Drip
Portfolio Report
Friday, February 13, 1998
by Jeff Fischer
([email protected])
ALEXANDRIA, VA (Feb. 13, 1998) -- The past week was spent on the Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB).
As exciting as the story is, that's about all that we covered.
Campbell Soup.
Monday's column explained why the portfolio is waiting until the Vlasic Foods spin-off is complete to buy our first share of Campbell. Tuesday we looked at Campbell vs. Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), and then launched the five and ten-year stock performance competition between the two. Wednesday we looked closely at Campbell's business plan (beauty, eh?), and Thursday we considered Campbell's existing markets and growth possibilities. (For one, the company's international sales are quite small.)
All told, it was a full week of getting to know more about the company that we have -- after three months -- decided to send our hard-earned money to every month. And of course we're not finished yet, but we'll take it easy on the Soup Guy for a while. Instead we're going to continue with our recent learning about Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), and then we'll move to Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). With updated knowledge of our three holdings (or soon-to-be holdings) under our belts, we'll then move forward. One of most important lessons to learn about Foolish investing, perhaps, is that of taking your time. Don't rush -- not in thought or action. (You probably agree that we don't rush here -- as you yawn while reading this.)
All of that said, as much as you learn about a company, there can never be "certainty" about any particular investment. The more that you know, the less likely you are to be surprised, but there are always unforeseen events. As optimistic as the columns have been on Campbell, the new initiatives at the company could flop. You can help, though, by buying more Campbell soup, Pepperidge Farm products, Pace sauces (you should especially buy Pace sauces -- they have the highest margins), and Prego sauce for your pasta. While you're at it, buy only Johnson & Johnson products (Tylenol, Reach Toothbrushes, etc), and only buy computers that have Intel Inside.
Kidding aside (if indeed I was kidding), there is some news to announce. I called First Chicago Trust today for the Johnson & Johnson information and learned that we bought our partial J&J shares (0.719403 shares in the Drip Port, or $50 worth) on February 9 at $69.502 per share. This brings our total J&J cost-basis to $64.891, though we only own about 2.5 shares so far. It's only been two months that we've been sending money to the company.
We'll be sending money to both of our companies again probably by the end of next week. Neither stock is exactly cheap, but they're not exactly pricey, either. As a whole, we're rowing ahead, the size of a small dinghy, and by the time that we become Titanic in size, we will be unsinkable.
(Ooops. Just cursed us.)
Have a Foolish and long weekend. See you Tuesday.
Jeff Fischer
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