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I N V E S T I N G B A S I C S Wednesday, October 25, 2000 benjamin.rogers@enron.com _________________________________________________________________ REGISTER TO BECOME A FOOL -- GET FREE STUFF! http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168090 _________________________________________________________________ Sponsored By: BUYandHOLD Hey Fool! Want to know the SECRET to long-term investing? Compounding and dollar-cost averaging! Start investing with as little as $20! Just $2.99 per order. http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=3D168091 ASK THE FOOL -- Q. What's a mock portfolio? -- A. Mock portfolios are a great tool for people new to investing and for those trying out new investing methods. You simply go through all the motions of investing, stopping short of actually plunking down your hard-earned cash. Research some companies, decide which ones you'd buy, and then set up a pretend portfolio, either on paper or online. (Many websites offer online portfolio tracking -- and we're one of them.) Keep track of details such as when you "bought" the shares and at what price. Then track your performance, aiming to beat the market. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168092 -- Q. I've heard you sing the praises of the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index fund on your radio show, but I'm wondering what other indexes are out there. -- A. A bunch of indexes exist, with each one representing a particular group of companies. We'll highlight just a few. The most famous one is the Dow Jones Industrial Index, which includes 30 flagship American giants, such as Exxon, Wal-Mart, Merck, Coca-Cola and Microsoft. The S&P 500 also focuses on large companies, including 500 of America's biggest and best. The Russell 3000 Index includes 3,000 of the largest U.S. companies based on market capitalization (current share price multiplied by number of shares outstanding). These 3,000 constitute about 98 percent of the U.S. market. For a measure of small-cap companies, look to the Russell 2000. It's composed of the 2,000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000. The Wilshire 5000 is just about the broadest index of American companies. It began with 5,000 but now contains more than 7,000. There are many more indexes. Some are for international regions such as Latin America or the Far East. Others address sectors such as utilities, semiconductors, the Internet and fried chicken. (Just kidding about the chicken.) Got some questions of your own for the Fool? Head to our Help area or post your question on the Ask a Foolish Question discussion board. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168093 http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168094 _________________________________________________________________ INVESTING BASICS - RULES FOR REVOLUTIONARIES In order to help readers find books that offer valuable business insights coupled with sparkling writing, we launched a monthly book award last year, called The Jester Award. The first winner of the Jester was Guy Kawasaki's new book, "Rules for Revolutionaries" (HarperBusiness, $15). In it, he lays out some bold guidelines for those who want to bring about business revolutions. Here are a few: http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=3D168095 1. "Don't worry, be crappy." Yes, you read that right. It's Kawasaki's inimitable way of reminding us that it can take almost forever to perfect something, and that it's often best to release a not-quite-perfect product and then work on improving its next generation. He illustrates this with the 1984 Macintosh computer, which was shipped in a less-than-perfect configuration: only 128K of RAM, no hard drive, no documentation, and so on. Waiting to perfect the product would have meant giving the competition an edge and losing the confidence of software developers. 2. "Eat your own dog food." This sounds crazy, but think about it. By using your own company's products or services, you'll understand what the customer experience is like and you'll be able to flag problems quickly. Forrest Mars Sr., the man who built Mars Inc., did taste his own company's dog food (literally), a practice that continues today at the company. Kawasaki offers the example of Gillette, which maintains a shaving laboratory where 300 employees per day come in unshaven and test the company's and competitors' products. Similarly, bicycle manufacturer Cannondale encourages its employees to commute by Cannondale bikes, so that they can offer feedback on products. 3. "Eat like a bird, poop like an elephant." (Really, we're not making this stuff up!) Birds actually eat a lot -- sometimes 50 percent of their weight every day. And elephants can poop 165 pounds per day. The idea here is that you should soak up as much information as you can find and then share it. If you're looking for a well-written, engaging book to help you stay on the cutting edge of the best thinking and writing on personal finance and investing, keep an eye out for Jester Award winners. To nominate any book for a Jester Award, drop an e-mail to: Jester@fool.com. _________________________________________________________________ IN THE SPOTLIGHT -- Browse through our list of past Jester Award winners. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168096 -- Enter your portfolio -- or a mock portfolio -- at the Fool and you'll be able to track its progress continuously. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168097 -- You're receiving this free e-mail subscription from us, but do you know that we offer many other free subscriptions? Check our current listing -- there may be some new ones of interest to you, such as Tax Strategies or Women and Investing. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168098 _________________________________________________________________ A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR=01( I hope you're finding this product useful. The content originally appeared as part of our nationally syndicated newspaper feature (which I also prepare). Consider giving your local editor a jingle and suggesting that they think about carrying the Fool. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168099 Selena Maranjian http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168100 _________________________________________________________________ My Portfolio: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168101 My Discussion Boards: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168102 My Fool: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168103 Fool.com Home: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168104 My E-Mail Settings: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168105 Sponsored By: BUYandHOLD Hey Fool! Want to know the SECRET to long-term investing? Compounding and dollar-cost averaging! Start investing with as little as $20! Just $2.99 per order. http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=3D168106 THE SECRET TO A COMFORTABLE RETIREMENT... ...is smart planning. Start now with the Motley Fool's Roadmap to Retirement online seminar. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168107 BECOME A FOOL! Get a FREE Investing Guide and more... http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168108 FOOL DIRECT E-MAIL SERVICES Need to change your address or unsubscribe? You can also temporarily suspend mail delivery. Click here: http://www.fool.com/community/freemail/freemaillogin.asp?email=3Dbenjamin.r= ogers @enron.com Have ideas about how we can improve the Fool Direct or new e-mail products you'd like to see? Try our discussion board: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D168109 ____________________________________________________ © Copyright 2000, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool. MsgId: msg-20461-B10256286Address.msg-13:00:14(10-25-2000) X-Version: mailer-sender-master,v 1.84 X-Version: mailer-sender-daemon,v 1.84 Message-Recipient: benjamin.rogers@enron.com
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