Knowing what stocks to buy to build your own successful investment portfolio takes in-depth research and time. A lot of us can’t make this commitment or would rather leave picking stocks to more experienced investors.
Motley Fool has two stock picking services that are among its most popular for its subscribers: Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers. If you’re trying to decide which stock picking service to choose between these two, then you’ve come to the right place. We are going to take a closer look at both of these Motley Fool services, so you can decide which is the right choice for your needs.
Without anything further, let’s dive into this comparison and see which service is the winner, Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs. Rule Breakers!
Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs. Rule Breakers: About Motley Fool
Brothers Tom and David Gardner founded Motley Fool in 1993. As an investment research and advice company, its goal was to make it easy for the average investor to gain access to high-quality stock analysis and get educated about top picks. To do so, they created a wide variety of services, including Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers, aimed at helping the everyday investor.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor
Motley Fool Stock Advisor was the first to launch in 2002. Tom and David (plus their respective teams) each recommend one stock per month. Motley Fool Stock Advisor has a monthly newsletter format.
The investment strategy that Stock Advisor leverages is that of building a solid, long-term portfolio.
The investing styles of Tom and David are different and you can see this in their stock pick each month. Tom uses fundamental analysis and a more concrete approach. On the other hand, David goes with his gut feeling and intangibles in addition to data.
How Motley Fool Stock Advisor Works
Tom and David Gardner make two stock recommendations between the two in the Stock Advisor newsletter. Tom’s stock pick will learn more about value stocks that have a good chance of providing long-term returns and stability.
David takes a less conventional approach to his stock recommendations. However, his stock picks are most likely to experience explosive growth.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor stock picks have returned 551% (as of May 17, 2021) since their inception according to the company.
Stock Advisor Offerings
The first thing that you should know is that Stock Advisor isn’t a robo-advisor. Neither is Rule Breakers for that matter.
So the stock picks that they make aren’t based on your risk tolerance or investment strategy. Instead, they make stock recommendations on what Motley Fool believes through their research are good long-term bets.
Whether you purchase the picks that Stock Advisor handpicks in the stock market is entirely up to you. Here are all the services that are included with a Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscription.
New Stock Picks
Motley Fool Stock Advisor services provide you with their bread and butter two stock recommendations. You receive one from each of the Motley Fool founders.
The Stock Advisor program leverages a long-term, buy-and-hold approach. So you’ll get stock market picks that follows that philosophy.
If you want to view the latest stock picks, all you have to do is log in to your Motley Fool Stock Advisor account. And if you want to stay even more ahead of the game, you can sign up for email and text alerts. You’ll receive an alert anytime there’s a recommendation to buy or sell that goes out.
Starter Stocks
For those of us who are investing newbies, you can quickly build a solid portfolio using their Starter Stocks guide. This list includes ten stock picks that are geared toward those who are new to investing.
This guide is updated annually.
Best Buys
Motley Fool also provides you with the 10 stocks that they believe are the best to own a share of today. These stocks are updated each month so that you always get a current choice on the stock market.
Previous Stock Picks
Stock picking services will brag about how amazing they are at picking high-growth stocks or other investments that “Beat the market”. But with Stock Advisor, the buck stops here.
Once you become a Stock Advisor subscriber, you can see their stock pick history. So you can see how all their stocks have performed since 2002.
The transparency of Stock Advisor picks is among the reasons that their service has earned the reputation they have. Plus you can clearly see by their Stock Advisor performance, that they are good to their word.
Investment Community
You also get access to Stock Advisor community boards where you can get stock tips from their active membership. Whether you have a question about high-growth stocks or how to pick stocks for retirement, you can get answers from the community at any time.
You also have access to dedicated discussion boards on over 100 of the most popular stocks. The community at Stock Advisor is all enthusiastic about investing so you’ll be in good company as you go through your journey.
Some of their most popular boards include:
- Ask the Stock Advisor Team
- 10% Promise Service
- Becoming an Investing Master
- Stocks that Interest You
- Calendar of Events
- Investing Philosophy
Motley Fool Stock Advisor Pricing
If you want to sign up for Motley Fool Stock Advisor, it will cost you $199. Right now, though, you can get a discount on your first year at this link, making it only $99.
Joining Stock Advisor today will also give you access to more than 9 bonus reports.
They also offer a 30-day guarantee so if you’re not satisfied you can get your money back.
Rule Breakers
Rule Breakers was launched in 2004 by David Gardner. The Rule Breakers focuses on emerging industries and technologies.
Due to this, Rule Breakers lends toward the tech sector. Its stock newsletter takes a similar format as Stock Advisor with two stock picks offered each month and uses a monthly newsletter format.
How Rule Breakers Works
David and his team of analysts try to find stocks that they believe have some distinct competitive advantages that could skyrocket them to explosive growth.
Here are the six rules that Rule Breakers uses to help pick a winning stock:
- Top dog and a first mover in an important, emerging industry
- Sustainable advantage gained through business momentum, patent protection, visionary leadership, or inept competitors
- Strong past price appreciate
- Good management and smart backing
- Strong consumer appeal
- Proof that is is overvalued according to financial media
Buying individual stocks based on the stock recommendations provided by Rule Breakers could lead to huge gains.
To look for growth stocks, Rule Breakers looks at high growth trends to find opportunities. These investment trends include:
- Cloud computing
- Remote work
- Online advertising
- e-Commerce
- Tele-medicine
- Digital payment revolution
- Steaming media
Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock picks have been up by 301% (as of May 17, 2021) since its inception according to the company.
Motley Fool Rule Breakers Offerings
You get a lot more than just two monthly stock picks when subscribing to Rule Breakers. Making mistakes is part of the process as an investor. And so is learning from them and becoming more educated.
Below is everything you get with your Rule Breakers Subscription.
New Stock Picks
Roughly every two weeks, you’ll receive two new stock picks. A buy recommendation report is included with each new stock.
Starter Stocks
This is really great for new investors who are starting to build their stock portfolio. You get 10 Starter Stocks to give you a solid foundation.
Best Buy Nows
Bi-monthly the Rule Breakers team will be sent a list of their 5 “Best Buy Nows”. All the stocks on this list are those that the Rule Breakers team feels strong convictions towards.
Scorecard
Want to see how Rule Breakers stock picks have performed? Every one of the high-growth stocks that they’ve recommended has been tracked since their launch. Plus you’ll also get access to information on each stock’s return, buy report, return to date, return vs benchmark, etc.
Investment Community
Getting access to the Rule Breakers Community and others to discuss stock advice and investment strategies is valuable. The Motley Fool community is a highly active group where you can leverage for investment advice as you hone your investment strategy.
Motley Fool Live!
Motley Fool offers subscribers of Rule Breakers will access to a daily 8 hours of live streaming programs. These shows go in-depth on stocks, investing mindsets, and much more.
Asset Allocation Tool
When you’re trying to structure a portfolio based on your risk tolerance and time horizon, it’s easier with the right tools. Rule Breakers provides you with access to their asset allocation tool to do just that.
Premium Content
You can dive deeper into Rule Breaker’s picks by reviewing industry reports and articles. Learn more about areas like The Next Amazon, The future of streaming, and the 5G Revolution, just to name a few.
Rule Breakers Pricing
If you want to get behind the Rule Breakers investment strategy, you can sign up for $99 your first year currently. They back up their service with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs. Rule Breakers: Investment Strategy
Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers use different investment strategies to get their intended results. Stock Advisor will recommend stocks that tend to have less risk and historically have had past price appreciation.
While you may experience slower growth on a short-term basis with Stock Advisor, your average return should look much higher in the future.
Rule Breakers stocks are all about delivering high returns in the short term. During the same time period, Rule Breakers as Stock Advisor will make picks that are poised to propel up.
Hence, you’re going to be dealing with more risk with Rule Breakers picks. But that might end up being to your advantage.
Both Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Stock Advisor have a solid track record of delivering results using their respective investment strategy. Therefore, we can’t rate one better than the other necessarily.
So when it comes to investment strategy, Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers is a tie.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs. Rule Breakers: Stock Picks
Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Stock Advisor are both stock picking services. Both Tom and David Gardner pick stocks for Stock Advisor. David Gardner handles these decisions on Rule Breakers.
Their approach to picking stocks is different and it shows in their picks. Stock Advisor targets a long-term method of finding stocks that will generate positive returns.
Stock Advisors’ stocks are those that haven’t been as popular lately. These little-known stocks might be in beaten-down industries and can be bought at a great discount.
It is looking for long-term terms that look favorable. The team makes sure that the company has a strong business model that will enable them to grow in the future.
Dave’s Rule Breakers are looking for something special during the time period. Rule Breaks is also looking for a great business model but they are also looking for growth signs that are indicated through a great brand.
Both Rule Breakers and Stock Advisor have a solid history of delivering results. If you’re more interested in those long-term trends, then Stock Advisor might be better.
However, if you want to find those stocks that are ready to explode, Rule Breakers is your answer.
In the end, both of these services offer better than the average return so you can’t really go wrong. Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers come in at a tie in this category.
Conclusion: Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs. Rule Breakers
Both Tom and David have done a great job of providing these solid stock picking services. You’ve read this far and you’re probably still asking yourself which service is better.
The answer will depend on your situation. Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Stock Advisor offer very similar services. The difference is in their strategy and stock picks. Both of these services have managed to generate eye-catching returns in the same period.
So you’re wondering then which stock service should I go for? That’s a totally valid question.
The information below is what we believe will give you your answer.
Why Pick Motley Fool Stock Advisor?
The game of investing is a whole new world when you’ve never been a part of it. So if you’re a newbie to investing, Motley Fool Stock Advisor is a better platform to learn and grow your knowledge.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor is more friendly when it comes to beginners. You can leverage their Starter Stocks to start building our investment portfolio from scratch.
Long-term investors are another base of customers that would benefit from Stock Advisor. Its investment strategy is looking for low-risk stocks that are likely to bounce back from their current lows.
These two investor segments would be most likely to be happy with their stock services. If you’re still looking to learn a bit more, make sure to check out our complete review of Motley Fool Stock Advisor here.
Why Pick Motley Fool Rule Breakers?
Rule Breakers might be a different story, however. If you have a low tolerance for risk, it’s probably not the stock picking service for you.
Its platform is for the aggressive investor that wants to find that diamond in the rough. That is when others don’t necessarily see a diamond.
With greater risk, comes the possibility of greater loss. But there is also the chance of higher returns.
So if you’re an investor that is willing to play this risk vs reward game, Rule Breakers is the platform that will best cater to these desires.
