In other news, the abysmal showing of Motley Fool Million Dollar Portfolio constituents Zipcar and now Bridgepoint Education appear primarily responsible for the decline of my post-crash returns. As calculated by the Motley Fool scorecard ...
... my post-crash purchases are now only doubling the performance of the S&P 500. The service's eponymous million-dollar portfolio has just returned to a $1m value, which since its inception means it's about broken even: the +0.2% return claimed by the service beats the dividends-excluded S&P 500 return of -0.9%, but why would one exclude dividends? One of my best ideas last year – buying American Capital Mortgage Investment under $17 – has turned into a dividend play. (When I entered the position, it was a value play: it was trading well under its NAV, which then was about 20. Now trading a bit above NAV, the story is about NAV growth and after-tax returns.)Since the Motley Fool's Million-Dollar Portfolio hasn't met its stated aim of crushing the S&P 500, the remaining question is whether it's succeeded in steering me toward gains with which I can crush the S&P 500. After all, I gave up mirroring the portfolio when it decided to allocate more of the portfolio to Microsoft than to Apple – a curious decision during this decade – and incidents like Bridgepoint underscored that I really needed to stick with businesses whose risks and rewards I rally appreciated. Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett both had that one right.
So, I'll be cancelling my subscription for a refund in the not-too-distant future – like I've cancelled every other Fool subscription I ever tried. You might considering doing the same.
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