Fool Portfolio Report
Monday, March 18, 1996
(FOOL GLOBAL
WIRE)
by David Gardner (Motley Fool)
FOOL GLOBAL WIRE -- New York, NY, Mar. 18 --
... 'scuse me while I ponder for a sec. Interior monologue. Don't mind me. . . .
(Celebration.)
(No seriously, huge celebration.)
(Perhaps Fool HQ should just skip the darned report altogether tonight. I mean, what the heck are we doing clacking away at our silly keyboards after putting up 6.71% returns in one day, and 11.53% so far this month?)
(Heck, we're now up 27.64% THIS YEAR. . . I mean, that's in less than three months, vs. gains in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ of 5.96% and 5.92%, respectively.)
(After gains of 11% in the latter half of 1994---we launched in August---and 68% last year, we're now staring at historical gains of 138%, vs. 42% for the S&P 500.)
(We're thinking of shorting the bejesus out of ourselves. You too, eh?)
(Is this real?)
(OK, we'll be honest. Tom and I are thinking of just quitting at this point. Sure. . . just excise keyword FOOL from the system and collapse the place. I mean, why go on? Will we EVER put up 138% returns over any 19-month period ever again? Whadda ya think, equity fans. . . should the Fools turn in their caps?)
. . . ahem! Hi there!
Welcome to tonight's daily Fool Portfolio Recap. We have good news about our portfolio. It was up. Way up. We're talkin' about the kind of up that enabled Chuck Yeager to slip the surly bonds of earth and break the sound barrier in 1947. Yeah, we're talkin' about multi-buck moves here, my fellow Fools, just about everywhere you look. (See the slot to the right for the nitty-gritty.)
In fact, if you've been following the Fool, and maybe you own some of the stocks, it's probably best at this point to ask your spouse to get out the family camera and take a picture of your grinning face juxtaposed right next to your computer monitor, with today's numbers brightly glowing. Or maybe a quick pic of you and your "Motley Fool Investment Guide" snuggled up together on a couch. And geez, if you already have a Fool ballcap (... plug! ...plug! find one at keyword FOOLMART), wear it too. Even better. March 18th was just that good.
The market did well, we grant you. Nice day for the S&P 500 (up 1.75%) and the NASDAQ (up 1.35%). No doubt those buoyed several of our stocks that had no particular news to report. We're talking about stocks like Chevron (up $2 1/8, just because), General Electric (up the same $2 1/8, for the same reason), and even our semiconductor stocks (Applied Materials up $2 3/4 to $37 1/4 and KLA Instruments up $2 1/4 to $25 3/4; rumors on the floor were that the slippage in semiconductor chip pricing has ended).
What really mattered, actually, was just that Fool darling Iomega got its first mainstream Wall Street institutional coverage, as Hambrecht & Quist Inc. analyst Todd Baker initiated coverage of Iomega Corp. (IOMG) with a buy rating. In a research note, Baker said the removable storage market is poised for strong growth, particularly as new high-capacity removable devices begin to replace older floppy drives. Baker made positive comments about Iomega's ability to build its infrastructure to support its superb growth.
And his 1996 earnings estimate? A stellar 65 cents a share. That would put the current valuation at 36 times 1996 earnings. (Iomega, as you'll recall, is on a calendar year.) He's looking for sales this year of $970 million (hauntingly close to projections made by our readers 6-8 months ago, most of whom have at least tripled their money in the stock by now) and $1.4 billion sales for '97.
What did all this mean for the already-spoiled-rotten Iomega shareholders? Another gain of $4 1/8. And oh by the way it crossed into four-bagger territory for us, our second-ever four-bagger. Actually, it crossed more than half the distance toward becoming a FIVE-bagger for us Fools today, in one day, as we're now sporting a gain of 369% since our purchase May 17th of last year.
You know, when I think back on all the recent negative media stories on Iomega, I. . .
. . . um, actually I ignore it. And I'm glad I did. I honestly didn't waste any time on it, long-term investing Fool that I am. Can you imagine how Wise we would have been to sell? Can you imagine how misled those who DID sell, or sell it short, feel now, after having drunken in one or another "bear story" on IOMG from a media entity near you? If you hear a sickening sucking sound right now, it ain't coming from Fool HQ, I can tell you.
But enough trash talk. Seriously. OK, maybe that's not enough, but I'll stop anyway.
Where to from here? Well, we're going to celebrate our success by serving our customers even better. Tomorrow morning we'll unveil the NEW Fool, fully restructured and redesigned, a new look and a new lease on life. We're talking about a pretty sweet beast, people. . . we think you'll hear her purr. We are very excited about the new launch, and grateful for all the great work put in by our staff, particularly the extremely industrious, talented, and overworked Erik Rydholm (MF Fletch), who's put in way too many hours for this thing. Erik was our third primary partner when we started the Motley Fool as a printed newsletter back in July of 1993. And our redesign and new look is a testament to his ingenuity, taste, and fanatical focus on Foolishness. Let us know what you think. Drop Erik or us an e-mail tomorrow.
Tonight, of course, go throw money at someone you don't know. With a smile on your face. And darn it, sleep in tomorrow!
Today's Numbers
Day Month Year History FOOL +6.71% 11.53% 27.64% 138.34% S&P 500 +1.75% 1.91% 5.96% 42.38% NASDAQ +1.35% 1.31% 5.92% 54.74% Rec'd # Security In At Now Change 8/5/94 680 AmOnline 7.27 57.13 685.45% 5/17/95 1005 Iomega Cor 5.04 23.63 368.94% 8/5/94 165 Sears 28.93 50.75 75.45% 4/20/95 155 The Gap 32.55 56.50 73.58% 8/11/95 95 GenElec 57.91 77.88 34.47% 8/11/95 110 Chevron 49.00 57.00 16.33% 1/29/96 250 Medicis Ph 27.86 26.25 -5.78% 8/24/95 100 AppldMatl 57.52 37.25 -35.25% 8/24/95 130 KLA Instrm 44.71 25.75 -42.41% Rec'd # Security Cost Value Change 8/5/94 680 AmOnline 4945.56 38845.00 $33899.44 8/24/95 100 AppldMatl 5752.49 3725.00 -$2027.49 5/17/95 1005 Iomega Cor 5063.13 23743.13 $18680.00 4/20/95 155 The Gap 5045.25 8757.50 $3712.25 8/5/94 165 Sears 4772.65 8373.75 $3601.10 8/11/95 95 GenElec 5501.87 7398.13 $1896.26 8/11/95 110 Chevron 5389.99 6270.00 $880.01 1/29/96 250 Medicis Ph 6964.99 6562.50 -$402.49 8/24/95 130 KLA Instrm 5812.49 3347.50 -$2464.99 CASH $12147.13 TOTAL $119169.63
