<font color=red> Part II.
5. Frequently Asked Questions on the "Gorilla and King Portfolio candidates" thread:
A. What's all this talk about thread portfolios?
"There are two, the 'Gorilla and King,' and the 'Watch and Wait.' Both are in 'Year 2000' versions. To get to them, go directly to the top of this page. Click on the blue, underlined, 'Gorilla and King Portfolio candidates,' go down the page to the first hyperlink (the G&K Index) and click. To get to the 'Watch and Wait' portfolio, scroll down to the second hyperlink instead."
We also have a portfolio of those stocks most likely, in our opinion, to double in the year 2000:
Message 13535740
See message 13325 for more details.
B. Why aren't you using a basket approach to investing? Even Geoffrey Moore says it's a good idea.
"Obviously, we like Moore. But, we don't necessarily follow everything he says. After all, we're all free to invest any way we think best. And some of us believe a basket of potential gorillas dilutes our returns. (That is, all of the capital tied up in non-gorillas is, by definition, not in gorillas - where is should be.)
C. Why don't you consider 'X' a gorilla? It's a great stock.
"Gorillas are not just great stocks, they are great 'high return/low risk' - or virtual monopoly - stocks. But read the header for more details."
D. Could you please help me invest some money?
"No. We are all responsible for making our own decisions. (And, it's not appropriate to ask us anyway.)"
E. What is the best way to get up to speed on this thread?
"Read the header, read the connected links, read the thread (or as large a portion of it as possible), and read TRFM."
F. Is all this work worth it?
"You be the judge. But, it is public knowledge that we discussed the advantages of holding QCOM in the spring of 1999, Gemstar and JDSU that summer, and CREE and NTAP last fall. Now, no one knows if this year we will be as fortunate, but with your help we're certainly going to try."
{Half-time score = The Nasdaq composite through the 4th of July, 2000 was down 1.9 %, the G and K portfolio on average was up 28.8%, the W & W portfolio on average was up 63.8% and the doubles portfolio was on average up 31%.}
G. Who is Merlin, Sir Galahad, or Perceval? I don't remember seeing them post.
"Because the thread was seen by many as the Camelot of cyberspace, most of the original nicknames are Arthurian. But we ran out of names from Camelot and ventured into other mythologies."
sixpak.cs.ucla.edu
sixpak.cs.ucla.edu
H. How does a stock get on the W & W portfolio, or the G and K portfolio, for that matter?
"A befits the unofficial 'King Arthur and the Round Table' thread, via trial by combat, of course.
ladyoh.tripod.com
(At the end of the year we promote stocks from the W & W to the G/K portfolio. JDSU was promoted last. In the future we hope to use the results of 'Project Hunt' (see below) to feed stocks into the W and W portfolio.)"
I. Is there a list of consensus Gorillas?
"No, but see the G & K portfolio for ideas."
J. Where should I start looking for new Gorillas?
In High Technology, it's as simple as that. Even though the search for gorillas is a frustrating one due to their scarcity and feels more like a search for Sasquatch rather than for plain old silverbacks, we must remain focused on where and how we search, with the payoff being worth the discipline. You can search for a gorilla in Miami Beach all you want but you ain't gonna find one, ever. Gorillas could have been comprised of other characteristics then the ones we are interested in, but they are not. Gorillas are giant dominant technological powerhouses and searching for them in another context is academically stimulating but futile. If that were not true we could stretch the G&K principles to, let's say, consumer goods. Heinz would be a ketchup gorilla. It has proprietary open architecture, because of its secret recipe. It has gorilla dominance in market share, because who buys anything but Heinz ketchup? So where would we draw the line? - 100cfm.
K. Isn't the GG risky?
"To a greater or lesser degree all investing is risky. However, as our goal is to find 'high return/low risk' stocks, we believe our method is not as risky as it may appear to the uninitiated. As Uncle Frank said, "we specialize in sure things, which are hard to come by <vbg>.... The Gorilla gaming approach is to look for companies with strong technology positions, and try to evaluate the strength and durability of their positions. The fact that a company is "hot" in terms of its stock price has no relevance to this evaluation, though a rapidly rising stock price often catches our attention in the first place. One thing that we look for in both GKI and W&W candidates is profitability."
Now, does this sound particularly risky?
L. As most gorillas have a market cap of over $10 billion aren't they already known to the market? And, if so where's the advantage?
"Do your own DD. However, it's our belief that although gorillas are known to the market, they are also fundamentally misunderstood by it. And, therefore, they are usually undervalued. (For instance, just look at most analysts’ reports. And remember, the ability to ignore a continuous flow of analysts’ mistakes is one of our biggest advantages.)”
A case in point, once QCOM was declared a gorilla in the spring of 1999 most of us never thought of selling. We simply believed, no matter what our friends, co-workers, or brokers told us, that we should never sell a gorilla. (In other words, you are being invited to join a community whose long time members held a stock through most of a 2,600% run up. Think about it.)"
M. This may all be very well, but I just bought a Gorilla and it went down. How come?
"Gorilla stocks, like most other forms of investment, will appreciate and depreciate over certain periods of time. And, in fact, its unreasonable to expect stocks to appreciate in a straight line due to any number of factors, including market conditions, Fed actions, Momo players, management decisions, FUD attacks, analysts' errors, and margin calls. Our theory, however, is based on a long-term buy and hold strategy, and asserts that over any appreciable length of time a Gorilla's stock will outperform its competitors."
N. But doesn't using Gorilla Gaming at least guarantee my success?
"No, of course not. 'Lower risk' is not 'no risk.' While we believe that GG is a superior investment strategy, even when using it things may go wrong."
O. My friends say the gorillas stock price is too high. So I think I'll wait for it to split.
"If all that your friends know about a gorilla is its price, next time try not to listen to them. If, however, you think they really are experts, then don't listen to us."
P. What's "Off Topic" (OT) on this thread?
"The only thing off topic on this thread is rudeness. A fine example of this civility may be found in Keith Feral’s classic G/K reply: 'What a great post. Unfortunately, I disagree with everything you said. '
(We would, however, ask that any extended discussion not having to do with stocks be carried on by PM.)"
Q. But how do I send a Private Message (PM)?
"Just click on the person's highlighted name on the main board. The resulting screen will have a private message link on the far right hand side. Click on it, and you are off and running."
R. What do you think of the other Gorilla threads.
"We do not endorse, recommend or wish ill, any person or thread. To each his own."
S. How did you create all those neat bold headlines, and italicized answers?
"See message number 17558, by Joel Yagoda (Perceval/EyeDoc). Also see Mike Buckley's message number 17308, and message 26826 from Stockhawk for fixed fonts.”
Formating summary = Message 12973660
More formating = bbsinc.com.
Also see the following link for changes in the color of a message’s header:
Subject 36425
T. Where is the SI FAQ?
siliconinvestor.com
6. Thread projects:
"Project HUNT" - An organized hunt for new gorillas. See chaz (Thucydidies), message numbers 15465, and for a summary of its results see message 18187.
The results so far:
Company.....Author......Message Number of Final Report:
BVSN.......James Sinclair......15448
EMLX............buck................18151
EXDS..........Snasraway.........12458
HLIT.........Eric Jacobson......16921, and update 23229.
INTF.........Mathemagician....18015
RNWK...........Suprow...........18058
WIND..........John Huber.......16648
ATYT...........SMACS...........18213
KOPN............Voop...............19840
ELON..........Janet_Wij..........19977
INSP..........techreports..........21563
WGAT...........Mishedlo........21672
INFS........John Stichnoth......21723
RATL..........Bob Wozney.....21995
CHKP.........Eric Jacobson.....22663
PHCM..John Stichnoth and Susan Huebert..23473/23476/23478
SNDK....pre-Hunt report by Ausdauer...26255
Subject 33114
sixpak.cs.ucla.edu
"FAQ" - This message. It’s posted once a week, usually on Sunday. It’s also listed on our archive thread.
"Index of Important Messages" - See Erick’s archive thread:
Subject 33114
"The Front Office Gorilla Game" - The results are posted quarterly (no longer monthly), soon after Siebel issues its quarterly report. - See Mike Buckley's (Merlin's) message number 17325 and 17758.
"Ownership Survey" - Contact Apollo (Snasraway). See posts #11398 and 23966 for information on the Personal Portfolio Survey of the G & K thread.
"Handheld Gorilla Game" - See Johnzhang's messages, number 17450, 13596 and 27129.
"The Registry of G/K Regulars" - See Tekboy's (Ares) message number 17216.
sixpak.cs.ucla.edu
sixpak.cs.ucla.edu
If all this seems too ambitious for now, why not become a 'beater'? Beaters, were sent ahead of big game hunters in order to scare game back towards the hunting party. In other words, simply search the web for articles about QCOM, JDSU, CREE, NTAP, PMCS, CSCO, BRCM, MSFT, EMC, GMST, NT, SEBL, or ITWO and bring the LINK back to the board.
7. Resources
Books of Interest:
Clayton M. Christensen - The author of "The Innovator's Dilemma."
See message 17214 for a summary by Apollo..
George Gilder - The author of the "Gilder Technology Report."
Geoffrey Moore - See the header. The author of "Crossing the Chasm," and "Inside the Tornado." And with Paul Johnson, and Tom Kippola, the author of "The Gorilla Game." His newest book is "Living on the Fault Line."
Michael E. Porter - The author of "Cases in Competitive Strategy," "Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance," "Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, " "Michael E. Porter on Competition" and "Competitive Strategy " etc.
B. Sites of Interest:
1. General Interest:
a. Bloomberg = bloomberg.com
b. CBS Matchwatch = cbs.marketwatch.com
c. C/NET = news.com
d. CNNFN = cnnfn.com
e. Ecompany = ecompany.com
f. The Economist = economist.com
h. Fortune = fortune.com
i. Information Week Online = informationweek.com
j. New York Times = nytimes.com
k. Raging Bull = ragingbull.com
l. Red Herring = redherring.com
m. Technology Investor = technologyinvestor.com
n. TechWeb: The IT Network = techweb.com
o. The Telecomm Analyst = thetelecommanalyst.com
p. Total Telecom = totaltele.com
q. Upside Today: The Tech Insider = upside.com
r. Wireless Development Network = wirelessdevnet.com
2. Various Gorilla and King Sites/Threads:
a. Qualcomm's Link Shrine = ultimate.org
b. Rocket to the Stars (Q) Thread. = clubs.yahoo.com
c. Raging Bull Q Thread =
ragingbull.altavista.com
d. Qualcomm - Coming Into Buy Range Thread =
Subject 8007
e. G&K Investing for Curmudgeons = Subject 31984
f. The Moderated Q Thread =
Subject 36035
g. Gorilla Thread =
boards.fool.com
h. Cicso = boards.fool.com
i. JDSU = boards.fool.com
j. Fool.com summary = boards.fool.com
k. Rule Maker MASTER LIST - Updated 7/3/2000
boards.fool.com
3. Market Sites:
a. A Financial Resources Center = on8.com
C. Magazines of Interest: Business Week, The Economist, The Industry Standard, Red Herring, Technology Investor, Upside Today and Wired (and coming in September "Grok").
D. Newspapers of Interest: New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
8. Closing statement: So why do we need your help? Because while we believe we know what has to be done, there are just not enough of us to do it right. Or to quote LindyBill, "As we look to the future, we can pretty well pick out the technologies that will succeed. They are the ones that give us speed and information in the simplest possible way, and are the easiest to use. The evolution of the G&K board is following the same pattern. We are getting more useful information, faster, simpler, and in an easier to use format. This is because we have hit upon the right structure, and are attracting the right people, who are willing to do the work and contribute to our common goal, because everybody involved benefits from it.
The G&K Board the most successful, worthwhile, committee I have ever been on in my life!
This is a direct result, of course, of invention of the Internet. The G&K board is an example of one of the "Killer Apps" of the Internet. So, where do we go from here? What do we watch for? The same things we are looking for right now, of course."
So why not join us?
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I wish to thank all those who contributed to the composition of this FAQ. In particular, thanks, Uncle Frank, LindyBill, Mike Buckley, chaz, and DownSouth/Sir Galahad. In section 1, Chaz, the Master of the Hunt, wrote the first two paragraphs, and Mike Buckley wrote the third. The errors are mine, the credit belongs to the thread.
sixpak.cs.ucla.edu
………………………………………..‹^›...‹(•¿•)›...‹^›.…………………………
- Fred
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