A Foolish Interview with TMFRalegh Add to My Favorite Fools Add to My Penalty Box

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The Fool: Is outer space teeming with life? Or are we alone?
TMFRalegh: It's teeming. There's a very high probability of that being a fact.
The Fool: Which celebrity or public figure (past or present) do you most look like?
TMFRalegh: Martin Mull is one that people have mentioned quite often, but I think it's more personality driven than the similarity in our appearances.
The Fool: What's one of your special talents?
TMFRalegh: Try this golf shot: Tee up a ball very low and then balance another ball on top of that one. Take a normal swing, maybe hitting down into it a little bit, using a 5-7 iron. The bottom ball will fly like a normal shot and the top ball will pop up for a long enough time for you to catch it.
The Fool: Give a short description of your best and/or worst vacation.
TMFRalegh: This pretty much says it all. Good friends, lots of golf, and topped it off with a nice spring ski at Aspen: http://www.fool.com/art/daleataspen.jpg. I'm the Fool in the middle.
The Fool: If you could go back in time and witness one event in history, what would you go back and see?
TMFRalegh: Wow. Hmm. I would like to have been there when Aaron Burr heard whatever it was that Alexander Hamilton said to make Burr want to shoot him. It's still a mystery, as far as I know. I'm very curious as to what was really said and I'd like to know if Gore Vidal got it right or if that was just Vidal's hyersexed imagination working in overdrive.
The Fool: Describe the most embarrassing personal moment you'll admit to!
TMFRalegh: I was caddying for my Dad in the 1991 U.S. Senior Open. This was my first time caddying for him in a big-time event and, really, caddying at all. On the second day, I nearly hit Jack Nicklaus in the face with the flagstick and on the 12th tee, I threw a handful of grass in his face. I also shook his hand way too hard -- I guess I was very excited to meet him, since he was a boyhood hero of mine. It was all very embarrassing. Fortunately, Mr. Nicklaus went on to win that week in a Monday playoff with Chi Chi Rodriguez.
The Fool: Describe the worst Internet experience that you've had.
TMFRalegh: Getting my account turned on again after some hackers took my AOL screenname and misused it. AOL wasn't too helpful with the situation. That was back in 1994, though. I think they've grown into their current size now. AOL, that is. I don't know what the hackerz have done with their lives. They're probably responsible for some huge telecom company's backbone network.
The Fool: Share with us your best money-saving secret. Do you cut coupons? Bring your own candy bars to movies? Shop on Wednesday and pretend you're over 65?
TMFRalegh: If I drop a penny, I pick it up. Carelessness with money starts with the small things.
The Fool: Tell us about your greatest personal success, not necessarily finance related.
TMFRalegh: Being a good son to my parents and being a good friend to my friends.
The Fool: Briefly review your favorite book.
TMFRalegh: Lincoln, by Gore Vidal, is my favorite book right now. In this book, and in Burr, Vidal shows he is a master of American history. His research on Lincoln was obviously impeccable and I am guessing that no less an effort was put forth on Burr. If Lincoln is read in companion with David Donald's excellent biography, Lincoln, one can fully appreciate Vidal's work on our most complex president and historiography skills.
The Fool: Describe how you select stocks.
TMFRalegh: Look for companies with great economics. Cosmetics, for example, is an industry with much better economics than, say, disk drives. Look for companies with a good competitive advantage. A brand is a good example of this, but brands are not necessary for a competitive advantage to exist. A company that is driving a new economic model in an industry, such as Wal-Mart, Dell, or GEICO did, can be very rewarding. While Dell has a great brand, it's in a commodity business, so it's not brand that accounts for its competitive advantage. Its competitive advantage can be found in its manufacturing and service strengths. Look for companies that manage their capital well. You can dig up all sorts of good investment ideas, but you need a management that knows how to allocate capital well. Sometimes returning capital to shareholders is the best decision of all.
The Fool: OK, your favorite non-financial website?
TMFRalegh: I enjoy the Federal Reserve Board of Governors home page:

http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/

Also, psst, wanna save $90,000 on an MBA? Here, try this:

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html

Oops, that says non-financial above. Oh, well. How about http://www.espnsportszone.com

Also, if you're in South Carolina, make sure to visit:

http://www.fcbsc.com/

Excellent shopping guide: www.epinions.com
The Fool: Tell us what your best investment has been so far and how you discovered it.
TMFRalegh: My best investment has been the time that I have spent identifying what makes for good companies. That includes time spent learning what makes companies tick in specific industries as well as in general. Time spent learning all you can about a particular industry will benefit you for the rest of your investing days.
The Fool: When you aren't working or sitting in front of the computer, what occupies your time?
TMFRalegh: Biking on Capitol Hill. An amazing, unique built environment without parallel in this country.

Reading, primarily nonfiction.

Golfing. That's me on the far left with Bogey, Tom, and Fletch. http://www.fool.com/FoolPics/photographs/FoolishFoursome.jpg
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