What is up with The Motley Fool?

Posted at 10:03 on Thursday May 25, 2006 | Filed Under Investing

What is up with The Motley Fool? They used to give great advice, but now it seems like they just try to sell their latest newsletter:

"Need help? You can learn all about Tom Gardner's approach to finding undercovered, undervalued stocks with strong fundamentals and real earnings. If you'd like to subscribe, you can try Tom's complete Hidden Gems service yourself. If you're not 100% convinced he's on to something, just cancel within the first 30 days, and Tom will refund every penny."

I guess they have to figure out some way to monetize it. It's just disappointing for it to be so in-your-face. I agree with a lot of their low-cost, long-term investing strategies, but I don't think I'll be linking to them anymore.

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Comments (33)

1.: Well when they gave away advice for free, it was a financial bloodbath and they had to lay off almost the entire company. (I know dozens of them.) Now, they're focused on making a profit ... go figure. :)

Posted by Joe Grossberg at May 25, 2006 10:48 AM

2.: Amen to that, I can't even go on their web sites, and have cancelled their e-mail newsletter, all they are is "shilling" for their "pay" stuff.

--C8j

Posted by Big Cajun Man at May 25, 2006 10:52 AM

3.: I wrote about this in december in my blog ...

"Why Motley Fool Sucks:

For anyone that reads financial publications online, they are likely to know about fool.com, the Motley Fool. They are tons of articles on there about investing in Mutual Funds, IRA's, stocks and bonds, but the problem is that every article is an advertisement. Every article somehow ties into one of the pay services that they offer and how you can get a thirty day free trial. This is shitty way of marketing. If you are going to offer free articles on your website, don't make all of them ads, that sucks. Not only does each article end as an ad for the service, but there is always a huge ad down the side about the same thing. Many of their articles also make you sign in in order to read them; what a waste of time. If you are looking for online financial publications don't be a fool and waste your time with them."

Posted by Mike at May 25, 2006 11:13 AM

4.: If you want to find out why TMF sucks, simply subscribe to my newsletter...

Posted by John at May 25, 2006 03:49 PM

5.: yeah they used to be pretty good but seems to be just pimpin' their for pay products. Oh well..... I've junked their email address now ;)

Posted by norman at May 25, 2006 08:25 PM

6.: fool.com used to pitch, "Don't pay for financial advice, when most of it is common sense". They always complain about "hidden fees" but then don't figure in the "hidden fee" for invests to pay for thier site.

Then they made fools of themselves and started charging.

I was a member at the change and argued against them starting to charge. Apparently the word hypocrite isn't a label they care about having.

Posted by penty at May 26, 2006 06:08 AM

7.: TMF is opportunistic, and nothing better than any low-grade investment advice you can get from a broker.

Maybe I am just a bit morose, but their whole "we're fun!" schtick makes me VERY suspicious. Like most meaningful endeavors in life, it is a fair amount of hard work and discipline. There are some laughs, but those accidentally happen along the way.

Their site seems more the "The Manipulator of Fools" to me.

Posted by Alex at May 26, 2006 08:34 AM

8.: my (least) favorite headline: I "Can't Wait to Buy This Stock -- and You Shouldn't Either!" A runner up: "This Unmistakable Signal Is Flashing "Buy!"" Ok one more that I hate: "Own the next Genentech -- make up to 3,250%"

That's complete crap. I just unsubscribed.

Posted by reid at May 26, 2006 09:39 AM

9.: I also noticed that they've only got about 6 months worth of content. After that, "new" articles start to seem very familiar as if you've read them before.

I can't blame them for trying to make money. It's what we're all trying to do, no?

Posted by Marios at May 26, 2006 01:09 PM

10.: The "Fools" are turning "fools"!!

I had signed-up for a trial period (free) subscription to a couple of their newsletters - no doubt, they offer good advice - but when it was time to cancel the subscription, I found that there is no easy way to unsubscribe the newsletters. There is no unsubscribe link in the subscription email, no unsubscribe link on their website, and no prompt responses to subscriber emails. Such a sneaky way to "fool" people.

They should monetize their absolutely wonderful services using the abundant subscribers. If the users desert them, so will the subscribers.

Here's my message to the Gardner brothers:
Fools, be Foolish!

Posted by Deepak at May 27, 2006 07:54 AM

11.: I agree that the hard sell is annoying, but the quality of content in their paid services (Hidden Gems & Inside Value) is quite good, and some of the most valuable advice I've come across was on the premium message boards. I've been a subscriber for 2+ years, and consider it money very well spent. It's basically an inexpensive way to outsource initial investment research (vs. a full-service broker), while learning a lot about investing in the process.

My recommendation is to skip the free content unless you're looking for something specific (like mortgage calculators or ROTH IRA rules), skip the free e-mail newsletter, and go straight to the high-quality paid stuff.

Posted by Josh at May 27, 2006 10:03 AM

12.: Nigga please. Give them a break. They're trying to earn a living.

Posted by Tim at May 27, 2006 05:13 PM

13.: I was a member since 1998. They've got some very crazy people working for them now. TMFTwitty (aka Dick Dressner) is especially crazy. As said, long time member, they used to comp me free subscription because I was one of their top members with recommended posts and people who added me to their Favorite Fools list. TMFTwitty and I did not see eye to eye and he deleted me. I appealed to David Gardner via email and he didn't even reply. Good riddance to them. The Jesters and the Rotley Fool.

Posted by Kestral at May 30, 2006 08:11 PM

14.: I bought one of their newsletters, Hidden Gems, touted by Tom Gardner as the second coming of Peter Lynch's success story. They had the typical historical prices where they bought the stock and how much profit you missed out on by not joining their newsletter sooner. I bought one or two of their picks (FARO was one of them) and proceeded to lose money. Look at the recent history of FARO and you'll see what I mean. They are not adding any value in my opinion, it is just another tout service. You might as well read all the junk mail stock picks you receive in your inbox and get similarly bad advice.

Posted by Jason at May 31, 2006 12:57 AM

15.: Surely there has to be a way to balance content with the ability to make money from content. I have been struggling with this. It seems that people have become somewhat spoiled in that they want good content but they don't want to pay a dime for it.

Don't get me wrong, I hate the hard sell just as much as the next guy. However, if what someone is producing is quality, shouldn't they be able to make something from it?

Posted by JLP at AllFinancialMatters at May 31, 2006 09:06 AM

16.: I almost took a job with them in the late 90s. They offered a $10K paycut, a mandatory 50-hour work week, foozball, and stock options.

If memory serves, the HR rep said, "If we go public and are valued at $1,000,000,000 you'll get $10K!" Not so Foolish...

Posted by YK at June 5, 2006 04:58 PM

17.: If you look at MF historically, they started out with that total self empowerment, invest on auto-pilot approach. "Remember to review your Foolish 4 portfolio every 12 months." Buy their reference books/workbook/newsletter and you can make good returns on your own. Anti mutual fund because of management expense fees being too high and most fund managers don't beat out the S&P 500 index performance. Essentially, MF wants to be your ongoing financial fishing guide. Hence, they charge a yearly subscription fee for access to parts of their website and sell various newsletters.

Posted by Mork at June 21, 2006 12:43 AM

18.: Can anyone help me to unsubscribe to Motley Fool. I have tried and tried and they ignore me. I just don't find their stuff that useful. And their customer service sucks big time!

Posted by Mike at June 28, 2006 02:44 PM

19.: Have you tried just disputing the charge with your credit card company? That'll get through to them eventually.

Posted by Shawn at July 14, 2006 03:11 PM

20.: Unfortunately ,i'm not a MF member yet.But I red almost all their free stuff for years. My capital is still too small to be a member.I also agree that to become an investor on your own is very good.You can never trust someone else the way you trust yourself.But I think that's not the point here.I wonder if there is someone that being in need,would choose a surgeon just because he is working for free.That appears to me quite risky.Maybe he wants to get some practice or experience on your body.Though I consider that I learned a lot about investing ,I am aware that my level of investing knowledge is well below the one of the MF. I don't think that if you use the MF paid services you are free of risk.But you can reduce this risk drastically.And a minimal degree of diversification I found necessary even if your advisor would be Buffett. I think that is worth to pay someone skilled,for screening thousands of companies instead of you doing that.Though,I may accept sometimes, something for free,as an advertisement or as a gift ,I never expect something serious to come for free unless is a scam or is for charity.This is a strong principle of mine.So,as a general rule, if someone is offering regularly something for free i start to wonder "what's the catch"?.

Posted by ioan cosma at July 24, 2006 08:20 AM

21.: The Motley Fool hidden gems is just plain awful. They charge $200 for the newsletter. This year Tom is advising people to pick retail "hidden gems". Talk about a bloodbath. Want to lose 25%? How about 60%? He recommends some real dogs in this year like HouseValues, Volcom, and Zumiez. Hmm. We've got a housing play. DOG! We've got two retailers. More dogs! My dog does better at investment advice.

Posted by John Dwyer at August 25, 2006 07:18 PM

22.: Graduated college in 1999 and since then have followed too much advice from the Fool. Invested in the Foolish Four only to have them renounce it within a year. Invested in Hidden Gems begining this year and have seen more losses than gains. I think I can lose money on my own. Aren't these guys English majors?

Posted by Michael at September 8, 2006 07:38 AM

23.: Can anyone tell me what stock TMF is recommending in their "The only stock you need to get into your portfolio right now ... Piling up billions in cash Buffett-style" ... ?

Posted by joe2by2 at September 12, 2006 12:13 PM

24.: Joe2by2: Um, I think you missed the point of this entire site.

Posted by Ramit Sethi at September 12, 2006 12:14 PM

25.: I do not get the newsletter - but the only stock that meets the criteria of "the only sotock you need to own" is WESCO FINANCIAL WSC - Warren Buffets former right hand man runs this company on Warrens style.

Posted by tom wallace at September 27, 2006 12:57 PM

26.: Why not just save some more cash and buy the real thing (BRK/B)?

joe

Posted by Joe Budion at October 1, 2006 04:01 PM

27.: Ha!! because not everyone has $100K lying around for ONE share....

Posted by Dan at December 8, 2006 08:51 AM

28.: Oops, that's Brk.A

Still $3k per share is CRAZY expensive.... but probably a deal. I guess it just proves the old addage, "It takes money to make money".

Posted by Dan at December 8, 2006 09:05 AM

29.: A comment above said how bad FARO was - a stock that FOOL recommended in their small cap deal. I looked at it and it has doubled since this person's post. Not a bad pick...and far from a blood bath.

Posted by Kevin at January 9, 2007 07:41 AM

30.: I just signed onto the MF hidden gems... I don't understand how people could be thinking this is so horrible. He makes picks, and then tracks them. It seems to me that the picks are making money... Of course you can't pick the best ones all the time, but it seems they are right more often than not.

Posted by Tucker at January 16, 2007 08:25 AM

31.: Most of the good guys eventually realize they can get rich by tweaking their product or service. They tell you about a system that's really good, about the 'bonuses' they include, about the quotes from the great and the good. Then they get you to 'Start now' by clicking a button.

Posted by Jo Boxer at January 17, 2007 09:29 AM

32.: "The next Berkshire" they talk about is Markel (MKL). If you read their teasers closely, they usually give enough hints to figure out who they're talking about. They also pimp CTrip alot (Chinese Expedia)

Posted by Bret at January 29, 2007 11:34 PM

33.: To answer John Dwyer:

HouseValues: -1.7%
Volcom: +77%
Zumiez: +17%

since august 06...if you think your dog can do better...

Posted by bob at February 2, 2007 07:07 PM

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