Fun and Folly in the Stock Market
Written: Jun 02 '00 (Updated Jul 03 '00)
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Pros: Abundant information for the do-it-yourself investor
Cons: Dave Gardner does get a wee bit... opinionated!
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| WritingLife's Full Review: Motley Fool |
"Educate, Amuse, Enrich" is the motto of the Motley Fool, and this site delivers on all counts. For those who have thought about investing in stocks but didn't know how to get started, the Fool offers a wealth of advice from their own experts, as well as message boards where one can discuss investment issues (and just about anything else) with other members. Membership is free.
The Fool began with two ordinary fellows, Dave and Tom Gardner, who figured that anyone with a reasonable amount of intelligence could educate himself about the stock market and do reasonably well with investing -- at least as well as the high-priced experts. While these days the pair dispense plenty of advice themselves, right up there with all the other market pundits, at least their site offers the tools the every day person needs to make his or her own investment decisions. Besides, the Fool's goal is not to offer "hot tips," but to teach people how to find their own best investment plan, and to help ordinary people increase their wealth without having to pay big fees to brokers. To this end, the site offers the tools investors need, plus a whole load of goodies to keep you coming back.
Educate
In "Fool's School," the would-be stock investor in introduced to a 13-step plan, beginning with the basics of investing, getting one's finances in order, setting goals, then choosing a formula for the initial plunge: DRIP investing, the Foolish Four, Rule Makers, Rule Breakers. "Fool's School" shows how to find and select a discount broker (and the Foolish epinionator might check the epinions here on each broker before signing on). Portfolios for each strategy are set up for everyone to see, so you can check out how well the strategies work before you put your own money into the market.
Once you've completed the "Fool's School," go on to the articles on retirement, investing strategies, and personal finance. "Special Features" has up-to-the-minute articles of interest to investors: what's happening in major companies, new laws affecting investments, interviews with CEO's, etc.
In addition to all the free advice on the web site, you can purchase Tom and Dave Gardner's books on site (or look for them in your favorite book store).
Amuse
Take a poll. Enter a contest. Set up mock portfolios and have fun tracking them. Read the daily "Fribble" under "Today's Features." What's life without a few grins? The Fool offers plenty. You can become a member and have fun, whether you're an investor or not.
Enrich
Use the "Quotes and Data" and "Stock Research" features to research any company you want to invest in. The only thing you can't do here is actually buy stock, but the Fool has advice on finding a broker (not to mention plenty of banner ads to take you right to the brokers themselves). Use the portfolio feature to keep track of your own investments. The goal of the Fool is to help ordinary people increase their wealth, and the site offers plenty of tools to do just that. Charts, courtesy of BigCharts.com, show the performance of stocks over the long term, up to ten years. Compare your favorite stocks to the Dow or the S&P index. Quotes give current prices for stocks, as well as current articles about the company.
The chat rooms and folders offer forums for members to share information and investment ideas. As in any public forum, there will be good information and fraudulent information side by side. Apply your good critical thinking to any forum advice you find. Use it as a starting point, but do your own research before you invest in anything.
All in all, the Fool is a good educational site for the do-it-yourself investor. If all this is too scary, then by all means go with a financial advisor or a full-service broker. But even if you do, educating yourself about the market is still important. It's your money, after all. Take charge of it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
WritingLife
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Location: Salem, OR
Reviews written: 76
Trusted by: 16 members
About Me:
Iconoclastic, skeptical, dyed-in-the-wool curmudgeon. Synesthete. Surprising.
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