Just signed up and I want to tell you what a refreshing breath of fresh air this site is. Love the vibe you've created here. After being drawn and quartered and left out in the hot sun to contemplate my sins by the board nazis over at Saul's after daring to post something "off topic", then daring to offer a suggestion, I am very happy to have found this place, where kindness and friendliness are valued.
Not sure what is off topic here, but I read what you said above about holding through those inevitable downturns and I agree. However, I wonder if you ever hedge in any form. I don't know how old you are but if you went through the long winter of 2000 when tech stocks were annihilated you don't forget it. Do you ever think of a long extended bear market and would you just hold through it all?
Thanks for the kind words. This is obviously a much smaller space, and nothing's off topic here (other than politics and being an ass, I guess). Feel free to fire away on whatever you'd like.
To answer your question, I've been investing since the mid-90's so lived through 2000, 2008, etc. And no, I don't hedge. As I just wrote in my September recap, the market's history and math are firmly on my side over time. I view hedging as nothing more than buying insurance to make me feel good when the math temporarily moves against me. That might be something others want, but I find I don't need it.
Saul's is frequented by thousands of people, which makes it extremely difficult to stay on task. Just look at how many messages are posted a day. If there was no structure to it, the conversations would likely devolve into anything but the actual quality of these companies as investments. Just take a look at just about any Facebook or Twitter investing thread to see the difference.
In the end people make a LOT of money at Saul's, and the focus of the board is a big reason why. I believe it would be much less productive if that focus ever went away.
Thanks for your openness to this topic. It led to this positive outcome with Tony Miller in management at Motley Fool that I thought you might be interested in knowing about:
Hi Tony,
I'm not sure what your position is with Motley Fool (whether you oversee all the boards or just Saul's) but
I had an idea I wanted to share with you that I think is a good one. This is regarding my experience on Saul's Investing board. I have noticed the frustration of the board assistants, and their often sharp and rude responses to off topic posts (and the real people that are behind them) reflect that. Hard feelings are created as a result. It is not the best circumstance for both them and the posters that receive the brunt of their responses. My idea is to take the emotion out of this, and thereby make the board a more congenial and friendly place. I haven't noticed a way to post an idea and I have learned not to post anything at this point for fear of retribution. Here is my idea: if there is a post that is off topic or not permitted on the board, let the administrators simply delete that post and send a message to whoever wrote it. The unemotional simple message could be " This post has been deleted due to not conforming with the board's rules. Please review the rules. We are glad you are part of our community." It could be something like that, with the link provided to the board's rules. Simple. Unemotional. No frustration for the board assistants, and no harsh feelings created on either side of the issue. As it is now they are having to respond personally to every single post that is off topic. This is not necessary. I hope you take my suggestion. This is the only thing about this great board that is truly out of kilter and is really easily remedied. I don't know if you have the clout to implement something like this, but hopefully at least you can forward my suggestion to them.
Thank you,
Bill
Good morning, Bill!
I just wanted to follow up with you. Saul loved your idea, and he’s reaching out to his assistants to create a generic message as you had suggested. He also asked me to thank you!
I really appreciate your attitude and wonderful suggestion!
I appreciate the follow up and agree that's a great idea. If you stick around there awhile, you'll see there are times when a flood of people seem to find the board. My guess is we'll see another as early as this week since a big thread about Saul's has been making its way around Twitter the last few days even though he has no presence there.
This usually leads to yet another flood of off topics posts and one-line questions from people who clearly haven't taken a look at the guidelines. As you suggest, that leads to frustration not only for board managers but regular readers. While your suggestion probably won't halt the flood, it could definitely make things easier for both new readers and the board managers when volume picks up.
Thanks for that thoughtful reply. Rules are fine and necessary but it was the shockingly rude, disrespectful, and inaccurately accusatory way the board managers responded to my innocent post as a newbie that was truly uncalled for and I honestly had never experienced before on any forum. I ended up reporting their posts to the management at MF and received an apology (but not from anyone at Saul's board). What an amazing board that is though and happy to see all the successful investors sharing their insights and monthly statistics. I will take a look at the link you sent me. Thank you and I really appreciate that you are sharing your portfolio with us all.
AFRM, MNDY, ZI, and ASAN of companies I don't own. SNOW hanging around outside that tier, but would like to see next Q's customer and RPO trend before considering again.
Joe, what did you think of the Zscaler report? I thought it was very solid. Nice increase in customers adds, billings, RPO, DBNRR and profits. Fed $$ looks to be slowly ramping as well.
Looks like it could grow in the high 50's for a while. I added a bit, now an 8% position.
Totally agree. Another quality quarter with strong showings in all the future metrics you mentioned. I also believe ZS could be as well positioned as any company to win significant US federal government business in 2022 given they already have almost all of the needed clearances and certifications. It looks like a little bit of a "sell the news" reaction by the market after the big run over the last few weeks, but everything appears to be right on track for the business.
Just signed up and I want to tell you what a refreshing breath of fresh air this site is. Love the vibe you've created here. After being drawn and quartered and left out in the hot sun to contemplate my sins by the board nazis over at Saul's after daring to post something "off topic", then daring to offer a suggestion, I am very happy to have found this place, where kindness and friendliness are valued.
Not sure what is off topic here, but I read what you said above about holding through those inevitable downturns and I agree. However, I wonder if you ever hedge in any form. I don't know how old you are but if you went through the long winter of 2000 when tech stocks were annihilated you don't forget it. Do you ever think of a long extended bear market and would you just hold through it all?
Thanks for the kind words. This is obviously a much smaller space, and nothing's off topic here (other than politics and being an ass, I guess). Feel free to fire away on whatever you'd like.
To answer your question, I've been investing since the mid-90's so lived through 2000, 2008, etc. And no, I don't hedge. As I just wrote in my September recap, the market's history and math are firmly on my side over time. I view hedging as nothing more than buying insurance to make me feel good when the math temporarily moves against me. That might be something others want, but I find I don't need it.
As for Saul's, I don't know what you posted but am a firm supporter of the rules. In fact, I wrote about it here (I'd respectfully ask you give it a skim): https://boards.fool.com/ot-why-saul39s-works-34711390.aspx?sort=username.
Saul's is frequented by thousands of people, which makes it extremely difficult to stay on task. Just look at how many messages are posted a day. If there was no structure to it, the conversations would likely devolve into anything but the actual quality of these companies as investments. Just take a look at just about any Facebook or Twitter investing thread to see the difference.
In the end people make a LOT of money at Saul's, and the focus of the board is a big reason why. I believe it would be much less productive if that focus ever went away.
Thanks for your openness to this topic. It led to this positive outcome with Tony Miller in management at Motley Fool that I thought you might be interested in knowing about:
Hi Tony,
I'm not sure what your position is with Motley Fool (whether you oversee all the boards or just Saul's) but
I had an idea I wanted to share with you that I think is a good one. This is regarding my experience on Saul's Investing board. I have noticed the frustration of the board assistants, and their often sharp and rude responses to off topic posts (and the real people that are behind them) reflect that. Hard feelings are created as a result. It is not the best circumstance for both them and the posters that receive the brunt of their responses. My idea is to take the emotion out of this, and thereby make the board a more congenial and friendly place. I haven't noticed a way to post an idea and I have learned not to post anything at this point for fear of retribution. Here is my idea: if there is a post that is off topic or not permitted on the board, let the administrators simply delete that post and send a message to whoever wrote it. The unemotional simple message could be " This post has been deleted due to not conforming with the board's rules. Please review the rules. We are glad you are part of our community." It could be something like that, with the link provided to the board's rules. Simple. Unemotional. No frustration for the board assistants, and no harsh feelings created on either side of the issue. As it is now they are having to respond personally to every single post that is off topic. This is not necessary. I hope you take my suggestion. This is the only thing about this great board that is truly out of kilter and is really easily remedied. I don't know if you have the clout to implement something like this, but hopefully at least you can forward my suggestion to them.
Thank you,
Bill
Good morning, Bill!
I just wanted to follow up with you. Saul loved your idea, and he’s reaching out to his assistants to create a generic message as you had suggested. He also asked me to thank you!
I really appreciate your attitude and wonderful suggestion!
Have a great weekend!
Tony
Bill -
I appreciate the follow up and agree that's a great idea. If you stick around there awhile, you'll see there are times when a flood of people seem to find the board. My guess is we'll see another as early as this week since a big thread about Saul's has been making its way around Twitter the last few days even though he has no presence there.
This usually leads to yet another flood of off topics posts and one-line questions from people who clearly haven't taken a look at the guidelines. As you suggest, that leads to frustration not only for board managers but regular readers. While your suggestion probably won't halt the flood, it could definitely make things easier for both new readers and the board managers when volume picks up.
Thanks for sticking with it.
Joe
Thanks for that thoughtful reply. Rules are fine and necessary but it was the shockingly rude, disrespectful, and inaccurately accusatory way the board managers responded to my innocent post as a newbie that was truly uncalled for and I honestly had never experienced before on any forum. I ended up reporting their posts to the management at MF and received an apology (but not from anyone at Saul's board). What an amazing board that is though and happy to see all the successful investors sharing their insights and monthly statistics. I will take a look at the link you sent me. Thank you and I really appreciate that you are sharing your portfolio with us all.
Any stocks on your watch list that tour excited about? I am 7% in on Monday.com. Also, Affirm looks very interesting.
I need more time to research it but Affirm has certainly peaked my interest.
AFRM, MNDY, ZI, and ASAN of companies I don't own. SNOW hanging around outside that tier, but would like to see next Q's customer and RPO trend before considering again.
Joe, what did you think of the Zscaler report? I thought it was very solid. Nice increase in customers adds, billings, RPO, DBNRR and profits. Fed $$ looks to be slowly ramping as well.
Looks like it could grow in the high 50's for a while. I added a bit, now an 8% position.
Totally agree. Another quality quarter with strong showings in all the future metrics you mentioned. I also believe ZS could be as well positioned as any company to win significant US federal government business in 2022 given they already have almost all of the needed clearances and certifications. It looks like a little bit of a "sell the news" reaction by the market after the big run over the last few weeks, but everything appears to be right on track for the business.