Fool Portfolio Report
Monday, February 26, 1996
Note to NORTH CAROLINA: David Gardner will be appearing in person to sign YOUR copy of "The Motley Fool Investment Guide" in Charlotte this Wednesday night. Join David at 7 PM for an hour of reading, speaking, and interactive Q&A---and some signed books---at The Little Professor bookstore, 4139 Park Road at Park Road Shopping Center. Bring your best friends, your worst enemies, and everyone in between. Questions? Call the store at 704-527-0706!
(FOOL GLOBAL
WIRE)
By David Gardner (MotleyFool)
WINSTON-SALEM, NC, Feb. 26 -- Monday featured one of 1996's worst days so far, as we saw broad declines in the Dow Jones industrial average (down 1.19%) and the S&P 500 (down 1.31%), with the NASDAQ coming in a bit better (down just .42%). The Motley Fool Portfolio took one in the chops, declining 1.87%.
I watched our stocks get mashed today from a family perch in Winston-Salem, NC, preparing for a Wednesday booksigning in Charlotte, NC. (Hope to meet a bunch of North Carolina Fools on Wednesday night at Park Road Plaza in Charlotte! Details precede this report.) I got to watch 8 of our 9 Fool stocks go down , most of them (America Online, Chevron, General Electric, Medicis, and Sears) by a point or more. The day started off not pretty, and managed to end that way as well. Our one Monday winner, Iomega, caught an eighth-point updraft.
No significant news on any of our stocks today. One thing we didn't get to mention from Friday is that Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on Sears from OUTPERFORM to STRONG BUY. That sent Sears skyrocketing, closing at a new all-time high of $47 7/8, up $2 5/8. Today, the stock dropped $1 5/8.
Because we have one other retailer in our Fool Portfolio, The Gap, we enjoy comparing the two's moves to see if we can come up with any insights. The Gap jumped $2 on Friday, and gave back $1/8 today. Net two-day gain for GPS: $1 7/8. Net two-day gain for Sears (straddling timing of brokerage recommendation): $1. You see, sometimes the commotion surrounding the headline-grabbers obscures the superior, quieter work. Not a profound lesson, mind you, but as one always in search of ironies, I'm happy to present you our Electronic Ironic Example of the Day.
The Gap reports its earnings later this week.
Small-cap watchers: I want to point your attention to a new feature in Fooldom, spotlight research being done on small-cap growth stocks coming out of the recent Cruttenden Roth Growth Conference. MFs Muse and Quest were in attendance, and in concert with editor MF Czar they have done amazing work putting together a package of info on companies featured at the conference. Consequently, those who are looking around for some new small caps to follow can now find superb work done right there. To find it, just click down a bit in our mainscreen listbox. Tonight there will be new reports on Voxel (VOXL) and Datametrics (DC).
I have to mention the outstanding review given "The Motley Fool Investment Guide" by today's Chicago Tribune, written by Tribune financial columninst Bill Barnhart. It is my personal favorite among stuff written about the book so far, and a must-read. You can find it by following this clickstream: keyword TRIB >> "Search the Tribune" button >> search for "Motley" or "Motley Fool" or whatever. You'll see it right there, entitled "True Market Insights, Without the Pretense." There is one relevant section toward the end which I'll excerpt for our online readers, because it's important and apropos to Foolishness Online:
"In that regard, no mention of the Motley Fools is complete without a nod to their AOL site. If you're on-line with AOL and you invest in stocks, spend some time browsing the Motley Fool site. It's the best of what on-line communication can be. The spirit of show-me democracy that pervades the site, as well as the book, is a welcome change from the I-know-better-than-you mentality of the brokerage and mutual fund industries.
"Using on-line services, investors in publicly traded companies today can share opinions and facts instantaneously with employees of the companies and others. The companies' public relations and investor relations officers have no control; neither do the brokerage and mutual fund industries, with their stables of stock analysts and portfolio managers.
"The Motley Fool AOL site is presented under the heading 'Finance and Folly,' two subjects we all need to understand better."
A delightful note to close on, and amen to Mr. Barnhart for his intelligent, graceful insights.
Today's Moves
AMER -2 AMAT - 3/8 CHV -1 GE -1 1/4 GPS - 1/8 IOMG + 1/8 KLAC - 1/4 MDRX -1 S -1 5/8
Today's Numbers
Day Month Year History FOOL -1.87% 9.69% 16.31% 117.19% S&P 500 -1.31% 2.27% 5.61% 41.90% NASDAQ -0.42% 5.02% 5.79% 54.55% Rec'd # Security In At Now Change 8/5/94 680 AmOnline 7.27 53.88 640.77% 5/17/95 1005 Iomega Cor 5.04 15.75 212.63% 8/5/94 165 Sears 28.93 46.25 59.90% 4/20/95 155 The Gap 32.55 51.63 58.60% 8/11/95 95 GenElec 57.91 78.38 35.33% 8/11/95 110 Chevron 49.00 56.13 14.54% 1/29/96 250 Medicis Ph 27.86 27.50 -1.29% 8/24/95 100 AppldMatl 57.52 41.50 -27.86% 8/24/95 130 KLA Instrm 44.71 28.50 -36.26% Rec'd # Security Cost Value Change 8/5/94 680 AmOnline 4945.56 36635.00 $31689.44 8/24/95 100 AppldMatl 5752.49 4150.00 -$1602.49 5/17/95 1005 Iomega Cor 5063.13 15828.75 $10765.62 4/20/95 155 The Gap 5045.25 8001.88 $2956.63 8/5/94 165 Sears 4772.65 7631.25 $2858.60 8/11/95 95 GenElec 5501.87 7445.63 $1943.76 8/11/95 110 Chevron 5389.99 6173.75 $783.76 1/29/96 250 Medicis Ph 6964.99 6875.00 -$89.99 8/24/95 130 KLA Instrm 5812.49 3705.00 -$2107.49 CASH $12147.13 TOTAL $108593.38
