Drip
Portfolio Report
Friday, November 28, 1997
by Jeff Fischer
([email protected])
ALEXANDRIA, VA (Nov. 28, 1997) -- It's safe to assume that many readers have had a busy holiday week and haven't yet been able to read the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (or even Tuesday) columns yet, so rather than pile another full column on top of that inventory, today will be a relaxing jaunt through some random thoughts, allowing you to go back and catch up on anything that you may have missed. If we were a normal business, today this column would be known as "clearing the inventory channel -- Foolishly."
On Tuesday and Wednesday we looked at the number one and number two breakfast cereal companies in the country, Kellogg and General Mills (the "Cereal King" and the "Almost Cereal King"). I decided against letting those companies make our cut-off list. To learn why, please give those two columns a look.
Also this past week we sent $100 to buy more Intel. The transactions that we have in progress can always be seen at the bottom this page in the Today's Numbers section. While the new buys themselves (meaning, the initial buy announcements stating that we're beginning a new position in a company -- which is proving to be a very big and rare announcement indeed, thankfully) can always be seen in the Portfolio Information area under Trade History. We of course announce these well in advance in this column, too, after discussing them here for at least three months. (Joke... please smile.)
To make tracking all of our transactions easier, we'll soon add one page that quickly summarizes each initial position taken and every additional monthly investment sent. That page will be available from this main page, too.
Many people have been questioning what this line from the daily numbers means: "The Drip Portfolio has been divided into 37.063 shares with an average purchase price of $24.283 per share." TMF Sargon will be here soon to explain exactly how this was figured and how you can track your portfolio in a similar fashion to see how you perform against the S&P. It makes sense once explained fully.
So -- this column is called "catch-up Friday." Perhaps it should be called "Ketchup Friday," seeing how we're in the middle of looking at food and beverage stocks. Please excuse that very bad joke, though, and do consider spending some time this weekend listening to some good jokes.
This weekend the Foolish Gardner brothers, David and Tom, will be hosting the popular "MoneyTalk" radio show for Bob Brinker. You can hear them and call in on both Saturday and Sunday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST. The show airs on over 200 radio stations across the country (local radio station call numbers are listed at the link above). Give the Fools a listen and phone in!
Have a wonderful Holiday weekend, hopefully spent with family and friends. Gather around the computer and give them a quick tour of the Fool if they have any questions about investing or personal finance. Now is especially the time of the year to begin thinking about giving DRIP accounts as gifts to children or others. We're always glad to answer questions and help out here. See you Monday.
Fool on!
--Jeff
Have You Given? The Fool Charity Fund
TODAY'S NUMBERS
Day Month Year History Drip 0.37% (1.91%) (10.63%) (10.63%) S&P 500 0.40% 4.46% 28.98% 0.43% Nasdaq 0.38% 0.44% 23.97% 0.42% Last Rec'd Total # Security In At Current 11/03/97 4.835 INTC $81.623 $77.625 11/14/97 1.000 JNJ $62.125 $62.938 Last Rec'd Total# Security In At Value Change 11/03/97 4.835 INTC $394.69 $375.36 ($19.33) 11/14/97 1.000 JNJ $62.13 $62.94 $0.81 Base: $900.00 Cash: $389.75** Total: $828.04 GOAL: The portfolio began with $500 on July 28, 1997, adds $100 on the 15th of every month, and the goal is to grow the port to $150,000 by August of the year 2017. **Transactions in progress: 11/24/97: $100 sent to purchase more Intel. The Drip Portfolio has been divided into |
