The cat's out of the bag! Happy April Fool's.
To our friends, family, and the millions who make The Motley Fool Community the world's greatest investment community:
Since 1994, when The Motley Fool first went online, our mission has been to educate, amuse, and enrich investors around the world. For nearly 15 years we have never shied away from telling the truth we felt investors needed to hear. While unconventional, and even unpopular, these truths over the years have included the following:
- The majority of mutual funds overcharge investors and deliver underperformance.
- The greatest threat to our children's future is financial ignorance.
- CEOs are America's greatest natural resource.
The Motley Fool has become one of the most trusted sources of independent analysis and engaging commentary in the investment world. That's why we know you will be excited about this news.
This is for your own good
Warren Buffett has said that if you're not willing to own a stock for 10 years, you shouldn't even think about owning it for 10 minutes. We couldn't agree more. With the roller-coaster ride Wall Street has been on over the past few months, frankly, we are sick and tired of watching, analyzing, and writing about the day-to-day movements of the stock market.
Therefore, it is with unparalleled enthusiasm that today we announce that for the next six months, The Motley Fool will not be covering the stock market or writing investment-related content of any kind.
Trust us. Now let's move on.
This may come as a surprise to many of you, but old-time Fools will recall that covering the stock market was 25% of our mission in the early days of The Motley Fool. When we started online at AOL in 1994, our investing forum was so popular, we launched content for the entertainment industry (Follywood), sports (FoolDome), and pop culture (Rogue).
Rest assured: We will approach these topics and others with the same zeal and passion that we have for investing. Let's face it, folks. Everyone needs a break now and then, and as Buffett says, "if you can't take six months off from the stock market to stop and smell the roses, you just ain't livin'."**
Livin' La Vida Foolish!
So what can you look forward to over the next six months? Articles and advice on:
- Books to read
- Getting the most from your workout
- Sharpening your intellect with strategy board games
- Finding the next great cocktail
- Guitar Hero 101
- Spatulas and You: A Buyer's Guide
- and much, much more!
We have no doubt that this announcement will embolden our competitors, to say nothing of our skeptics. Nevertheless, we believe in our hearts that this is the right move for our company, and for our employees -- but most of all for you, the millions of Fools who are smart enough to know when it's time to just step away from Mr. Market and focus on the rest of life.
We'll return to our regular investment-oriented editorial programming on Oct. 1, 2008, refreshed and reinvigorated for the challenges of being a modern-day investor. Until then, we are thrilled to bring you the very latest in cutting-edge lifestyle and self-improvement skills programming. Click some of the links above to get started!
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or opinions about our new editorial direction, please drop us a line.
Foolishly yours,
Tom Gardner, CEO
David Gardner, Chief Rule Breaker
** Actual quote may not have necessarily been said or intimated by Warren Buffett.
