Fool Portfolio Report
Monday, March 11, 1996
(FOOL GLOBAL
WIRE)
by Keith Pelczarski (MF Czar)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. Mar. 11 -- Hear Ye, Hear Ye! The great crash of '96 is over. Well, actually, it never really started. Sure, the Wise media got some great stuff to sensationalize, but for the most part, it seems that Friday was considered a non-event after folks had the weekend to reconsider things.
Maybe the news in Saturday's Washington Post had something to do with the rational thought. On the front page of the business section, several investment advisors were polled about Friday's activity, and how to proceed. Level heads prevailed, and Friday was treated like the blip that it was. Of particular note in the Washington Post article was a quote from the Motley One himself.
" 'The thing to do this weekend is to watch NCAA basketball,' declares David Gardner, who dispenses advice over America Online as 'The Motley Fool.' 'Don't panic, don't sell, don't sweat the short-term moves -- just stay fully invested.' "
Amen to that -- Fools everywhere enjoyed the exciting NCAA basketball action this weekend (and speaking of NCAA basketball, why not take "The Road to the Final Fool?" It's a Foolish predictive game that could net you six free months of AOL time! You can find it in the Fool Dome, keyword: Fool Dome), and today they enjoyed the fruits of their patience with a nice rebound, as the market took its cue from Tim Duncan.
The Fool Portfolio surged today, with what very well could be its single largest one day gain (Sal in research is back-checking as we speak). It was up 5.38% on the day, leaving the Nasdaq Composite (+1.44%) and the S&P 500 (+0.96) in the dust. I can hear the Fool detractors now -- "You just got lucky, your largest holding [AMER] was up over 10% today!" Well, timing does factor into it, and Fools will be the first to admit that.
However, I figured I'd run the numbers sans AMER, considering that position as flat instead. How did we do ex AMER? Up about 2.5%, still well ahead of broader averages.
One important thing to note is that the Fool Portfolio closed at a total value of $105,995.26, a cool 1.3% higher than the close last Thursday. It just goes to show that one day is sometimes just that and the sky isn't falling.
With every stock in the Fool 'Folio closing up on the day, it's tough to paint anything but a bright picture today. I won't bore you with all the individual ticks and turns, but there is one company that had news too huge to ignore.
America Online announced today that it will be taking over the world.
Actually, it isn't taking over the world, but several announcements today indicate that it's well on its way. For complete details, we've assembled a collection on the mainscreen listbox -- I'll just provide you with a brief rundown.
The first item of note was the announcement that AOL has struck a deal that will allow it to provide users (that's YOU!) with a real web browser -- that's right, Netscape will be offered on AOL. Actually, many savvy users are already using Navigator rather than AOL's bowser, errr... browser, but soon there will be much better integration.
Another America Online story has to do with AT&T. It turns out that big, bad, web wolf isn't going to blow AOL's house down. Quite the contrary, the beast has brought some spackle, a basket of goodies, and a bowl of porridge that's just right. (Whew! I'm woozy from using that mixed metaphor!)
In non-nursery-rhyme terms, AT&T's newly announced WorldNet service will be offering AOL's service -- at a discount, no less (price details to be announced soon). It can only bode well for both companies, in the opinion of this dizzy Fool.
The third announcement by AMER today concerned Ziff-Davis, publishers of computer magazines a go-go. An unparalleled source of computing knowledge, ZDNet will be integrated with America Online's computing forum.
Just sit back in your Captain Kirk computer chair for a moment and contemplate the magnitude of these announcements....
The best online service provider in terms of content, ease of use, and Foolishness teams up with the companies that have the best web browser (NSCP), telecommunications network (T), and computing information database in the world (ZDNet).
Sounds like a slam dunk to me.
Today's Moves
AMER +4 1/8 AMAT + 1/8 CHV +1 GE +1 3/4 GPS +2 1/4 IOMG +1 1/8 KLAC + 3/4 MDRX +1 1/8 S +2 5/8
Today's Numbers
Day Month Year History FOOL +5.38% -1.37% 12.88% 110.77% S&P 500 +0.96% -0.13% 3.84% 39.52% NASDAQ +1.44% -1.91% 2.56% 49.84% Rec'd # Security In At Now Change 8/5/94 680 AmOnline 7.27 48.13 561.70% 5/17/95 1005 Iomega Cor 5.04 17.50 247.36% 4/20/95 155 The Gap 32.55 55.00 68.97% 8/5/94 165 Sears 28.93 48.50 67.67% 8/11/95 95 GenElec 57.91 76.50 32.09% 8/11/95 110 Chevron 49.00 54.63 11.48% 1/29/96 250 Medicis Ph 27.86 27.38 -1.74% 8/24/95 100 AppldMatl 57.52 33.88 -41.11% 8/24/95 130 KLA Instrm 44.71 22.25 -50.24% Rec'd # Security Cost Value Change 8/5/94 680 AmOnline 4945.56 32725.00 $27779.44 8/24/95 100 AppldMatl 5752.49 3387.50 -$2364.99 5/17/95 1005 Iomega Cor 5063.13 17587.50 $12524.37 4/20/95 155 The Gap 5045.25 8525.00 $3479.75 8/5/94 165 Sears 4772.65 8002.50 $3229.85 8/11/95 95 GenElec 5501.87 7267.50 $1765.63 8/11/95 110 Chevron 5389.99 6008.75 $618.76 1/29/96 250 Medicis Ph 6964.99 6843.75 -$121.24 8/24/95 130 KLA Instrm 5812.49 2892.50 -$2919.99 CASH $12147.13 TOTAL $105387.13