I mentioned that I subscribe to the Motley Fool's "Hidden Gems" newsletter, and I've noticed a number of people landing here from Google searches for "Hidden Gems" or "Motley Fool," apparently hoping to find the newsletter's stock picks without having to pay the $199 a year Motley Fool wants for the publication. You might consider such tactics Foolish (a good thing in Motley Fool parlance) -- after all, you're seeking to pay the least you can for your investment advice. When I buy one of their picks I will most likely mention that's where I got it from, so yeah, if you're just interested in those of their picks that I've bought, which will be about 6 a year at this point (out of 24 main recommendations), you will probably be able to find those here on this blog without subscribing.
As a guy who makes a living writing, however, I am fully sympathetic to the desire of the Motley Fool guys to put food on their family. For this reason, I will not spell out "Hidden Gems" in the future when I mention one of their recommendations. Instead, I'll spell it using alternate characters (perhaps "H1dden Gem5") so people won't be able to Google for it so easily. Also, I hereby pledge never to mention any of their picks that I don't buy. This month's already out of the bag, I guess, but it won't happen again. Of course, if you just read this blog to get the picks (just a quarter of them, remember!), you will also miss out on Tom Gardner and company's analysis and interviews, the watchlist, the Tiny Gems, the scorecard, and the discussion forums. Also keep in mind that I may not, in fact probably will not, buy any Hidden Gems picks immediately after the newsletter comes out, so there will likely be a delay of a week or two (or even a month) before I mention what I've bought.
So far I have found "Hidden Gems" to be well worth the $14 and change I'm paying for it each month. (I signed up for two years and got a discount.) I've already made my entire two-year subscription cost back and then some, and I've only been signed up since late May! So those of you looking to get the picks on the cheap, well, it's not that expensive to begin with. Skip a pizza or a few lattes or a CD each month, and you can afford it.
That said, if you are a subscriber to another similarly-priced Motley Fool newsletter (perhaps "Inside Value") and would like to swap by post, let me know. They send a paper copy, and it is perfectly valid to trade or even sell these due to the "doctrine of first sale" in copyright law. It's the same legal principle that lets you resell, trade, or give away books, magazines, and CDs that you have bought. Basically, you mail me yours each month and I'll mail you mine. It'll take a few days longer to get it, but the advice is still good. Send e-mail to invest AT this domain if you're interested. This offer is open to one person only, obviously.
Update: The offer has been taken! Thanks Brad!
Posted by kindall at July 9, 2005 04:57 AM