MoneyTalk

 

A Fool Is Born

23 September 2009
In this week’s episode:

David Kuo takes a trip down memory lane with Dr. David Berger who, together with Bruce Jackson, founded The Motley Fool UK. Twelve years ago today the first Fool article was published. The two Davids look at the early days of the Fool, investing over the last twelve years, the evolution of the internet and the future for investors. A transcript of this podcast is also available.

Is there a doctor in the house?
Is there a doctor in the house?

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Comments

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual writers and are not representative of The Motley Fool. If you spot any comments that are unsuitable hit the flag to alert our moderators.

SteJD 23 Sep 2009 , 10:55pm

I bought a copy of the Motley Fool Investment Guide about 3 years ago from a second hand bookstore and was immediately captured by the investment philosophy contained therein. It resulted in me investing a small monthly sum into a Legal and Genaral UK Index Tracker.

The book was of course based on the American version by David and Tom Gardner, however it would appear that David Berger was by far and away the main contributor to the work.

My only concern now is not so much the market conditions itself but rather the apparant change in attitude of the author in this interview and the reason that he has seemed to distance himslef not only from the Motley Fool but the investment world in general (I may be reading far too much into this).

Furthermore, David and Tom Gardner have recently brought out a book in America entitled 'The Motley Fool Million Dollar Portfolio' and on numerous occasions seem advise against purchasing an index tracker.

As a result I am now at a crossroads as to whether continuing to invest in the tracker. I am only young and have certainly not contributed a great deal. Any further advice on this sort of investment would be very much appreciated.

TMFDragon 25 Sep 2009 , 8:37am

Hi SteJD,

Nothing has changed. We still believe that for most people investing through an index tracker is still the best way to get exposure to the stock market. After all, many of us don't have time to research shares. But for those who do, picking your own shares can be quite rewarding. It can also be quite enjoyable too if you get it right!

David

forrado 25 Sep 2009 , 7:37pm

The interview with the seemingly affable Doctor just underscores the flawed thinking behind the efficient-market hypothesis [EMH] with is the rational for the existence of funds that track given indices. Admittedly, busy people haven’t got the available free time to research and monitor individual stocks. So, if they feel that they must have some exposure to equities then I daresay, it’s a low-cost better than nothing option …

... but as the past 12 years have proved, it is far from an ideal way of doing things. And, certainly not the one size fits all panacea that both UK and USA Fool sites seemingly promoted relentlessly a number of years back before markets made them do a rethink.

TMFDragon 26 Sep 2009 , 12:16pm

Hi forrado,

Through the Efficient Market Hypothesis, the price of traded assets reflects all known information at the time of trading. No one could have forseen 9/11 and the collapse of Lehman.

Consequently, today assets have been re-priced to reflect the new information. However, prices cannot account for things we don't know.

In an earlier podcast with, Antony William of EvolveFP pointed out the importance of allocating your investments to account for future shocks. Antony talks a lot of sense.

You never know what is coming around the corner so it always pays to drive carefully and fasten your seatbelt.

David

thenamesjames 24 Oct 2009 , 1:10am

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About the show

MoneyTalk is a podcast from The Motley Fool (UK). Hosted by David Kuo, it’s a lively roundtable discussion where Fool writers and guests from the world of money thrash out the financial issues of the day.

Join us as we take an irreverent look at anything and everything to do with shares – from how to pick your first share to how to manage your own pension to what mini skirts have to do with Britain's economy (quite a lot, according to David).

From quick tips on how to tidy up a wayward portfolio to in depth discussions with industry experts, MoneyTalk tackles a different topic every week.

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About the presenter

David Kuo is The Motley Fool’s media personality. He can be heard on BBC London’s (94.9FM) Breakfast Show where he arouses listeners every weekday morning with his unique brand of financial news. He is also a regular commentator on national news programmes including CNBC, BBC News, and Sky News.

David stumbled into the world of broadcasting at the turn of the Millennium when he was invited to comment on the stock market crash. He says, “I think I stunned Londoners speechless when I said the good thing about the crash is that shares are now more affordable for people who want to invest in the stock market!”

His attitude to investing has never wavered, as he always sees downturns in the market as a buying opportunity for long-term investors.