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                   I N V E S T I N G  B A S I C S
                     Wednesday, October 25, 2000

benjamin.rogers@enron.com
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-- A. A bunch of indexes exist, with each one representing a
particular group of companies. We'll highlight just a few. The
most famous one is the Dow Jones Industrial Index, which
includes 30 flagship American giants, such as Exxon, Wal-Mart,
Merck, Coca-Cola and Microsoft. The S&P 500 also focuses on
large companies, including 500 of America's biggest and best.

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INVESTING BASICS - RULES FOR REVOLUTIONARIES

In order to help readers find books that offer valuable business
insights coupled with sparkling writing, we launched a monthly
book award last year, called The Jester Award. The first winner
of the Jester was Guy Kawasaki's new book, "Rules for
Revolutionaries" (HarperBusiness, $15). In it, he lays out some
bold guidelines for those who want to bring about business
revolutions. Here are a few:
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1. "Don't worry, be crappy." Yes, you read that right. It's
Kawasaki's inimitable way of reminding us that it can take
almost forever to perfect something, and that it's often best to
release a not-quite-perfect product and then work on improving
its next generation. He illustrates this with the 1984 Macintosh
computer, which was shipped in a less-than-perfect
configuration: only 128K of RAM, no hard drive, no
documentation, and so on. Waiting to perfect the product would
have meant giving the competition an edge and losing the
confidence of software developers.

2. "Eat your own dog food." This sounds crazy, but think about
it. By using your own company's products or services, you'll
understand what the customer experience is like and you'll be
able to flag problems quickly. Forrest Mars Sr., the man who
built Mars Inc., did taste his own company's dog food
(literally), a practice that continues today at the company.
Kawasaki offers the example of Gillette, which maintains a
shaving laboratory where 300 employees per day come in unshaven
and test the company's and competitors' products. Similarly,
bicycle manufacturer Cannondale encourages its employees to
commute by Cannondale bikes, so that they can offer feedback on
products.

3. "Eat like a bird, poop like an elephant." (Really, we're not
making this stuff up!) Birds actually eat a lot -- sometimes 50
percent of their weight every day. And elephants can poop 165
pounds per day. The idea here is that you should soak up as much
information as you can find and then share it.

If you're looking for a well-written, engaging book to help you
stay on the cutting edge of the best thinking and writing on
personal finance and investing, keep an eye out for Jester Award
winners. To nominate any book for a Jester Award, drop an e-mail
to: Jester@fool.com.
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT

-- Browse through our list of past Jester Award winners.
http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=168096

-- Enter your portfolio -- or a mock portfolio -- at the Fool
and you'll be able to track its progress continuously.
http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=168097

-- You're receiving this free e-mail subscription from us, but
do you know that we offer many other free subscriptions? Check
our current listing -- there may be some new ones of interest to
you, such as Tax Strategies or Women and Investing.
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A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR(

I hope you're finding this product useful. The content
originally appeared as part of our nationally syndicated
newspaper feature (which I also prepare). Consider giving your
local editor a jingle and suggesting that they think about
carrying the Fool.
http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=168099

Selena Maranjian
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