A Week to Forget
Plus, snippets on many Fool stocks
by Jeff Fischer ([email protected])
JUPITER, FL (Aug. 14, 1998) -- A week that made headlines has ended, only to be forgotten in the months to come. If not sooner. Despite volatility, the business news of the last five days lacked substance. The ongoing collapse of the Russian Federation's stock market is hardly shocking, so it was amusing on Friday to see someone on CNBC say, "If the U.S. stock market followed the Russian market's 75% decline, that would mean a Dow of about 2,800. Scary, isn't it?" CNBC was on for five minutes and that's what I heard.
"Click." (That's the TV being turned off again.)
The U.S. and the Russian Federation both have a stock market. The similarities stop there.
Despite a frigid Friday, the Fool Port won the week. Le Fool lost 1.6% while the S&P declined 2.4% and Mr. Volatile -- otherwise known as Duke Nasdaq -- lost 3% over the past five days. We have many interesting snippets of information to share...
AT&T (NYSE: T) fell after the company that it plans to acquire, Tele-Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: TCOMA), announced a larger loss than expected. TCI's revenue for the quarter totaled $1.5 billion, down from $1.6 billion last year, though advertising sales grew 48% and cable revenue increased slightly. AT&T is clearly purchasing TCI with a long-term view for profitability, and shareholders need to think long term as well.
Being a methodical Foolish Four holding -- like DuPont (NYSE: DD) -- we'll be holding AT&T until the designated switch next August, at which time we'll buy the then current Foolish Four stocks. Speaking of DuPont, its stock declined Friday due to analyst downgrades following the company's news Thursday of a light third quarter. Meanwhile, other Fool Four stock International Paper (NYSE: IP) has been a dog due to paper inventory and pricing concerns.
On the plus side (and Friday there weren't many Fool stocks on this side), Innovex (Nasdaq: INVX) gained some long lost ground following upgrades of disk drive industry stocks by analysts. Innovex itself wasn't upgraded, but many drive companies were, giving speculators hope for the industry and granting Innovex a 10% re-boot. Still, trying to "call the bottom" on this industry is like trying to see the bottom of an oil well -- one that continually has oil seeping into it from deep sources unknown.
3Dfx (Nasdaq: TDFX) was flat. The stock trades at 7.4 times 1998 earnings estimates. Egads. It gets less respect than the President. We reviewed 3Dfx and 3Com (Nasdaq: COMS) in the past four days.
Trump Hotels (NYSE: DJT) suffered a pleasantly lousy week for us and announced drab -- to be polite -- results that we considered on Thursday. We'll review "Trump the Frump," our one short, next week with input from TMF Parlay. Back on the losing side of the playing field, Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) fell 8% on a lack of news. The company trades at 31.6 times the low-end of management's 1999 earnings expectations. The coffee guy's fiscal 1999 begins in six weeks.
In fact, with August half over, only two weeks of life remain for the Fool's special "Anniversary Four Pack" from FoolMart. In celebration of the Motley Fool's four years online (which is really a celebration of you, the community), this 4 Years of Folly Anniversary Pack offers four products, including a copy of the Motley Fool's first-ever investment primer from 1994 signed by David and Tom Gardner. (Talk about amusing. This primer is a treat.) The 4-Pack also includes a 1999 daily Motley Fool calendar. Give this special deal a look before it's gone!
Also, if you're interested in late summer reading, consider the Fool's August book pick called The Roaring 2000s, by Harry S. Dent. Especially in today's volatile market, it's a pleasure to read a book that looks ahead ten years or more, reminding you of your long-term goals. This book makes you think of the big picture, which is always better than watching the stock ticker race across the television screen with your life's time on it (wasting away).
The Roaring 2000s is quick and clear reading, and it presents many interesting possibilities of how life will change in the next ten years, with the Internet being a key component for change. Investigate the Fool's book review, then the reviews on Amazon. If you find you're interested, simply buy the book by giving it a 1-Click (tm Amazon.com). If you have more questions about the book, e-mail me.
Finally, if you're interested in more reading right now, Cash-King discusses how Fools might want to manage their monthly cash finances, and Drip Port touches on Intel, Johnson & Johnson, and Campbell Soup.
Have a Foolish weekend!
--Jeff Fischer
WE
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Today's FoolWatch: all the latest in Fooldom.
Day Month Year History Annualized FOOL -1.72% -1.50% 44.87% 386.18% 48.13% S&P: -1.13% -5.17% 9.51% 131.84% 23.24% NASDAQ: -0.69% -4.39% 14.00% 148.58% 25.39% Rec'd # Security In At Now Change 8/5/94 710 AmOnline 3.64 106.23 2821.39% 9/9/97 580 Amazon.com 19.11 122.75 542.31% 5/17/95 1960 Iomega Cor 1.28 5.06 295.38% 10/1/96 84 LucentTech 23.81 85.88 260.70% 8/12/96 130 AT&T 39.58 55.31 39.76% 4/30/97 -1170*Trump* 8.47 5.38 36.53% 2/20/98 200 Exxon 64.09 68.38 6.69% 2/20/98 215 DuPont 59.83 53.38 -10.79% 2/20/98 270 Int'l Pape 47.69 41.75 -12.46% 7/2/98 235 Starbucks 55.91 38.50 -31.14% 8/24/95 130 KLA-Tencor 44.71 28.13 -37.10% 8/13/96 250 3Com Corp. 46.86 29.19 -37.72% 6/26/97 325 Innovex 27.71 14.17 -48.86% 1/8/98 425 3Dfx 25.67 13.00 -49.35% Rec'd # Security In At Value Change 8/5/94 710 AmOnline 2581.87 75426.41 $72844.54 9/9/97 580 Amazon.com 11084.24 71195.00 $60110.76 5/17/95 1960 Iomega Cor 2509.60 9922.50 $7412.90 10/1/96 84 LucentTech 1999.88 7213.50 $5213.62 4/30/97 -1170*Trump* -9908.50 -6288.75 $3619.75 8/12/96 130 AT&T 5145.11 7190.63 $2045.52 2/20/98 200 Exxon 12818.00 13675.00 $857.00 2/20/98 215 DuPont 12864.25 11475.63 -$1388.63 2/20/98 270 Int'l Pape 12876.75 11272.50 -$1604.25 8/24/95 130 KLA-Tencor 5812.49 3656.25 -$2156.24 7/2/98 235 Starbucks 13138.63 9047.50 -$4091.13 6/26/97 325 Innovex 9005.62 4605.86 -$4399.76 8/13/96 250 3Com Corp. 11715.99 7296.88 -$4419.12 1/8/98 425 3Dfx 10908.63 5525.00 -$5383.63 CASH $11876.47 TOTAL $243090.36
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