There's a quote from Warren Buffett in the preface to The Intelligent Investor. “To invest successfully over a lifetime does not take a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What's needed is a sound intellectual framework and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework. This book describes the proper framework. You must supply the emotional discipline.”
Put simply, the Motley Fools are not emotionally disciplined. Or rather, they train us as readers to not be disciplined. Every day, I was bombarded with emails: “5 new stocks to buy now!” “Here's why WXYZ stock dropped today!”
A long-term investor who believes in a business should not care about why a stock added or dropped in 10% in a day. We should not be trying to time the market with 5 new stocks. We should probably not even care about a quarterly earnings report. As Buffett says, “My favorite holding period is forever”.
It's possible that the Fools have made 400% over the past 20 years. And it's possible they could continue to make 400%. And I understand they need to upsell to keep their business. But as The Intelligent Investor makes clear, you shouldn't wrap your net worth in a speculative account. Most of your money should be in index funds. And if the Fools are going to be pounding at my psyche every day, grinding down my emotional discipline, it doesn't matter how good the picks are. I'm going to make bad decisions.
Idk what all your thoughts are on this sub but that's my feeling on TMF. Probably also my feeling on all the other stock-picking services.
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