MotleyFool subscriptions...worth it?

Investing / Others
1

Hi everyone,

I’ve looked recently and got the Daubasses premium subscription as I was curious what resources are hiding there, what the 2 portfolios are and what the people there recommend and then to compare with the fundamental data on simplywall.st.

I’ve also found the highly debated and sometimes blamed MotleyFool.
There on reddit there are lots of negative opinions about them, their typical aggressive marketing and the cheapest Stock Advisor service.

On the other hand some people made an analysis over the course of multiple years which does seem to reveal their advices outperform the indexes (okay the last comparison was not made against the Nasdaq and Motleyfool was tech biased a bit):
https://www.reddit.com/r/stocks/comments/n2hzd3/i_analyzed_all_the_motley_fool_premium/
and a more mathematical one (as I am not in finance for me it took some time to swallow on the first read):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321057021_Evaluating_the_performance_of_the_Motley_Fool’s_Stock_Advisor/link/5a0af7be458515e482743bf9/download

To come back on topic.
I wanted to try in parallel with Daubasses the Value Hunter premium package they offer. Problem is it is 1999 $ and while I’m willing to risk some money, I’m not so open to risking that amount without a trial or some cost sharing.

Did anyone here so far try their more expensive subscriptions over the course of 2-5 years and can share some feedback (+/- also if you were interested in the past in them like I am)

2

Just my two cents, read some books about investing and value investing and save yourself 1000’s of bucks that you rather invest in stocks than in advisory.

A few recommendations: Richer, Wiser, Happier / The Intelligent Investor (valur investing bible) / The Most Important Thing / Poor Charlie’s Almanack

2 Likes
3

Adding to my Playbooks list.
Thanks!

Some basics I know, the problem and why I wanted some analysis that would make my job easier (and not start from 0 looking into companies and their fundamentals) is that I work daily 10 hours or more at times, try to also devote some time into family and then there’s almost no energy/time left for anything else.

4

My honest answer: then stock picking is not for you and you are better off investing in some index funds. Stock picking needs time to do proper due diligence before an investment. And to add there’s no get-quick-rich scheme, it needs patience and hard work. Richer, Wiser, Happier will open your eyes, at least it did for me, or better said it cemented what I already knew with facts and principles from the most sucessful investors of all time.

4 Likes
5

Already investing into ETFs and yes, I realise this part with stock picking does require some due diligence and time as the risk is higher.
Was just too optimistic with the idea of finding shortcuts:)
Guess nothing beats education in the end.
I’ll devote some time in the early mornings or late evenings to catching up on reading and adding more know-how.

Thank you for the recommendations.

1 Like
6

I have never purchased single stock advice. I love this free resource though, as Swen Lorenz has a curious mind and points out opportunities that are subversive, counter-intuitive and surprising: https://www.undervalued-shares.com/weekly-dispatches/

I have also watched some of Prof. Aswath Damodaran YT clips on valuation and have learnt a thing or two there. “Valuation is not exact science” and “how to identify the risk-free interest rate” are recurring topics.

For the speculative part of my portfolio, I sometimes buy single stocks, while the remaining part is a lot of Vanguard World ETF and in a rather conservative asset allocation.

4 Likes
7

Then if you want to go into more details I would add the Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham book to this list as a classical reference.

2 Likes
8

I have to declare in advance that I am very susceptible to these newletters and have limited my self to daubasses.
I used to have a MF subscription (the 2nd one), one above stock picker.

So, I had very bad experience with the performance, but I was with them for only I bought a few of their picks before interest rates rose and I’ve lost at least a 1000 CHF investing in them.
I was investing with them a time where I could have used their buy suggestions to short those stocks (I’d be much richer now).
At this time I switched to 95 % ETF because I was fed up. Also, my portfolio with their stock was below what would have justified paying around 500 USD per year. So I cancelled. I still keep some of the stock just for laughs and giggles.

I think their success stems from going with the flow and picking successful stocks like Amazon, Tesla, Meta and the like and shunning anything that was not hot.
Imagine Nasdaq or a US Tech ETF.

As a side note, I then subscribed to seekingalpha which is supposedly also very successful, but I was just overwhelmed with the recommendations.

Those newsletters are a good bet if you have around 50k of play money, below that just go for a Nasdaq or Tech ETF, or buy Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon directly, you’ll likely have a similar success without getting 5 mails per day.

9

9 months since subscribing with MF (Stock Advisor).
Most of the stocks are above +30%.
Few completely wrong recommendations as well with -30% losses.
I am more careful now in following their recommendation, taking some weeks to better understand the suggested business before following the advice.

Overall a good service that I will renew, it pays itself.

10

Now compare your total return to the s&p 500.

11

In the same time horizon S&P500 did +14%, so with few stocks recommended by MF, did double as much.

An easier solution is that you can buy TMFC on Swissquote

12

Better to compare to NASDAQ, as Motley Fool is quite tech heavy from what I read.

13

if you only pick the winners yes… you yourself said there were stocks with -30% in there as well. That’s why I said total return.

Now this positive trend needs to continue year after year as well.

I basically gurantee you that you will underperform the market over the longterm and have high fee for the subscription as well.

1 Like
14

Guys, I don’t work for them.
When I look at my balance, it has been a good deal, no matter what I compare it to.
I understand and value that ETF and do-it-yourself is the philosophy of this forum, but there are decent solutions out there for relative small money.

15

Bold to say that after 9 months, 9 months in which stock markets performed great, especially tech stocks (which is most of their recommendations as far as I heard). That’s just too short of a time horizon for a legitimate comparison. Just think back to the 2000s…

It’s the philiosophy of this forum, because that’s something that everyone can apply easily without any knowledge about investments and with relatively low risk, whereas stock picking is the complete opposite and requires hard work.

2 Likes
16

In a good portfolio you always need a good mix of ETFs and stocks.
Getting support on s picking doesn’t exclude investing in ETF.
So the question on MF is relevant, I gave an answer on that

17

Who says that? Care to explain why?

18

Common sense.
As it’s common sense to stick to the topic and don’t derail.

19

The question asks if a MF subscription is worth it. You claim it is. Others ask for proof. You don’t have any, but claim that a good portfolio needs to include single stock. Others ask for proof. You don’t have any, but try your hand at gatekeeping.

What is that good for? Wouldn’t you rather put forward a sound argument? Maybe there is information to be found and exchanged.

2 Likes
20

Most of MF recommendations and premium articles are shared for free after some time.
So anyone is able to check my argumentations.
To make your life easier, but mostly for the one that created this post, check performance of Shopify and Eli Lilly as good examples and Masimo and Enphase Energy as worst one (the only 2 that I picked and gone wrong). All bought in April 2023.
My overall portfolio performance is above +30% since I put more money where I believed there was more potential (in combination of luck).
Will share tax return when I am done with it so necessary argumentations are available.
Also I never talked about single stock.

1 Like