>                  +48.9%
Guidant Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GDT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GDT)") end if %>              +20.3%

BSP  (stocks ranked 2-6)                +3.8%
Schlumberger Ltd. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SLB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SLB)") end if %>          +22.0%
Kimberly Clark Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KMB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KMB)") end if %>        -9.2%
Campbell Soup Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CPB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CPB)") end if %>          -25.4%
Ford Motor Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: F)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: F)") end if %>                +8.9%
BankAmerica Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BAC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BAC)") end if %>          +22.4%
Yowza!

Our little corner of Fooldom has outperformed all the "Official" Foolish portfolios out there this year, with the notable exception of the Rule Breaker Portfolio. While the Rule Breaker Portfolio takes the blue ribbon hands down, not many would argue that it's a diversified portfolio ideally suited for most investors. Currently, for instance, Rule Breaker has two-thirds of its assets invested in two stocks -- America Online <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AOL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AOL)") end if %> and Amazon.com <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMZN)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMZN)") end if %>.

But for a twenty-stock diversified portfolio, "Killer" seems to fit the bill. Keep in mind that our year to date results represent much too short a time frame to jump to any firm conclusions about comparisons with the other portfolios. However, each of the individual components of the portfolio has been backtested for at least 12 years and has strong theoretical underpinnings. For more details about these approaches, check out Workshop Screen Explanations.

We plan to keep a close eye on Ben's portfolios, not only this year, but for many more to come. In future columns, we'll take a closer look at some of the issues confronting investors trying to develop a Workshop portfolio they can call their very own.

****** Beating the S&P year-to-date returns (as of 04-13-99): 
Schlumberger <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SLB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SLB)") end if %>    +25.7%
Kimberly-Clark <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KMB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KMB)") end if %>  -10.3%
Campbell Soup <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CPB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CPB)") end if %>   -24.9%
Ford Motor Co.  <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: F)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: F)") end if %>    +8.5%
BankAmerica  <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BAC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BAC)") end if %>    +23.1%

Beating the S&P                     +4.4%
S&P 500                            +10.1%

Compound Annual Growth Rate from 1-2-87:
Beating the S&P                     +20.6%
S&P 500                             +18.2%

$10,000 invested on 1-2-87 now equals:
Beating the S&P                    $99.600   
S&P 500                            $77,900

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