Hidden Gems
New Year, a Few Updates
03-Jan-2017 18:33
It has been a while since this site was touched but to start off the new year check out the Links page for 2016 Hidden Gems performance discussion board links. Happy New Year to all!
A Dozen Years of Hiden Gems
21-Jun-2015 20:27
The June 19th anniversary of Hidden Gems snuck up once again but fortunately it occurred on a Friday meaning I had the weekend to put together the HG vs. Alternate Indexes performance report. It is now posted on the HG Philosophy discussion board so give it a look.
Updated HG Watch Lists
22-Feb-2015 23:04
It took the better part of an entire day but I updated my Motley Fool Hidden Gems performance statistics for the newsletter Watch List, Tiny Gems and Supplemental stock list. Here are the links to the discussion board posts:
The Watch List and Tiny Gems numbers were also formatted as Excel spreadsheets. See the Spreadsheets page for download instructions. The update macro in the spreadsheets isn’t working very well any more. It uses Microsoft’s MSN Money site for stock quotes and it just isn’t very reliable any more.
I really need to find a better way to track this stuff, it took hours to reconcile all of the numbers. With these small companies they often go broke, are acquired or merge with another company. It takes a lot of time to run down what happened to a stock and try to get accurate prices. Between that and the finicky Excel features I tend to put off updating the lists which only makes it worse.
So maybe I can find a better way to handle it. Or more likely it will be another 2 years before I update the list.
The Watch List and Tiny Gems numbers were also formatted as Excel spreadsheets. See the Spreadsheets page for download instructions. The update macro in the spreadsheets isn’t working very well any more. It uses Microsoft’s MSN Money site for stock quotes and it just isn’t very reliable any more.
I really need to find a better way to track this stuff, it took hours to reconcile all of the numbers. With these small companies they often go broke, are acquired or merge with another company. It takes a lot of time to run down what happened to a stock and try to get accurate prices. Between that and the finicky Excel features I tend to put off updating the lists which only makes it worse.
So maybe I can find a better way to handle it. Or more likely it will be another 2 years before I update the list.
8 Years of HG
19-Jun-2011 22:53
The Motley Fool Hidden Gems newsletter published its first official issue with Tom Gardner at the helm 8 years ago. I have been tracking returns using a “classic” style system that theoretically purchases a stock when the newsletter is released. The latest results are available on the HG Philosophy discussion board. For those that aren’t subscribers the current results have HG beating the next closest index by about 15% total and 3% annually. Not bad.
Latest Watch List Performance Posted
07-Aug-2011 13:15
It has been several months since I posted performance numbers for the various watch lists that I track for the Fool’s Hidden Gems and Inside Value services. In light of the recent market downturn I figured now was a good time to update the numbers. You can check them out if you are a subscriber to the appropriate newsletter.
You can also download spreadsheets containing data for the HG Newsletter and Tiny Gems watch lists on the Spreadsheets page of this site.
You can also download spreadsheets containing data for the HG Newsletter and Tiny Gems watch lists on the Spreadsheets page of this site.
Happy New Year
03-Jan-2012 21:13
Happy New Year to all! As I have done most years I am posting annual performance numbers for Hidden Gems Portfolio Candidates. To see the results head to the HG Philosophy Discussion Board. It was a rough year for quite a few HG picks but there were also some impressive performers. Here’s to hoping the upcoming year features improved economic conditions around the world.
Back to Best of HG
31-Jan-2012 22:06
After a couple of months off where I was not subscribed to Hidden Gems, I found enough loose change in the couch cushions to re-up for another year. And so it back to the Best of the boards…
Long Time, No Post
04-Jun-2012 20:29
It's been 5+ months since my last post, guess things kind of got a little busy. I have been mostly posting the Best of HG summaries every 2 weeks or so but vacation and work got the best of me for the last month. That said I'll try to get back on schedule. See the link below for the latest Best of HG that covers the previous month.
Best of With a New Feature!
02-Sep-2012 21:35
The latest Best of the HG boards is up. Now featuring the most recommended posters over the time period. Check it out:
End of Year Bookkeeping
31-Dec-2012 21:02
As 2012 draws to a close in Hidden Gems-land I ran the performance numbers for the past year and posted the results on the HG Philosophy discussion board at HG Performance 2012.
HG was within a couple of percentage points of most of the indexes and had 6 stocks that gained over 100% for the year. There were also 3 stocks that lost more than 50% and a few more that were close.
Obviously making sweeping judgements about the newsletter in twelve month increments is not particularly wise as markets and stocks move for various reasons over the course of a year. To take a bit of a “step back” view I have been posting returns for Hidden Gems since its inception each year on its anniversary in June - except for this year. I ended up getting busy with work and then it just fell off the radar.
So I recently backtracked, ran the numbers for HG’s nine years and posted them at HG vs. Alternate Indexes - June 2012
Hopefully everyone has had a good holiday run and best wishes for a prosperous and Happy New Year.
HG was within a couple of percentage points of most of the indexes and had 6 stocks that gained over 100% for the year. There were also 3 stocks that lost more than 50% and a few more that were close.
Obviously making sweeping judgements about the newsletter in twelve month increments is not particularly wise as markets and stocks move for various reasons over the course of a year. To take a bit of a “step back” view I have been posting returns for Hidden Gems since its inception each year on its anniversary in June - except for this year. I ended up getting busy with work and then it just fell off the radar.
So I recently backtracked, ran the numbers for HG’s nine years and posted them at HG vs. Alternate Indexes - June 2012
Hopefully everyone has had a good holiday run and best wishes for a prosperous and Happy New Year.
10 Years of Hidden Gems
21-Jun-2013 08:53
Way back on June 19, 2003 Tom Gardner and The Motley Fool launched the Hidden Gems newsletter. It was actually a rebranding of the previous service known as Motley Fool Select but it featured the now familiar two picks a month and started tracking performance from that point forward. Over the years around the anniversary of Hidden Gems first issue I post performance numbers tracking picks using a method similar to the “classic” scorecard. This year’s numbers are in and can be seen on the HG Philosophy discussion board:
HG vs. Alternate Indexes - 10th Anniversary
Additionally after a long break I updated the HG Watch List, Tiny Gems and supplemental summaries. You can find the posts at:
HG Newsletter Watch List - June 19, 2013
HG Tiny Gems Summary - June 19, 2013
HG Supplemental Watch List - June 19, 2013
You can also check out spreadsheets for the Newsletter Watch List and Tiny Gems Summary under the Spreadsheets tab.
HG vs. Alternate Indexes - 10th Anniversary
Additionally after a long break I updated the HG Watch List, Tiny Gems and supplemental summaries. You can find the posts at:
HG Newsletter Watch List - June 19, 2013
HG Tiny Gems Summary - June 19, 2013
HG Supplemental Watch List - June 19, 2013
You can also check out spreadsheets for the Newsletter Watch List and Tiny Gems Summary under the Spreadsheets tab.