Anyone tried the "Motley Fool Stock Advisor" service?

djsusm · 07-19-2006, 06:35 PM

Hi all,

I've been getting a lot of mail from the motley fool guys trying to convince me to sign up for their Motley Fool Stock Advisor service. I was wondering if any of you have tried it before (or heard about it good or bad).

Here is an email I got from them and it sounds too much of a late night infomercial/car salesman type email...

Quote:

What if an unmistakable "signal"
could lead you to PROFITS of
208%, 244%, even 791%?
Forget the "what ifs" -- that signal is flashing now!

Good Afternoon Fellow Investor,

I called you "fellow investor" just now for a reason.

You see, like you, I'm committed to building wealth, so my family can enjoy a safer, richer, more pleasant and fulfilling life.

And, like you, I don't want to work until I'm 85 unless I choose to.

Instead, I want to make enough money to do what I want... and I bet you feel the same way!
That's why I'm so eager to share this timely investment opportunity with you today... and tell you about the "unmistakable signal" that is flashing "BUY" right now.

In fact, I have every reason to expect this stock can DOUBLE your original investment (and mine, too), if not even much more than that!

How can I be so confident?

Simple. This remarkable company boasts ONE defining and extremely telling characteristic that...

You'll NEVER hear mentioned in The Wall Street Journal or on CNBC
Will NEVER turn up in a public SEC filing
Can NEVER be screened for by a team of Wall Street analysts or space age computer model...
Yet, while thousands of issues trade on the U.S. markets every day, a GRAND TOTAL OF ONLY 24 STOCKS have surfaced with this ONE defining characteristic going back to April 2002.

Just 27 stocks in 4 years...

I'll show you exactly what that amazing characteristic is in just a moment (you can use it yourself again and again). But first, here's why this is crucial to your wealth right now...

If you'd simply bought and held those 27 stocks, your brokerage balance would amaze you. You'd be emailing your friends today, bragging about your...

Stunning average gains of 70.8%
Phenomenal 79.1% in POSITIVE territory
Market-thumping PROFITS of 208%... 244%... and even 620%!
You'll hear irrefutable proof of this astonishing track record just ahead. But I don't exaggerate when I say the stock we're discussing today comes...

Closer to being a SURE THING than anything I've come across in a very long time.
But I admit... I couldn't have found it myself My name is Paul Elliott. I'm a serious investor. I spent years providing costly research to hedge fund managers, Wall Street analysts, and sell-side brokers.

I've discussed markets on CNBC and consulted CNN on the Enron collapse. And my work on insider trading was highlighted in a Wall Street Journal article that won the Pulitzer Prize.

And still, I would NEVER have spotted this stock myself!

Which is why I'm so eager to tell you how I did find it... and introduce you to the two fiercely independent stock analysts who led me to it.

Their names are David and Tom Gardner. Maybe you know them from The Motley Fool, the thriving online investment community they created back 1994 with one ambitious goal in mind:

To provide the TRUSTED investment information YOU need to systematically build your wealth one great company at a time.
Ok, I confess -- when I first heard that claim I was skeptical, too...

Remember, I was working in the "industry." Back then, a typical money manager gladly forked over $1,000 per month or more for my team's research.

So, you can bet I followed David and Tom's new breed of "independent" stock research with skepticism and great interest. Hey, maybe I wanted them to fall flat on their faces.

But that didn't happen. Quite the contrary. And now I must admit, I've been extremely impressed with what they've accomplished.

Apparently, Arthur Levitt, is too. After all, the former SEC Chairman called The Motley Fool...

"As close to being an effective investor advocate as any organization in America."

Money.com agrees, calling David and Tom...

"Two of the most widely followed stock market advisors in the world."

You'll hear more about David and Tom today -- how their latest, most exclusive project is helping an inner circle of savvy investors beat up on my old pals on Wall Street (ok, maybe they deserved a whupping).

Better yet, you'll have an opportunity to join them and PROFIT from this new "wealth-building project" with no risk or obligation (and claim a timely, valuable gift in the process -- details just ahead).

But first, it's time we got back to the REAL reason I'm writing you this afternoon.

...

It goes on for another few pages, but you get the idea.

What do you all think? Worth trying out?

zippyjuan · 07-19-2006, 09:43 PM

Is it a free service? If so, you may give it a try. Like any sort of investment plan/ service they can go back and pick the stocks with the best numbers over a carefully selected time and say how great they were. They can even say they picked them. But they probably also picked ones that did horribly over certain periods too. They want to show the best side. Generally if an investment has been having a hot run, it is probably about due to go the other way for a while to get its returns back to the average. See what the dot coms did? Nothing offers above average returns forever. The Fool does offer good basic advice but I would be careful about specific suggestions. I am mostly using low cost index funds for my investments. And a Utility stock.

djsusm · 07-19-2006, 10:27 PM

No.. its not free - $149/year.

Here is an interesting article I dug up on Motley Fool - Link. I've been listening to their NPR show for a long time and following their site since 1997. I just don't know if its worth putting down a couple of hundred dollars for stock recommendataions that 50,000 other people are also looking at.

Also from wikipedia:

Quote:

The company ran into some trouble in 2001 with the significant declines in the stock market and especially Internet-based stocks, arguably the cornerstones of the Motley Fool's strategy. That year, The Washington Post reported on the company's significant layoffs [2]. The company also closed its nascent operations in Germany and Japan at that time.

Today, the company earns money primarily through subscriptions to its investment advisory services. The services, which combine a traditional paper newsletter with interactive electronic discussion boards and other tools, cover a range of styles from mutual funds to small caps to technology stocks. The company also provides additional services outside its primary stockpicking focus, like retirement planning. Advertising to its monthly website audience of several million, while no longer still the primary business model, continues. Signs that The Motley Fool is growing strong again became apparent in a December 2005 Washington Post article, detailing its recently signed 10-year lease for new offices in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, taking over space vacated by Time Life. [3]

zippyjuan · 07-19-2006, 11:16 PM

When it comes to financial information, paid for information is no more reliable than free information. It should all be taken with a large dose of salt. For $150 a year I would not sign up, but that is my choice. Warren Buffets are extremely rare. I doubt that giving them your money will make you any more money.

djsusm · 10-07-2006, 07:36 PM

Just wanted to update folks with something I found today. I ended up not subscribing to the Motley fool advisor, and I'm glad I didn't... not because its a bad service or that the stocks recommended aren't well researched, but because of the popularity of the service itself.

http://gvest.blogspot.com/2006/08/hi...ms-effect.html

07-19-2006, 09:43 PM	#2
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	Is it a free service? If so, you may give it a try. Like any sort of investment plan/ service they can go back and pick the stocks with the best numbers over a carefully selected time and say how great they were. They can even say they picked them. But they probably also picked ones that did horribly over certain periods too. They want to show the best side. Generally if an investment has been having a hot run, it is probably about due to go the other way for a while to get its returns back to the average. See what the dot coms did? Nothing offers above average returns forever. The Fool does offer good basic advice but I would be careful about specific suggestions. I am mostly using low cost index funds for my investments. And a Utility stock. __________________ I add new pictures to my photo gallery pretty regularly. You can see them here if you are interested: http://www.pbase.com/jeffryz

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07-19-2006, 11:16 PM	#4
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	When it comes to financial information, paid for information is no more reliable than free information. It should all be taken with a large dose of salt. For $150 a year I would not sign up, but that is my choice. Warren Buffets are extremely rare. I doubt that giving them your money will make you any more money.

10-07-2006, 07:36 PM	#5
djsusm Lieutenant Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Oak Brook, Illinois (Chicagoland) Posts: 341	Just wanted to update folks with something I found today. I ended up not subscribing to the Motley fool advisor, and I'm glad I didn't... not because its a bad service or that the stocks recommended aren't well researched, but because of the popularity of the service itself. http://gvest.blogspot.com/2006/08/hi...ms-effect.html

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