Boring Portfolio

Boring Portfolio Report
Friday, August 9, 1996

by Greg Markus (MF Boring)

ANN ARBOR, MI (August 9) -- When will I learn?

Last night, I wrote: "I won't mention that this marks the Borefolio's eighth consecutive advance and its eleventh gain in twelve sessions, because last time I drew attention to a similar string, the market gods smacked the Boring stocks good and hard."

Today, naturally, the Borefolio got hit for a loss. Not a significant one, to be sure -- only 15/100ths of a percentage point. But a loss, nonetheless.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indices slipped slightly on the day, while the Dow lost 32 points -- and was close to triggering down-side collars at one point -- as stocks of companies in the nicotine delivery and lung cancer industry sold off following an adverse (to them) decision in a civil suit.

For the week, the DJIA and S&P 500 were virtually unchanged, while the Nasdaq managed about a one percentage-point gain. The Boring Portfolio, in contrast, enjoyed a 4.44% enhancement of its net asset value. That's nearly $2,400. Not bad for a week's work.

Speaking of work, I was up to my ears in *real* work today and didn't glance at the market once. It appears that Boring stock mavens did likewise. I was unable to locate a single story on the wires about any Borefolio holding. In addition, trading activity in Boring stocks was unusually low: not one of them showed action that was even half of its typical daily volume, and activity in a number of Boring issues was 75% (or more) below 30-day average volume. Zzz-z-z.

As for closing prices, two stocks were unchanged on the day, while the largest change among the remaining six was a mere 3/8ths of a point. Now *that*, my friends, is boring!

I see that the neighbors in the Foolish Portfolio will spice things up a bit next week by making some new buys. Sounds good to me. I've got my eye on two (or possibly three) stocks myself. Assuming I can get a write-up cobbled together over the week-end, let's see if we can rouse the Borefolio with a new purchase or two next week, okay? Sort of like back-to-school shopping!

(c) Copyright 1996, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool.

Transmitted: 8/9/96

TODAY'S NUMBERS
BGP + 1/8 ...CSCO - 3/8 ...GNT ---...OXHP - 3/8 ...PMSI ---...
SHAW + 1/4 ...SPY - 7/32...TXI - 3/8 ...

*Scroll down or expand screen for full portfolio accounting

                   Day   Month    Year  History
        BORING   -0.15%   7.40%  12.51%  12.51%
        S&P 500  -0.07%   3.46%   6.51%   6.51%
        NASDAQ   -0.02%   5.25%   9.25%   9.25%


    Rec'd  #   Security     In At       Now    Change

  2/28/96 200 Borders Gro    22.51     35.50    57.69%
  4/12/96 100 The Shaw Gr    18.84     27.75    47.28%
   3/8/96 400 Prime Medic    10.07     13.88    37.80%
  1/29/96 100 Texas Indus    54.50     68.00    24.77%
   2/2/96 200 Green Tree     30.39     36.75    20.94%
  6/26/96 100 Cisco Syste    53.90     58.25     8.07%
  7/23/96 100 S&P Deposit    64.15     66.22     3.22%
  5/24/96 100 Oxford Heal    48.02     45.38    -5.52%


    Rec'd  #   Security      Cost     Value    Change

  2/28/96 200 Borders Gro  4502.49   7100.00  $2597.51
   3/8/96 400 Prime Medic  4027.49   5550.00  $1522.51
  1/29/96 100 Texas Indus  5449.99   6800.00  $1350.01
   2/2/96 200 Green Tree   6077.49   7350.00  $1272.51
  4/12/96 100 The Shaw Gr  1884.16   2775.00   $890.84
  6/26/96 100 Cisco Syste  5389.99   5825.00   $435.01
  7/23/96 100 S&P Deposit  6414.99   6621.88   $206.89
  5/24/96 100 Oxford Heal  4802.49   4537.50  -$264.99

                             CASH   $9693.43
                            TOTAL  $56252.81