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'Tis the season to be jolly
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la la la
'Tis also the season for looking back on the year on the Fool discussion boards, enjoying some of the great posts and the great posters of the year 2000. We've got awards, polls and prizes as well as a bumper sack full of Fascinating Foolish Facts.
The Post Of The Day is Foolish writing at its best. The 233 selections up to 30th November have earned between them an astonishing 6,035 recommendations and were drawn from 87 different discussion boards.
In keeping with a year noted for IPOs, dot coms and the tech stock boom, most Posts of the Day came from tech stock discussion boards:
Baltimore Technologies gave us 17
NXT --13
Lastminute.com -- 11, with
ARM Holdings close behind at 10.
However, the "old economy" stocks weren't totally overlooked, with:
Marks & Spencer on 10
Lloyds TSB -- 4
Mechanical Investing -- 4
Oil & Gas Sector -- 4
The Fool with most Posts Of The Day, you may not be surprised to learn, was Gilesyb, with an amazing 19 to his name. However he's got competition from jimsusan (6), UncleBulgaria (6), Hallucigenia (5), Jules3020 (4), KingMcKong (4), and Skegbyhouse (4).
A total of 161 Fools have reached this pinnacle of Foolishness and have succeeded in educating, amusing and enriching us. Thank you, Fools. We doff our jester caps to you.
However, for a bit of end-of-year fun we're seeking the Post Of The Year 2000. No, don't run away and hide! We don't expect you to re-read all 233 posts! We've taken the five most recommended Posts Of The Day and call on you to vote for the Post Of The Year 2000 from these candidates:
A Cautionary Tale
edlcsre gave us a timely reminder of basic investing principles in the story of his Foolish journey to date on the Ask A Foolish Question Discussion Board.
"At some point in time, I began to take my mind off the really basic rules that I had first had to learn about. Don't invest money you can afford to be without. Don't invest when you are in debt. Slowly but surely, I was ensnared in the web of investing without really thinking properly about why..." more
Twenty steps to Financial Heaven
On the Living Below Your Means discussion board jimsusan planted his tongue in his cheek and shared with us some tips for achieving monetary Nirvana.
"1) Co-habit, or better still get married! Two really can live as cheaply as one.
2) Never get divorced! The financial implications are horrendous.
3) Don't have kids! 'Nuff said..." more
Oh no, a Bearish Post! Help!
On one of the liveliest Fool discussion boards with over 11,000 posts, bearish Gilesyb added a dissenting voice amid the normal ebullience surrounding Baltimore Technologies.
"A rising share price only increases the potential return to anyone choosing to sell right now. Anyone intending to sell out there? For the rest of us -- potential investors, not sellers -- it is, of course, terrible, terrible news that should be met by wailing and gnashing of teeth. So all this celebration of price rises seems to imply that no one on this board intends to buy any more. For if they did, they would be wailing and gnashing alongside me, not cheering..." more
OLDSOCKS.COM -- Initial Public Offering
In the biggest dot com event ever, ormondroyd offered readers of the Land Of Off Topic Posts discussion board the exclusive opportunity to get in on this once-in-a-lifetime flotation.
"Oh, we've got a business model and some stuff, but it's complicated and full of figures (although we've considerately printed them in red to make them easy to read). If you really care, they're in the Mini Prospectus. We've got a growth strategy, too. And some other stuff. Like I say, you wouldn't want to read it. It's boring..." more
Due Diligence -- NXT
In an effort to present just the facts without being coloured by emotion Satorifox (who sadly died on 6 December) penned this report to help investors new to NXT plc.
"Although we have the FAQ option, it may make sense to have a page that any of us can update at any time. With the Nasdaq listing soon to arrive, there will be many new shareholders keen to understand NXT..." more
So there you go, Fools!
Five Foolish posts -- the cream of this year's crop. Which post should be Post Of The Year? You decide -- vote now! (This poll is being scrutinised by Florida State Officials.)
Who's that Bribbling? Why, it's a Fool, of course.
Bribbles offer a lighthearted look at life and investing through the eyes of a Fool. This year's crop has been particularly bountiful and abundant with Foolish principles. Here we offer you a chance to look again at five of the very best. Which do you think should be awarded the accolade "Bribble of the Year"?
Will it be Sarah Wilson's (TMFCerce) tale of the interview with Dr Chris Fabian, editor of The Concerned Socialist, in "The Stock Market and The Great Unwashed"?
Or do you prefer Chris Beardsmore's (prijon) extrapolation of the policy of not applying Stamp Duty to Government bonds in "Do Politicians Stamp because it's their Duty?"?
Of course, those of you approaching that certain age may have identified with James Norris (jimsusan) in his amusing cameo of life: "On Turning Fifty".
Foolish Technical Analysts and Mechanical Strategists, on the other hand, might have been most amused by murky2 and his treatise on theory and statistics in "Bumblebees CAN Fly!".
Or perhaps you were most amused by GoodPrognosis' parody in "The Wise Magician", and his observation that "every Magician revealing secrets is instantly despised and belittled by every other Magician"...
Cast your vote here.
We either stood back in amazement, or joined in (in amazement) as the Tech Stock Bubble wobbled before our eyes. We are unlikely to forget it. Right in the thick of it all on 8 March ormondroyd gave us the prospectus for a dotcom flotation -- Oldsocks.com. Already featuring in the Post of the Year Award but worth including in this category too. Did this post contribute to the bubble deflating? We'd like to think so!
We were also privileged to have on the Fool boards "Ali G interviews an IFA" recorded for us by trojantrader (rscarver as was). "Ali: Respect! I is here with me main man, Mr Wise, who is like an IFA; which is like a man who takes your money. Mr Wise, what is the point of having the money if you don't spend it?"
And just to prove that Oldsocks.com wasn't a fluke, ormondroyd returned again with his Recommendation ISA. "Frustrated by your recommendation ratio? Fed up with posting on boards where recommendations are scant? Want a real improvement for a minimal outlay? Your frustration is at an end! Ormondroyd Investments is delighted to announce the launch of its Recommendations ISA..."
I'd like to thank my Mother and Father for bringing me up... (rustle, rustle) sorry, wrong speech... We'd like to thank everyone who has completed their Foolish profile and interview. There is enormous scope for Educating, Amusing, and Enriching by interviewing yourself for our benefit.
And the winners are, in alphabetical order:
CygnetF1
The Fool: What's the best advice you've ever received?
CygnetF1: I honestly can't remember ever receiving any *good* advice. The only things I can think of, I made up myself, or overheard, or discovered by experiment. There's not that much of it around.
Hallucigenia
The Fool: Who killed Kennedy?
Hallucigenia: What -- you mean someone's topped that violinist bloke? Can't blame them really. I bet it was that Vanessa Mae -- she seemed to come to prominence after Nigel disappeared.
IrishIceHawk
The Fool: Give a short description of your best and/or worst holiday.
IrishIceHawk: Ibiza. One week. Sun, sea, pubbing, clubbing, swimming, boating, cycling, horseriding, scuba diving, paragliding. And the best one was...
JKew
The Fool: What technology do you wish the world had but doesn't yet?
JKew: Teleportation. No more polluting cars and lorries; no more traffic jams; no more overcrowded cities; you could live and work anywhere you wanted.
thefrasers
The Fool: What technology would you un-invent if you could save the world from it?
thefrasers: Bagpipes
A prize will shortly be on its way to each of these top interviewees. Inspired by these interviews and want to complete your own? Go here.
We are always looking for new portfolio ideas and over the last few weeks we've backtested a couple of new ones. The figures are based on the price movements from 3 January to 11 December 2000.
The first is The Contrary Fool Portfolio, or Ignoriport, based on investing in those companies whose discussion boards have been most ignored by Fools over the year. The companies selected for this test were:
Cattles (LSE: CTT), down 20.1%. Zero posts this year. Definitely LTBF (Long Term Buy and Forget).
Enterprise Inns (LSE: ENT) +1.3%. Only 3 posts this year.
Kenwood Appliances (LSE: KEN) +8.5%. The Appliance of Silence? (3 posts).
Autologic Holdings (LSE: ALG) +2.9%. One to watch, 4 posts this year.
Wilmington Group (LSE: WIL) +2.1%. The B2B stock overlooked in this year's tech boom, with 2 posts.
The Ignoriport would have turned £5,000 (£1,000 in each of these stocks) at the beginning of the year into £4947 on 11 December -- a loss of 1.1%, but better than the FTSE 100's loss of 8.5%.
The Momentum Fool Portfolio, or Populariport, is based on the busiest boards of the year. The good news is that Lastminute.com (LSE: LMC) was not floated until the Spring and so was excluded on the basis that we could not have bought the shares in January 2000. The bad news is that the qualifying companies were:
ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM), down 21.4%. Over 5,000 posts this year.
Baltimore Technologies (LSE: BLM), down 12.0%. Over 9,000 posts this year.
Freeserve (LSE: FRE), down 78.5%. Over 6,500 posts this year.
GEO Interactive Media (LSE: GIM), down 58.5%. Around 10,000 posts this year.
NXT (LSE: NTX), down 40.8%. Over 5,500 posts this year.
The Populariport would have turned £5000 on 3 January into £2887 -- a fall of 42.2% on the year, against a FTSE fall of 8.5%.
Anxious to see if this was an anomaly, we checked other busy boards and found that the next in line were British Telecommunications (LSE: BT.A), Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS) and Vodafone AirTouch (LSE: VOD), all down on the year.
If you want to remind yourself how Fooldom as whole has done over the last year, this article looked at the top 50 holdings in Fool portfolios and their performance.
One of the most popular discussion boards on the Fool site is Living Below Your Means, where Fools swap ideas on living frugally and fruitfully. What is the essence of LBYM? And can it all be summed up in one post? Well, JKew had a jolly good try in this post, in which he summarises the concept under these headings:
• Have goals
• Understand your spending
• Control your debt
• Get value for money
• Defer gratification
• Share your plans
• Allow yourself treats
He finishes with the words: "Don't neglect the "L" in LBYM: there is much more to life than saving money. Give yourself permission to live as well!"
Sounds good to us, and we hereby declare this to be the Frugal Post of the Year!
Thanks to everyone for making it a Great Foolish Year!
We raise our glasses to you, the Foolish Community, who helped create the wonderful atmosphere on the site. Here's to a happy and prosperous New Year!
Don't forget to vote in the Post of the Year Poll, and the Bribble of the Year Poll. Unlike Florida, your vote here really counts!
Where Next?
• Vote Now! Post of the Year | Bribble of the Year
• Community Page
• Discussion boards