The Sad, Sad Sight Of A New Motley Fool Stock Recommendation

The emails still come. Once a month I get a text quickly followed by an email explaining that this month’s Stock Advisor stock recommendation is here. When I received this month’s recommendation, I stopped and paused for a minute to think about how much the world has changed.

I’ve been a Motley Fool subscriber for nearly 30 years. I’m old enough to remember when the newsletter used to arrive in print, like the Sunday paper, in the mail. I’m also old enough to have lived through more than a few market corrections. What I’m saying is, I’m not a newbie. I’m well aware that the price of equities doesn’t always go up.

Still, I can’t help but remember how just a few short years ago the sight of a Motley Fool recommendation in my email box was a cause for joy. Back then, it felt like the lottery had sent you the winning numbers every month and all you had to do was log in and cash your ticket. I would open the email, read about the company, decide whether or not I understood the business and it seemed like a good idea and then invest a little bit. So many of those investments paid off over time.

MKTX up 507% since 2014.

ANET up 181% since 2015.

SHOP up 529% since 2017.

But from there, the numbers get bleak.

DOCU down 72% since 2020.

UPST down 87% since 2021.

PINS down 55% since 2021.

And on and on.

It’s not that the market crashed and the tech stocks we all knew were insanely overvalued came crashing back down to earth. It’s that The Motley Fool, our trusted advisor through good markets and bad, never said anything substantial to warn of the pending doom. And yes, I know no one can predict the market and no one should try to time the market. I just wish they had sent one  newsletter with a stock recommendation that simply said:

THIS MONTH’S STOCK RECOMMENDATION IS TO NOT BUY ANY MORE STOCKS. 

Brilliant!

What a breathe of fresh air that would’ve been.

Instead, it’s just a steady stream of the same monthly emails and recommendations. I haven’t lost enthusiasm for investing. I haven’t lost an appreciation for the value of compound interest as we all work toward building generational wealth. Sadly, I have lost interest in The Motley Fool and its ability to provide insights and recommendations that are truly in my best interest.