Motley Fool Review; July 2023

This week’s Motley Fool update as of July 16, 2023: Their 13 stock picks from 2023 are up an average of 19.2% vs the S&P500’s 10.4% so they are beating the market already by 8.8% in just 6 months. Eleven are winners, and their top picks in 2023 are up 75% and 58% and losers are down only 8% and 5%.

Important: As of July 1, 2023, the Motley Fool granted our WallStreetSurvivor readers a special discount. On the Motley Fool page new subscribers pay $99 (normally $199) for a year subscription, but our users can try it for just $79 if you use the link at the bottom of this page. Also, it is backed by their 30-day 100% membership fee-back guarantee. So you literally have nothing to lose by trying it for 30 days.

This Motley Fool Stock Advisor Review is based on my personal experience of being a subscriber to the Motley Fool Stock Advisor service AND buying about $1,500 of each of their stock picks since 2016 in my ETrade account. Yes, that’s 160+ trades over the last 7+ years.

I try to update this review every month so you can see how the Motley Fool stocks have performed since inception in 2002, as well as how they have performed recently for me over the last 7 years.

But before I get started with my review of the Motley Fool and showing you screen shots of my ETrade account, I want to make sure you understand their investing philosophy so you can decide if it is right for you. From the Motley Fool’s web page, they describe their investing philosophy as follows:

You should plan on buying at least 25 stocks over time

You should expect to hold them at least 5 years

You should add cash to your account regularly, and

You should let winners run and hold through market volatility.

In other words, the Motley Fool is NOT for day traders. It is NOT for dividend investors. And it is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme.

It is, however, a “get-rich-slowly” strategy for beginning and advanced investors who can abide by that philosophy and want to take the stress out of picking stocks. The Fool makes investing in stocks easy as they tell you what to buy, when to buy it, and when to sell it. Over the last 7 years for me, and going back 22 years since they started this service, it has worked extremely well and they have easily beaten the S&P500 as you will see.

This “get-rich-slowly” strategy is the strategy that most successful investors rely upon and it is how most millionaires become millionaires. Finance guru Dave Ramsey’s 2023 study that found that 75% of millionaires said “regular, consistent investing over a long period of time is the reason for their success.” And CNBC just ran a story July 7, 2023 that said the best way to grow your wealth is to start investing automatically and increase the amount invested every year. That CNBC story said to try to match the S&P’s 10% return, but there are some stock services that are able to easily beat that return over time. And, as you will see, the Motley Fool has almost quadrupled the market’s return over the last 22 years.

A Quick Peek at The Motley Fool Stock Advisor’s Recent Performance

Now that we are clear on the Motley Fool’s investing philosophy, let’s see how their stock picks have done historically and for me in the last 7 years that I have been a subscriber.

To give you an example of my “get-rich-slowly” point, here is a screen shot from my ETrade account dated July 16, 2023 that shows one of their top performing recommendations in the last 3 years. Tesla (TSLA) was their recommendation on January 2, 2020 and I bought 60 shares at $28 (split adjusted) for about $1,700 and it is now worth $16,882 for a profit of $15,167 and a 884% return in just 3 and a half years.

This Tesla pick was their best pick of the last 3 years but it is just one of many with great returns I have had since subscribing. Their top pick in 2023 is already up 75%; top pick from 2022 is up 74%; top pick from 2021 is up 22% (yes 2021 was a tough year); and their top pick from 2020 is up 100%. In 2019 they picked TTD and it is up 356%; in 2018 they picked FICO and it is now up 395%, in 2017 they picked NVDA and it is now up 1,673% and their 2016 pick of Shopify is up 2,017%.

In fact, since I subscribed in January, 2016, out of their 168 recommendations 41 stocks have more than doubled and 29 have more than tripled and 15 have more than quadrupled. The average stock pick from 2016-2022 is up 88% crushing the market by more than 25%. But more importantly, the stocks I have held for at least 5 years (2016, 2017 and half of 2018 stock picks) are up 243% vs the SP’s 106%–so that 5 year holding period is key.

I have even reviewed all of their trades going back to inception in 2002 and as of the date above 179 out of their 512 picks have doubled or more and 131 have tripled or more.

How Do They Perform Against Other Stock Newsletters?

Those are all great returns but, unfortunately, that is just water under the bridge since you already missed out on those picks!

You should be asking how have their 2023 picks done? And how have other stock newsletters done over the same time period? Well trust me, I monitor other stock newsletters too. Take a look at the recent performance of these other popular stock advisory services:

So as you can see from my analysis above thru Friday July 14, 2023 , the Motley Fool Stock Advisor’s 2023 picks are off to a great start with a 19.2% average return versus the S&P’s 10.4% return, and for the last 12 months those picks are up 20.4%. Also of note, is their profitability rate of 85%.

What this means is that if you had subscribed on January 1, 2023 and bought only $250 of each of those 13 picks, you would have invested $3,250 and now have a profit of $624; and if you would have invested that same amount in an S&P500 mutual fund or ETF you would have a profit of only $338. So the Motley Fool would have give you an extra $286. So it has definitely been worth it so far in 2023. Likewise, if you had invested $1,000 in each of their 13 picks you would have a profit of $2,496 so far in 2023!

As you can see from my results, if you have some cash to invest now and you can add cash each month, then the Motley Fool Stock Advisor is definitely worth the $199 per year fee. And since it’s on sale on this promotion page for only $79, it is even a better deal. FYI–if you go to buy it off the Fool’s normal sales page you will pay $99 so make sure you use this the link above.

MY SUMMARY AS OF JULY 16, 2023:

The average return of all 512 Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations since the launch of this service in 2002 is 511% vs the S&P500’s 132%. That means they are beating the market by 3.9X since inception.

They have a win rate of 65% profitable stock picks.

179 of the 512 picks have at least doubled; 131 have at least tripled and 92 have at least quadrupled.

They have sold 228 of the 512 or 44% of all of their picks

More importantly, the older stocks that they recommended at least 5 years ago have an average of 627% (remember The Motley Fool says you should plan on holding their stocks for at least 5 years). How did they get such a high return? They picked stocks like AMZN, BKNG, TDG, NVDA, DIS, TSLA, SHOP, TTD, ADBE, CTAS, ATVI, UNH, HUBS and TTD well before most people did.

Their picks got hit in late 2021/2022 like most stocks, but see the graph below that shows their impressive growth trend has returned in the last few months. In fact, 14 of their last 16 picks are winners. These recent picks include 7 picks that are up over 25% in less than 7 months (tickers NOW up 58%, TTD up 74%, NET up 32%, re-pick of TSLA up 75%, AMZN up 42%, CRWD up 25% and KNSL up 30%) at a time when the market has only risen 8%. Their biggest loser is MASI down 8%.

Table of Contents

My Motley Fool Experiment with My Real Money
Motley Fool Philosophy
Fool Fact Checker
What You Get
Their Best Stock Pick of 2020
Is the Motley Fool Worth The Money?
How To Get Their Next 24 Stock Picks for Just $79

My Motley Fool Experiment

Like you, I saw The Motley Fool’s charts about their fantastic returns like the one below dated April 28, 2023.

And I saw their ads like this one below from July, 2023 that claimed that the average return of all of their stock picks has absolutely crushed (more than tripled) the S&P500 since inception in 2002.

Always skeptical of ads like this, I sought to answer the question ‘Is the Motley Fool legit?’ I wanted to get my own objective data of the performance of their stock picks.

So I decided to do my own review. I call it my Motley Fool experiment. I subscribed to their Stock Advisor service the first week of January, 2016 and started buying all of their recommendations. And based on my results of buying each of their picks, I have been a subscriber ever since.

Here is a summary of my experiment with The Motley Fool Stock Advisor picks and my results of buying all The Motley Fool’s picks since 2016:

In January 2016, I purchased a Stock Advisor subscription.

At the same time, I also opened a new ETrade brokerage account dedicated to purchasing each of the Fool picks.

I then started buying roughly $1,500 of every one of their stock picks in that ETrade account.

Each year the returns were so good I renewed my Motley Fool subscription.

At 2 stock picks a month for the 7+ years from 2016 to now, I have purchased over 150 stocks in that ETrade account.

I have sold the 15 stocks that they recommended selling.

Below you will find the percentage returns of those stocks from 2016-2021. I will even show you some shots of my ETrade account to prove it. All percentage returns in the chart are calculated based on closing prices of Friday, December 31, 2021.

Summary of 6 Years of Stock Advisor’s Performance, 2016-2021

Here is a table of the results of The Motley Fool’s picks based on the year of recommendation, as of December 31, 2021:

(NOTE:  I am ignoring their 2022 stock picks for this analysis as all of those picks don’t yet have 12 months of performance.  Also note that in 2021 they had a pick that was down 71%. If not for that, they would have had a positive return in 2021.)

Most importantly, note the performance of the 2016-2018 stocks. The stock picks that are at least 4 years old have absolutely crushed the S&P500. And this is exactly what you would expect as the Fool says you should plan on holding their stocks for at least 5 years.

Overall, the 144 Motley Fool stock picks from 2016 thru 2021 have an average return of 171% compared to the S&P500 average return of 92%. 

That means that the Motley Fool is beating the S&P500 by an average of 93% across 144 stocks!  And that includes the 2021 stocks that have not really had a chance to start moving.

That number is more impressive than it sounds.  What it means is that across all 144 of their stock picks for 6 years running, their average stock performance is crushing the market.  

As I mentioned above, they recommend you hold their stocks for at least 5 years.  They claim the longer you hold the stocks the better they perform.  And that is absolutely true as you can see below:

the Motley Fool’s 24 picks from 2016 are up an average of 402%

their 24 picks from 2017 are up an average of 259%

the Fool’s 2018 picks are up an average of 217%

and their 2019 picks are up an average of 85%

and their 2020 picks are up 73%

but their 2021 stocks are down 8% because they picked one stock that went down 74% and another one that was down 72%

How do they get these great results that have consistently beat the S&P500 over time?

The Motley Fool is very good at finding a few stocks that double or triple each year.  While about 73% of their picks have been profitable, the most successful stocks more than offset the less successful ones. Remember, the most you can lose on a stock is 100%, but the most you can gain is infinite. So by picking a few stocks that are up 1100%, 900%, 1300% as you can see in that chart is the key to beating the market over the long term.

For example, as of December 31, 2021 53 of their 144 picks have more than doubled and 33 more than tripled!

And 21 are up more than 4x.  It is those 4x stocks that really add to your overall portfolio performance.

So is The Motley Fool worth it?  It has definitely been worth it over the last seven years.

While 2020 was a tough year in many ways, if you were a Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscriber you had a GREAT year. 

Their best pick of 2020 was Tesla (TSLA) when it was at $28.59 (split adjusted).  I bought 60 shares on January 2, 2020 when they recommended it and on that $1,700 purchase I now have a $15,000+ as you saw from my ETrade account screenshot above.

Their 2019 stocks are up 85%.

Better yet, their 2018 picks are up an average is 217% and 20 of 24 are up.

Their 2017 stocks are up 259% compared to the S&P 500’s 110%, 22 of 24 of those picks are profitable, and 12 have more than doubled.

Their 2016 stocks are up 402% compared to the S&P 500’s 142% and 17 of those have more than doubled and 10 of those have more than tripled.

Notice the trend:  The longer you hold them the better they perform and the more they beat the S&P500.  That is exactly what you want!

In summary, on December 31, 2021, their 144 picks from 2016-2021 are up an average of 171% compared to the market’s 79%.

Just to be clear, not every one of their stock picks goes up as you see from the table above. But, they remind subscribers that they pick stocks that they want you to hold for 5 years or more. Given that the average return of their 2016 stock picks is 402% I say they are delivering exactly what they promise.

If you are asking ‘How are these results possible when most Wall Street money managers struggle to beat the S&P500 Index?’, the answer is now clear to me.  It is because over these last 6 years The Motley Fool has consistently picked many stocks each year that double, triple, and even quadruple in price – and hold onto them through thick and thin.  Over the last 6 years:

53 of their 144 stocks have at least doubled

33 have at least tripled, and

21 have at least quadrupled, and

73% of their stock picks are profitable

and each year they pick some really high flyers like Shopify (up 4,162%), The Trade Desk (up 1,340%), OKTA (up 986%) and Tesla (up 859%).

 

More Details About My Experiment

In this Motley Fool Review I will:

show you screenshots of my ETrade account to prove the performance of the Fool stock picks
give you a thorough analysis of their stock picks and tell you how they get these great returns
tell you the PROS and CONS of the service
show how profitable their stock picks have been over the last 6 years
reveal how to subscribe Stock Advisor at the cheapest rate they offer
reveal two important things I have learned about their service to maximize my profits from their service.

Key Points To Maximize Your Returns with the Motley Fool

The key points I am making is to get these results you need to do exactly what I do: 

BUY EQUAL DOLLAR AMOUNTS OF ALL OF THEIR PICKS EACH YEAR.  It doesn’t matter if you are buying $500 or $5,000 of each of their picks, you would have the same percentage returns.  But remember, you need to buy each pick because you never know which one will be the top performer for that year. 
SELL WHEN THEY SAY SELL:  It doesn’t happen often (15 times in 6 years).  But sometimes stocks are acquired, or get overpriced, or just never move and they will tell you when to sell them.
PLAN ON INVESTING FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS.  As you can see The Motley Fool stock picks for the last 5 years have absolutely crushed the market’s return.  Furthermore, the longer you hold them, the better they perform.  That is why they recommend you hold their stocks for at least 5 years, as I have done.
DON’T PAY FULL PRICE FOR THIS SERVICE.  Finally, this service retails for $199 a year but they frequently run discounts.  The current promotion is $79* for the first year for new subscribers.  At that price, it is absolutely the BEST VALUE around for investors of all levels.  It will probably be the best investment you ever make.

So if you have at least a few hundred dollars to invest each month, and you plan to invest for at least 5 years, then subscribing to the Motley Fool is a no-brainer.

Introductory Offer:  New members can get the next 12 months for only $79.

Remember, they have a 30 day money back guarantee.  So you have nothing to lose, and lots to gain!  Remember, they release their picks each Thursday so the next one comes out this Thursday, August 3.

Now, for a full review of the Stock Advisor keep reading…

The Motley Fool Investing Philosophy

But before I dive into more details of this service and the performance of their last 6 years of stock picks, you need to understand the Motley Fool Stock Advisor philosophy. 

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor is not about day trading or making a quick buck in the market.

Instead of a “get rich quick” approach, The Motley Fool promotes what I call a “get rich slowly” approach that requires consistent investing every month and staying invested. What I have learned is this is how real wealth is created.

As you can see from this graphic from their website, The Motley Fool Stock Advisor is about strategic, long term investing (holding stocks 5 years or more).

From that list you need to understand that the Motley Fool target “Long-Term Returns” and you should plan on holding their stocks for at least 5 years. 

Here are some other points you need to understand about Stock Advisor. Since inception in 2002, regarding those 492 picks over the last 20+ years:

the AVERAGE return is up 511% vs average SP return of 132% (calculated July 14, 2023)

about 66% are profitable

they have sold 228 or 44% of these 513 picks

current portfolio is

35% Information Technology

20% Consumer Discretionary

13% Communication Services

8% Industrials

10% Health Care

8% Financials

2% Consumer Staples

2% Materials

2% Energy

Tom Gardner is still running the company

So how does The Motley Fool get these market-beating results?

They are very good at picking a few stocks each year that experience significant growth.  Those big winners more than offset the few losers each year.

From my personal experience over the last 6 years, they continue to deliver similar results.  Most importantly, their picks easily BEAT the S&P500 over time.  Take a look at this screenshot from my ETrade account where I bought about $1,700 of Tesla based on their January 2, 2020 recommendation. That stock pick alone has given me a profit of $15,000+ or 859% as of July 16, 2023.

So, as you can see from my results, if you are looking for excellent stock picks, and willing to invest a little money each month and stay invested for 5 years, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor is a great choice.  It is especially a good value right now given new subscribers can try it for just $79 for the next 12 months. 

If you are wondering about current market conditions, you should note their recent comments on the current market.

Recently Tom Gardner, CEO of The Motley Fool, sent an email to his subscribers about the current market.  Here are the highlights of that email:  “These past several months have been rough….  But history indicates that it is exactly in these times of pain that fortunes can be made….  I believe the worst of this market correction is over….  Now, it’s time to deploy our excess cash positions more aggressively…”

So, while some of the Motley Fool’s high-flying stocks over the years like NFLX and SHOP are well off their highs, this might be a good time to start buying them again.  The Fool has recently re-recommended a few, but also told subscribers which ones to stay away from.

Ok, back to my review…

I have found over the last 6 years that the longer you hold their stock picks the better they perform.  But most importantly, the longer you hold them the more likely they are to beat the S&P500, which is exactly what you want.

Motley Fool’s Recent Performance

Their recent stocks continue to drastically outperform the market:

May 2023 pick is up 75%
April 2023 pick is up 23%
March 2023 pick is up 21%
February 2023 pick is up 30%
January 2023 pick is up 58%
December 2022 pick is up 70%
November 2022 picks are up 42% and 32%
September pick is up 26%
August 2022 pick is up 74%

The 5 Steps to Being Successful with the Motley Fool

You should buy equal amounts of ALL of the Fool stock recommendations as they come out.  So if you are saving $1,000 a month, then you should plan on buying $500 of each of their 2 monthly stock picks.
Be watching your email every Thursday and buy their stocks as soon as they come out because the stocks tend to go up 5% within the first few days after they are released.
You must plan on holding the stocks for at least 5 years.  The Motley Fool is about long-term investing.
Plan on selling the few stocks that they tell members to sell.
Never pay full price for anything:  New subscribers  should visit their special offer page and get their next 12 months of stock picks for just $79*.

MOTLEY FOOL STOCK ADVISOR TIP:  As you can see, they have done a fantastic job over the last 7 years for me.  That period covers the 2016 election, the Trump presidency, COVID, the first half of the Biden election and now rising inflation and interest rates.  Now they are focusing their picks on the post-Covid world, the Biden presidency, and the expected economic boom as the pandemic ends. 

Their next stock recommendation is scheduled to be released Thursday, August 3.  But most importantly, as soon as you subscribe you can immediately access ALL of their most recent picks so you can start adding to your portfolio.

With over 750,000 subscribers their stock picks tend to pop 2%-5% within 72 hours of their announcement. So, to maximize your returns, you need to buy the stock as soon as their recommendation comes out.

Motley Fool Fact Checker

In this review I’m showing you exactly what you want to know about The Motley Fool Stock Advisor service. Since I have been a subscriber since 2016 I am presenting just the FACTS from my personal experience.

Most importantly, I am going to answer the questions everyone is asking: Is it worth the money? Does it really beat the market? Are the returns that the Motley Fool advertises like the one below really true?

So are these results really true?  The answer is YES, those returns since inception are correct because they strategically picked lots of stocks in the early days that had absolutely phenomenal returns like Amazon (up 21,309% since they first recommended it), Netflix (up 23,756% since they first picked it), and Disney (up 10,287%).

Those 10,000+% returns on a few stocks picked in the early days naturally help the overall average.

But if you are thinking of subscribing, you should be asking how has The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor performed recently?  As a reminder, here is the summary of my analysis of many popular services:

The recent Stock Advisor stock picks are doing well too.  Both their 2023 and their last 12 months of picks are beating the competition in terms of accuracy and annualized returns.

The FACTS regarding the Motley Fool performance for me over the last 7 years are as follows:

73% of the Stock Advisor picks over the last 7 years are profitable
53 of their 144 stocks have at least doubled
33 of those have at least tripled
21 of those have at least quadrupled

Having that many stocks that double, triple or quadruple or more allows their average return of those 144 stocks to be 171% compared to the S&P500 average return of 89%. 

The 24 stocks from the Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor 2020 recommendations are up an average of 73%
Their 2019 picks are up 85%
Their 2018 stocks are up 217%
And another FACT you should know:  their 2017 picks are up an average of 259%
And the BEST FACT about the Motley Fool is their 2016 stock picks are up 402%

Their 2018, 2017, and 2016 performance proves my point that they are about investing for the long term and you need to plan on holding their stocks for at least 5 years.

Now here is the most important fact I can share with you:  the price of their stock picks usually pops up a few dollars the day their recommendation comes out.  So to get these great returns you need to buy the stock as soon as they recommend it.  That is why being a member is so important!

Here is another FACT that people never think about but yet it is extremely important…

Tom and David Gardner started The Motley Fool in 1993  and Tom stills run the company and makes stock recommendations alongside a team of expert analysts.  This is extremely important because you might find another newsletter that has also done well, but you never know who really is picking their stocks.

Here’s what you get when you get when you subscribe:

Two brand new stock recommendations and analysis per month delivered in real-time to your email.
Access to all of the Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor recommendations.
The Motley Fool’s Top 10 Best Stock to Buy RIGHT Now report features some of their recent picks that still offer the best potential return.
The Motley Fool’s Top 5 Starter Stocks report features the ideal stocks that should be the foundation of new investors’ portfolios.
24/7 Monitoring:  They will let you know when they believe it’s time to sell any of their stocks
Toll-free customer service.  Yes, real people answer the phone.
You also get:

A clear explanation of WHY they recommended each stock and the factors considered
A Risk Profile that explains the upside and downside of every stock pick
Starter Stocks: If you are just starting a portfolio, they will tell you their 10 rock-solid stocks that should be the foundation of your portfolio
Fool Knowledge Base:  24/7 access to their full library of reports and research to help you get their opinion on other stocks that you might own or be considering buying

Their Best Stock Pick of 2020

On January 2, 2020 The Motley Fool issued a BUY recommendation for TESLA when the stock was trading around $425 a share (that’s before it split ).  Here is  a picture of the Motley Fool email I got recommending “BUY TESLA”:

You can see in the image below of my ETrade portfolio that I bought 60 shares of TESLA on January 2, 2020. I got filled at $28.59 (split adjusted) per share, for a total cost of about $1,715.  And as of July 14, 2023, the stock was at $281 per share for a profit of $15,000+ on my $1,715 investment in just 3.5 years.  That is a 884% gain for me:

While I am at it, here’s another screenshot from my ETrade account–one of The Motley Fool’s December 2019 stock picks that is up 328% in 18 months.  On December 5, 2019, the Motley Fool recommended HUBS and I bought 10 shares at $153.65 a share. And as of November 2022 it was around $278 for a gain of $1,248 or 81%.

These are just 2 examples of the Motley Fool’s stocks that have done well.

But the fact is the Motley Fool Stock Advisor really does pick many stocks that double, triple, or quadruple every year, so the AVERAGE is truly that high.  I should know because I have been buying all of them.  Take a look at the MAX RETURN for 2016 which is 2,003%.  That was Shopify that the Fool recommended on July 15, 2016, when SHOP was at $32.32.  (I bought 50 shares that day for $33.10 and now it is at $680.  More specifically, as of December 31, 2021…

the 24 Motley Fool stock picks from 2016 are up an average of 402%
their 24 picks from 2017 are up an average of 259%
the 2018 picks are up 1217%
the 2019 picks are up 85%
and quite impressively, their 24 current picks from 2020 are already up an average of 73% 
Finally, of the 144 Motley Fool picks from January 2016 to December 2021:

73% are up
53`have at least doubled
33 have at least tripled
and 21 have at least quadrupled in price

Yes, you see in the last column that the Motley Fool does pick some losers, but the number of winners they pick far exceeds the losers.

The obvious conclusion here is the longer you hold the Motley Fool’s picks, the better they get.

If you came here just to get that Quick Summary of the recent Motley Fool’s  performance, there you go.

MY MOTLEY FOOL CONCLUSION —  Given that, through December 31, 2021 their last 144 stock picks (that’s 24 stock picks a year over the last 6 years) are up an average of 171%, The Motley Fool Stock Advisor Service is absolutely worth it.  If you have at least $200 to invest each month it clearly pays for itself many times over.

The list price of the service is $199 a year.  But if you are a new subscriber you can claim an $79 rate for the first year.  They also offer a 30-day membership-fee guarantee so you can try it and get a full month of all of their picks and decide if it is worth it.

Introductory Offer:  New members can get the next 12 months for only $79*.

Remember, they have a 30 day membership-fee back guarantee if you feel the service is not right for you.

How To Become a Subscriber At the Best Price Available

New subscribers can get a full year of Motley Fool Stock Advisor for just $79.  Normally The Motley Fool service is $199 per year.  I have bookmarked this New Subscriber page that has their lowest price ever for NEW SUBSCRIBERS ONLY so you can try it for just at this special rate and get the next 12 months of stock picks if you click this link.

Now if they maintain their excellent track record as they have had for the last 6 years, it just might be the best $79 investment you ever make.

In fact, over the last 6 years the average Motley Fool stock pick has more than doubled, being up 113%! This time period covers the 2016 election, the Trump administration, the China trade negotiation, COVID, the election, and the recent stock decline.  Now with the start of Biden’s 2nd year, don’t miss out on the Motley Fool’s picks for the new presidency and the post-COVID economy.  Here is their schedule for the next few weeks:

Here is their release schedule of their upcoming stock picks:

August 3, 2023 – New Stock Recommendation
August 10, 2023 – List of 5 Best Stocks to Buy Now
August 17, 2023 – New Stock Recommendation
August 24, 2023 – List of 5 Best Stocks to Buy Now List

So, if you have a few hundred dollars to invest each month and plan on staying invested for at least 5 years, we haven’t found any better source of stock picks.

The Details About The Motley Fool Stock Advisor Program

In the rest of this article, I will also show you:

Exactly what you get when you subscribe to the Motley Fool
When the Motley Fool will release their next new stock picks
The percentage of the Motley Fool picks that were profitable each year
The OVERALL results of their picks year after year,

I will also tell you 2 important trading tips about the Motley Fool services that I have learned.  Two little facts that you must understand about their services in order to maximize your profits.

Why Did I Write This?

I will try not to bore you, but I think it’s important to tell you a bit about myself and why I felt the need to write this Motley Fool Stock Advisor review.

My story is probably not too different from yours. I watched my parents work their a** off (excuse my French).  They each worked 50+ hours a week to give our family the best lifestyle they could.  Unfortunately, my father passed away six years ago just after his 65th birthday. He worked hard his whole life and planned to enjoy his retirement, but he died within months of retiring.  My dad’s death taught me a valuable lesson–I need to start building my personal wealth NOW so I can retire early and ENJOY my retirement.

My Mission

To accomplish that, I set out on a mission to find the best and the fastest way to learn about the stock market and build my stock portfolio in a proven and safe way.  I started out talking to people I thought were smart and wealthy, I did a review of countless books and magazines, and subscribing to various stock newsletters.

To save YOU a lot of time here is a summary of what I learned…

The FIRST lesson I learned was definitely NOT to get stock tips from friends or chase rumors.  My friends’ “hot picks” ended up costing me money and wasting my time.
The SECOND lesson I learned is that you must take action. Reading, thinking, and talking does NOT build wealth; investing builds wealth.  So the sooner you start investing the right way, the faster your account will grow.  It’s all about investing a little each month, and the power of compounding.  So stop thinking about investing and start investing NOW!  You will be surprised how quickly your portfolio grows.
The THIRD lesson I learned was that not all stock newsletters are worth the money.  Over the last two decades, I have subscribed to dozens of stock newsletters and the Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor has the most consistent returns and is the cheapest.
The FOURTH thing I learned was how easy it is to get started building a profitable portfolio. Opening a brokerage account is easy and takes less than 3 minutes. Finding the right stocks is now easy too.

Eventually, I did find a stock service that was able to consistently outperform the stock market.

…And that’s why I wrote this Motley Fool Review.  So I can share my results with The Motley Fool’s stocks and encourage you to start building a profitable portfolio as I have.

Is the Motley Fool Worth the Money?

Based on my experience over the last 5 years of buying every one of their two new stock picks each month, my analysis of The Stock Advisor performance concludes absolutely YES!

As I mentioned above, just buying $1,700shares of TESLA on January 2, 2020 has given me $14,751 in profits.

Just to be clear: NOT every one of The Motley Fool stock picks goes up, but they do pick a lot of stocks that have historically DOUBLED or TRIPLED in value.  So, on average, their stocks have beaten the market by over 121%.

To properly answer the question ‘is it worth the money’ you need to understand how much it costs.  The list price of Stock Advisor is $199 a year.  Even at that price it is very inexpensive compared to other services.  But new customers can subscribe now for just $79 a year on this Motley Fool NEW SUBSCRIBER DISCOUNT link.

At $79 for the first year, with a 30 day membership-fee back guarantee, and based on both their recent and historical performance, Motley Fool Stock Advisor is absolutely worth it. You should absolutely get the Motley Fool’s next 24 stock recommendations, plus access to all their recent picks, and try it out. Every stock probably won’t go up, but 73% of their picks over the last 7 years were profitable for me and the average has crushed the S&P500. You have very little to lose and lots to gain.

So, assuming you have some cash to invest each month, and you can let the money stay invested for a few years, it certainly seems like a very safe bet.

Does Motley Fool Tell You When to Sell?

Yes, The Motley Fool will tell you when to sell a stock.  Over these 7 years they have issued 14 sell recommendations.  Four of these sell orders have been because the companies were being acquired and they recommended selling to get the cash out.   

How Much Does It Cost?

The normal price is $199 a year.  No commitment.  Cancel any time with a 30 day membership-fee back guarantee.  However, the Motley Fool constantly runs frequent pricing promotions for new customers like.  Here is their current offer:”

Stock Advisor is Normally $199, but Here is Their Latest Offer:

PRICE DROP: SAVE $120 AND get the next 12 months access for just $79*.

More Details…

You probably already know a little bit about The Motley Fool and its products.

You may have seen some posts on social media where the Fool provide insights on the stock market.  However, here’s a brief review of what they do:

The Motley Fool is a stock picking service whose stated goal is to help investors like you learn how to “invest better.”  And based on my experience that is exactly what they do.  They take the stress out of picking stocks.

About the Motley Fool

The Motley Fool was founded by David Gardner and Tom Gardner in 1993.  Tom and David Gardner’s most popular stock recommendation service is called “Stock Advisor” and was launched in 2002.

The Fool’s Stock Advisor service has only one purpose – to help investors like YOU invest better.

Every month, the The Motley Fool present 12 US stock recommendations that are sent via e-mail and available on their website.

Here’s What You Get…

For those of you that are just starting out investing in the stock market–The Motley Fool has a special section for you.

After you signup, you have immediate access to the entire Stock Advisor website which includes a list of their picks, their stock screener, their message boards, etc.

Then you will start getting specific Motley Fool stock recommendations emails such as the following:

Every first Thursday of the month, one new stock recommendation.
On the second Thursday of the month, a list of Best Stocks to Buy Now.
On the third Thursday of the month, one new stock recommendation.
And on the fourth Thursday of the month, a list of more Best Stocks to Buy Now.

An Example Recommendation

Here is what one of the recent “Best Buys Now” emails looked like…

Here’s something else you MUST KNOW–Tom Gardner is still running the company and provides some of these stock recommendations!  If you look at other newsletters, you can’t compare one year to the next because they have so much changeover and you never know whose guidance you are following.  This is a STRONG POINT for The Motley Fool service!

If you have doubts about The Motley Fool suggestions you can pull up the coverage page which will display the analysis of the stock.

FAQS

Why Should You Care About The Motley Fool?

You should care for several reasons.  First, it makes investing in the stock so much easier and less stressful. Personally, I just read their recommendations every Thursday and buy what they recommend.  I just buy the 2 NEW picks each month as the “5 Best Stocks Now” are usually re-recommendations of previous stocks. Any of their stocks that go down 32% I just sell off to cut my losses. This helps to keep some cash in the account.

Second, as you have seen in great detail above, they really do pick a few stocks each year that, historically, doubled or tripled in value.

Third, if you are just getting started, it’s a great place to start and learn about the stock market.  Financial advisers agree on few things, but they ALL AGREE that the sooner you start investing in the stock market the better off you will be in the future.

None of us have the time nor the skills to analyze thousands of stocks and then decide which ones are the best ones.  The Stock Advisor subscription is tailored to the Individual Investor to do exactly that.

What Else Do You Get?

When you order a Stock Advisor subscription, in addition to the two new stock picks every month, you’ll have unlimited access to all of their current Rankings, Service Updates and historical stock recommendations.

You will also receive “Instant alerts”. They will send you an instant alert as soon as one of these events occurs to a stock in your list:

New buy alerts
When it is time to sell (this is huge)
Large price changes

Is The Motley Fool a Scam? Is The Motley Fool Legit?

The Motley Fool is DEFINITELY NOT a scam.  My results with the Fool picks over the last 7 years have been phenomenal, as you have seen.  Of course it’s not perfect and every stock tip is not a winner. But, they definitely are a legit company and for the last 7 years their stocks have beat the market.

The fact is, The Motley Fool stock picks have beaten the market since 2016. My results shown above prove it. That is the most important thing you need to know. Also, the Motley Fool has been in business since 1993 and employ 250+ people. And, according to The Motley Fool website, they have 750,000+ subscribers to their Stock Advisor. 750,000 people can’t be wrong!

But, for the benefit of people reading The Motley Fool review, here are the FACTS:

There’s no question, the answer to ‘is The Motley Fool a legitimate company?’ is YES.  It is well-known among investors.  In fact, they now say they have over 750,000 subscribers.
I subscribed in 2016 and my results are listed above.
They even have their own mutual fund, which is the “Motley Fool Global Opportunities Fund Investor Shares (FOOLX)”.
Also, the Fool brothers, Tom and David Gardner, don’t hide from their customers.  For example, they often have interesting ideas on their certified Twitter page.

Here is an interesting piece on their ups and downs with Amazon.com (they first purchased it in September 1997!)

Here another testimonial from a customer given on Stackexchange, proving even more how it’s not a scam.

“I’ve had a MF Stock Advisor for 7 or 8 years now, and I’ve belonged to Supernova for a couple of years. I also have money in one of their mutual funds. “The Fool” has a lot of very good educational information available, especially for people who are new to investing. Read full testimonial“

Now that we’ve beaten that myth to death, let me answer a few other questions…

Will it Help you Make More Money?

The short answer is YES. While past performance is no guarantee of future results, as I mentioned above in this review, since 2016 their stock picks have an average return of 219%.  That means that they more than tripled.

I subscribed in 2016 and my results speak for themselves.

Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor- Additional Insights

It is true that there are many options to explore, but after testing a bunch of them, the Motley Fool provided the best returns and the best bang for the buck.
The Stock Advisor is usually $199 a year, but if you are a new subscriber visit this new subscriber page to see their latest offers like 40% off with a 30-day 100% membership refund period.  It is an investment, but you should get a great return on that investment.
There is definitely a “Fool Effect.” With 750,000 subscribers, you must understand that their stock recommendations go up about $2 – $5 within  hours of the release of their recommendations. So be ready on Thursday to buy as soon as you get the email.
Like with any other stock picking service, it’s true that their investment strategies are not 100% guaranteed. From what I have experienced in the last 5 years, they do seem to pick one stock a year that goes down 20-30%.  They will, however, let you know when they want you to sell it.  My recommendation would be to place a stop loss order at 32% of your purchase price.
After paper trading their stock picks for 6 months, I eventually had the confidence to start buying all of the Motley Fool stocks in my Etrade account.  Here are a few screenshots of my account that show the date I bought them and the returns.  These shots of my Motley Fool portfolio are from November, 2022.

I also feel that the Motley Fool service is very cheap compared to other alternatives that don’t perform as consistently. (Zack’s Investor service is 3x the price)

How Much Does Stock Advisor Cost?

Last year I paid $199 and if you go to their website you will see the full list price is $199.  BUT–They do run pricing promotions of 30-40% off from time to time.  Or they run specials like $79 a year for new subscribers*.  Either way, you can cancel and take advantage of their 30-day membership-fee back guarantee and get a full refund.

Is Motley Fool a pump and dump?

Absolutely not.  In fact, they are the opposite.  The Motley Fool recommends you hold their stock picks for at least 5 years.

Does it Cover Penny Stocks?

No, the Motley Fool services focuses on blue chip stocks, which are large & well-established companies in their respective industry. They also look for companies that are dominating their industries and have high growth potential.  They do NOT recommend penny stocks.

For penny stocks, I would suggest looking into Timothy Sykes, a penny stock trader who made $1.65 million by day trading as a university student.

He has a couple of teaching segments that you might interest you:

Tim Sykes teaches Penny stocks
Superman Trade alerts and premium research
Guru – learn from proven profitable traders
Analyze your trades

Is The Motley Fool Good for Technical Analysis?

No, definitely not. Technical analysis involves analyzing trade volume and prices and then trying to forecast the direction of stock prices.

The Motley Fool service is based on fundamental analysis and is for longer-term investing.  Hence they focus on the company’s financial statements, their competitors, the overall health of the economy, etc.

Is it Good for Day Traders?

No. Day Trading involves buying and selling stocks on the same day. The Motley Fool recommends stocks they want you to hold for years, not minutes.

It is focused on buy & hold portfolios that seek capital growth. This involves a lot less stress and more growth for the long-term.

Motley Fool Review Conclusion

So… is the Motley Fool Stock Advisor worth the money?

The answer is a definite YES.

Of all the stock subscriptions I have tried over the years, Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor has been the most profitable for me.  And it is probably one of the best investments I make each year.  Just look at my TSLA trade above that they recommended!   The Motley Fool Stock Advisor is definitely worth its $199 retail price, and is most definitely worth the $79 for the first 12 months for new subscribers.

The purpose of this Motley Fool Review was to show you my personal experience with their picks over the last 7 years.  I’ve been a paying member of the Stock Advisor subscription since 2016.  I buy $1,000-$2,000 worth of each of their 2 specific stock picks every month.  I wrote this Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor Review so others can see how great the Fool’s Stock Advisor service picks have been for me over the last 7 years. 

And I event monitor dozens of other services and share my data like this:

I simply have not found another service that has such a strong historical performance and an excellent short term performance as well.  As you can see from above; it is doing quite well in 2023 and in the last 12 months. 

As I stated at the beginning of this review, my portfolio has also easily outperformed the S&P500 over the 7 years that I have been buying their stocks.  My Motley Fool picks that I have held at least 5 years are up 243% compared to the SP’s 135% return over the same time period.

The biggest negative experience is:

With over 500,000 subscribers, there is definitely a “Fool Effect” on the stock prices. Within the first few hours of getting a recommendation, the price of the stock typically shoots up $2 or $3.  This means you really have to paying attention to their Thursday emails and I have learned to get my order in quickly.

The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor Service Compared to Their Rule Breakers Service

The Rule Breaker stock picking service works in much the same way as Stock Advisor.  They both consistently beat the market, release 2 stock picks per month, and are best for long-term investors.  The differences are:

Rule Breakers picks are coming from The Motley Fool’s team of analysts.
These stock picking tips focus on high-growth stocks that they feel are poised to be market leaders
The results are much more volatile than Stock Advisor’s

The Motley Fool Rule Breakers picks are not as high as The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor picks since inception, and they have more variance as well.  So if you missed out on just one Rule Breaker pick each year, your results could be significantly worse.

For more information on the Fool’s Rule Breakers, see our Motley Fool Rule Breakers Review article.

* $79 promotional price for new members. $120 discount based on the current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price.

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