Tom Gardner: Motley Fool: Rising Star Portfolioanybody out there have any feedback on the recent Rising Star portfolio offering from Tom Gardner at Motley Fool. almost 4k non refundable. really slick ad campaign, almost to slick IMHO.
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I almost pulled the trigger on this one. The MF research and methodology makes sense, and I have $20K in dry powder that I want to put into microcaps. However, I missed the tiny window to buy in at $3999, which I viewed as a 20% front-end load for a five-year minimum hold. I actually called Tuesday evening, but their phones were already off. When the price went up to $4999, it became a 25% load. That’s too much distance for me to break even. If I had $100K to put in play today then this would be very attractive to me.
too slick, not TO slick.
To Dwarf Cinequfoil:
(and no, I’m not going to use this moment to point out your typos…who has time to be editor for the INTERNET Grammar Nazi?)
As a Motley Fool participant and fence-sitting “50-50 believer” in their services, consider following:
1) This is binary, it’s either going to work or it’s not, and if it does, the 20-25% “front-end load” will be irrelevant. I’ve bought only 3 stocks over ~5 years as a direct result of MF that I wouldn’t have known of or bought otherwise. And those stocks made enough money to pay for their subscription services for 50+ years — so no hard feelings here.
2) But, the reason #1 above worked out is because I consider them as stock “ideas” to investigate on your own, because just narrowing the list with small cap stocks is of great value, assuming you trust the source. Just don’t let someone ever replace your own due diligence, and be leery of buying a stock simply because they put it on a list. The list will surely change over the years (I’d worry if it doesn’t, some won’t exist in 5 yrs.).
3) Next, consider looking at them also as investing themes or sub-sectors they believe will do well, so you can then investigate other stocks in that area on your own as well (e.g., online marketing, merchant banking, AI, robotic surgery, etc.) based on the “rising tides” theory of sub-sector investing.
4) Part of the value may be to help you decide when to buy and sell. One of the keys to these types of stocks is getting in and out, either to sit on the sidelines briefly, or get out for good. Even the good stocks in this area will be volatile, and history shows even the 10-30x stocks come down after the frenzy — don’t look at these as “buy and hold” stocks.
5) You may not want to do this if you’re planning on being a passive participant that follows their every directive — and there is NO WAY one should follow two specific requisites as inferred from their questionnaire: a) BUY ALL 40 STOCKS. That’s way too many, even though I know their rationale by heart, or b) HOLD ALL 40 STOCKS FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS, “no matter what,” or “even with drops of 40%+ in value.” NO WAY. They won’t have to live with the consequences, you will, and they’ll have invested your $4-5K a long time ago…in something other than what’s being recommended (the amount they’re committing to invest in this is a rounding error in this business).
5) Lastly, while I appreciate what guys like MotFool, Jim Cramer and others offer to the public, you have to resist the constant up-selling at some point, particularly with MF. WHERE WILL IT END? There’s now 8 and counting: a) Rule Breakers, b) Income Investors, c) Hidden Gems, d) Inside Value, e) Million Dollar Universe, f) Options, g) Stock Advisor, and now…h) Rising Stars. REMEMBER, the stated concept of Rising Stars WAS ALSO THE INTENT OF HIDDEN GEMS. That’s not to say you shouldn’t do this, it’s just another consideration.
I understand what they’re doing, and I understand your dilemma, so I just offer those thoughts from another customer — I hope you make a fortune, seriously, and remember this won’t make or break your success, good luck!
$4000 for a sight unseen service with no track record and no refund. That’s a tough sell.
I’ll give the guy one thing. He has balls to ask for $4K. Most of these bums just want two. Two or four? Bad advice, usually, either way.
Wish I’d saved my money. So far I am not impressed.
This week the Motley Fools were selling another idea for $4,000…. a list of stocks to profit off the Bitcoin and Blockchain rush. $4,000 seems to be the Motley Fool price point for advice.
When I subscribed to MF I lost money on every one of the stocks I got on their advice. Stay away, I say.
Just became a fool about 6 weeks ago. Pulled the trigger on 4 stocks so far starting on Oct 25th and all are in the green as of today for a total increase of of 6% but I’m not paying them 4K for what I think they should be telling me already. That’s why I came here, to see if anyone is telling who the companies are.
The first one IMHO is Control4 (CTRL)
Microcap stock #1: While most people are talking about Amazon’s Alexa, we’ve discovered an under-the-radar home automation company that we believe has significantly greater upside compared with Amazon or Google. We expect connected homes to be a life-changing advancement for our society, and this microcap has captured only around 1% of its growing market opportunity.
Microcap stock #2: With a market cap under $1 billion, this company helps retailers and manufacturers optimize their online marketing, logistics, and order fulfillment. If you’ve ever wondered how it is possible that retailers are able to go from order to fulfillment to having a product sitting on your doorstep, the answer just may be this tiny company and its algorithms matching retailers with distributed inventory and shipping optimization strategies.
Microcap stock #3: Having already surged nearly 100% this year alone, this tiny company specializes in the fast-growing cybersecurity sector. Today, the company already generates around $200 million in annual sales, but we estimate its addressable market at $60 billion, which gives it a lot of growth potential. Even though its market cap is still small, this company has credibility. It already counts high-profile names including Diageo, the World Bank, Barclays, and Philip Morris as customers.
Hi. You named 1 stock and spoke about #2 and #3.
How have you done?
Any chance of listing some of the “brilliant microcaps? LOL
Thanks
3 is VRNS
Varonis systems
Zack’s rank 4B (sell)
#3 is varonis systems VRNS
Seems like CTRL was about $12 in dec 2017 and is now about $26!!!
Awesome return
New offers for 1/2 price now seems a little more reasonable!
Just received new offer for 1/2 the original price for
The Rising Stars Portfolio