The Motley Fool Investment Guide

[QueHuong]

I've been reading up on investing and the book I'm currently on is the book listed in the thread title. I just got past the Foolish Four chapter and got excited over the good returns. But doing some more research online, it's now discredited, even by the Motley Fools (the book was published in 1996). How disappointing.

So, am I wasting my time continuing to read this book? How about The Motley Fool Rule Breakers, Rule Makers book? That book was published in 1999. With 8 years for people to try out its strategies and advices, how has it been holding up?

 

[maddogchen]

drop that book now and read "The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio" by William J. Bernstein

 

[Babbles]

It's interesting in that I just bought that Motley Fool book today. I was thumbing through it at Barnes and Noble and it seemed like a decent book so I bought I on a whim. However after reading some reviews on Amazon and a quick search here it seems like perhaps it isn't all that great of a book.

Are there any other recommended books to get instead?

 

[Yossarian]

be highly skeptical of anything Motley Fool. they started out as a good investment resource with good intentions and have devolved over the years into spammers trying to suck people into paying for their advice and "omgz hottest 10 stocks evar" newsletters.

 

[Midlander]

Motley Fool seems to be a site for the owners to make money telling others how to make money in the stock market.

Of course, if their advice was that good, they wouldn't need to have the site. The would simply make the money in the market.

 

[ponyo]

Motley Fools are disciples of Peter Lynch. So just read Peter Lynch. At least he's not trying to sell you subscriptions.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Just buy and hold stock index mutual funds. Lower risk, zero effort, good returns.

 

[WildHorse]

To get a counterperspective on what you get from those Motley silly-hatted fools,

go here and READ as many of these letters by Warren Buffett as you can get through:

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. SHAREHOLDER LETTERS

Also, read whatever your local library has on Warren Buffett.

As you know, Mr. Buffett, the undisputed greatest investor alive, took a mere one hundred dollars and ran it up to

fifty-two billion dollars,

and is now giving it away.

His ways are very different from those of the Motley Fools.

So get the other perspective which he represents, since it's proved successful.

 

[grohl]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Just buy and hold stock index mutual funds. Lower risk, zero effort, good returns.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Burn that book already (and any other books you have by them).
The Motley Fools don't do anything except come out with dopey investment ideas.

Read books by Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, William Bernstein, and Peter Lynch.

 

[erwin1978]

Read Jim Cramers Mad Money of CNBC. It's an easy read coming from someone who hates reading. I'm now gonna open a Zecco account and play the stock game, too.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: QueHuong
I've been reading up on investing and the book I'm currently on is the book listed in the thread title. I just got past the Foolish Four chapter and got excited over the good returns. But doing some more research online, it's now discredited, even by the Motley Fools (the book was published in 1996). How disappointing.

So, am I wasting my time continuing to read this book? How about The Motley Fool Rule Breakers, Rule Makers book? That book was published in 1999. With 8 years for people to try out its strategies and advices, how has it been holding up?

Foolish 4 combo is up 12% so far this year.

foolish 4 combo= make 2 columns,
column1 = dow stocks sorted according to price
column2 = down stocks sorted according to dividends

take top 10 of each column and do a weight.

take top 4.

As of Jan1 2007, it would be AT&T, Verizon, GM, and Merck.

like i said, up 12% as of Fri (7/27) close :Q <yes, the week the dow dropped ~600 points>

foolish 4 has been discredited, but Foolish4 combo seems to be doing ok

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: erwin1978
Read Jim Cramers Mad Money of CNBC. It's an easy read coming from someone who hates reading. I'm now gonna open a Zecco account and play the stock game, too.

Jim Cramer is a speculator.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: QueHuong
I've been reading up on investing and the book I'm currently on is the book listed in the thread title. I just got past the Foolish Four chapter and got excited over the good returns. But doing some more research online, it's now discredited, even by the Motley Fools (the book was published in 1996). How disappointing.

So, am I wasting my time continuing to read this book? How about The Motley Fool Rule Breakers, Rule Makers book? That book was published in 1999. With 8 years for people to try out its strategies and advices, how has it been holding up?

Foolish 4 combo is up 12% so far this year.

foolish 4 combo= make 2 columns,
column1 = dow stocks sorted according to price
column2 = down stocks sorted according to dividends

take top 10 of each column and do a weight.

take top 4.

As of Jan1 2007, it would be AT&T, Verizon, GM, and Merck.

like i said, up 12% as of Fri (7/27) close :Q <yes, the week the dow dropped ~600 points>

foolish 4 has been discredited, but Foolish4 combo seems to be doing ok

In 2000, the four foolish stocks Caterpillar, Eastman Kodak, SBC, and General motors lost 14%.
The Dow only dropped by just 4.7% in that same time frame.

The example above isn't the only year the "foolish four" have drastically underpeformed the market.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Lothar

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: QueHuong
I've been reading up on investing and the book I'm currently on is the book listed in the thread title. I just got past the Foolish Four chapter and got excited over the good returns. But doing some more research online, it's now discredited, even by the Motley Fools (the book was published in 1996). How disappointing.

So, am I wasting my time continuing to read this book? How about The Motley Fool Rule Breakers, Rule Makers book? That book was published in 1999. With 8 years for people to try out its strategies and advices, how has it been holding up?

Foolish 4 combo is up 12% so far this year.

foolish 4 combo= make 2 columns,
column1 = dow stocks sorted according to price
column2 = down stocks sorted according to dividends

take top 10 of each column and do a weight.

take top 4.

As of Jan1 2007, it would be AT&T, Verizon, GM, and Merck.

like i said, up 12% as of Fri (7/27) close :Q <yes, the week the dow dropped ~600 points>

foolish 4 has been discredited, but Foolish4 combo seems to be doing ok

In 2000, the four foolish stocks Caterpillar, Eastman Kodak, SBC, and General motors lost 14%.
The Dow only dropped by just 4.7% in that same time frame.

The example above isn't the only year the "foolish four" have drastically underpeformed the market.

Foorlish Four, or Foolish Four combo?

similiar, but not the same