Drip Portfolio Report
Tuesday, March 10, 1998
by Jeff Fischer ([email protected])

ALEXANDRIA, VA (Mar. 10, 1998) -- Greetings, Fools!

Dale Wettlaufer provided me with the list of seventeen bank and financial stocks that he's going to consider beginning next week. I'll share the list today and the company phone numbers as well, in case you want to call and obtain hardcopy financials or company information. Most, if not all, of these companies have websites with complete financial information available online, too, and Dale will probably provide links as he goes through the numbers.

If you have companies that you'd like to see considered that are not on the list, please email your suggestions to [email protected]. Dale will do the best that he can, but remember that there are hundreds of these companies and Dale is focusing on what he considers to be among the very best. Without further ado, the following is Dale's list.

Zeeee Royal Scroll, please:

  1. Citicorp (212-559-1000)
  2. NationsBank (704-386-5000)
  3. First Tennessee National (901-523-4027)
  4. Fifth/Third Bancorp (513-579-5300)
  5. First Union (704-374-6565)
  6. BankAmerica (415-622-3530)
  7. Wells Fargo (415-396-3053)
  8. BankBoston (617-434-2200)
  9. American Express (212-640-2000)
  10. Banc One (614-248-5944)
  11. US Bancorp* (612-973-1111)
  12. First Empire State Corp.* (716-842-5445)
  13. Mercantile Bancorp (314-425-2525)
  14. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (800-387-0825)
  15. State Street (617-786-3000)
  16. Wachovia (910-770-5000)
  17. KeyCorp (216-689-6300)

*company has fees for cash investments or dividend reinvestments.

Only the plans of US Bancorp and First Empire State Corp. have any DRP fees other than selling fees. Both of these companies have 5% fees on cash investments and/or dividend reinvestments. Due to this, the reasons for investing in either company will need to be exceptional for us to choose one of these over the fee-less competition.

Also, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, though sporting a very fancy name, will need to woo us with outstanding fundamentals if the Drip Port is going to begin investing in this Canadian company. The financials will be in Canadian dollars, making things more difficult, and the stock trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Nonetheless, it'll be interesting to learn what, if anything, is different about this company's basic operations compared to U.S.-based banks.

Finally, Wells Fargo is a $320 stock. That might make our first share difficult to buy, though not impossible. The rest of the list is pretty flawless. In this group, perhaps more than in any other, we're going to see the power of reinvesting dividends over the coming years.

Tomorrow the column will provide a snapshot of where our current companies' stocks stand in relation to expected earnings, and then we'll discuss our coming purchase of Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) through the Moneypaper; as well our monthly $100 in savings that should go, in two parts, to Johnson & Johnson and Intel. We'll send that $100 within a week or so. We have time. For the rest of the week we'll review Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) 1997 results -- finally!

So, look over the names above and get ready for next week when Dale begins a Foolish journey that will teach about investing in financial and banking stocks for the long run (and for the substantial dividends). If you have comments or questions, please visit the Drip message boards that are linked at the top right of this page. Vince (TMF Elwood) and I will see you there.

Have a Foolish evening!

--Jeff

FoolWatch -- It's what's going on at the Fool today.

TODAY'S NUMBERS 

Stock   Close     Change 
 INTC   75 1/2    + 7/16 
 JNJ    75        +13/16 
 
 
 
 
              Day     Month    Year    History 
 Drip         0.46%  (8.55%)   6.47%   (9.33%) 
 S&P 500      1.14%   1.42%    9.67%   11.87%  
 Nasdaq       1.35%  (1.24%)  11.35%    9.71%  
  
  
 Last Rec'd Total # Security In At  Current 
  02/02/98   8.066    INTC  $79.929 $75.500 
  02/09/98   2.498    JNJ   $64.902 $75.063 
  
  
 Last Rec'd Total# Security In At   Value   Change 
  02/02/98  8.066    INTC  $644.72 $608.99 ($35.73) 
  02/09/98  2.498    JNJ   $162.13 $187.51  $25.38  
  
  
 Base:  $1300.00 
 Cash:   $439.75** 
 Total: $1236.25 
  
  
 
 
     
 
     The Drip Portfolio has been divided into 54.538 shares with an average purchase 
     price of $23.837 per share. 
     
 
     The portfolio began with $500 on July 28, 1997, adds $100 on the 1st of every 
     month, and the goal is to have $150,000 in stock by August of the year 2017. 
     
 
     **Transactions in progress: 
     
 
     2/21/98: Sending $50 to buy INTC. 
     
 
     2/21/98: Sending $50 to buy JNJ.