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My name is Russell Carpenter, and I was given the opportunity to participate in this exercise largely because I hold the record for longest tenure as the top-rated player in the CAPS stock-ranking service.
Those of you familiar with CAPS on MSN Money may know me better by my screen name, "TMFEldrehad."
I am proud to call myself a "hobbyist investor." While my education certainly helps me analyze businesses -- I have an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management -- I'm not a professional stock analyst.
I first became interested in investing, and investing in stocks in particular, as the result of reading a book titled "The Wealthy Barber,"which my mother passed around to her three children and encouraged us to read. I didn’t dive right into the stock market, however. That came later, after I finished my MBA, and it was born of necessity as much as it was out of interest. I had some 401(k) money from a former employer that I wanted to roll over and self-direct, so I turned to the Internet to begin learning about stocks and the stock market.
Becoming a top Fool
I found The Motley Fool in August of 2000.From there, I became a "board stroller," patrolling the message boards for one of the Motley Fool’s stock newsletter services, "Hidden Gems," and helping out my fellow investors whenever I could. I learned a lot myself in the process.
My passion for the stock market redoubled in May of 2006 when I was invited to join the CAPS stock-ranking system being built by the Motley Fool. I eventually climbed my way into the "Top Fool" position (the highest-rated player in the service, which tracks both individuals and Wall Street firms), and while I’ve slipped down just a few spots as of this writing, my hobby seems to be taking on a little bit of a life of its own.
Based partly on my success in CAPS and partly on a desire to continue to learn and grow as an investor, I decided to launch my very own stock newsletter, in blog form, right on CAPS (called "EldrehadsPicks"). Additionally, a few of my blog postings and other writings have been published on the main Motley Fool Web site, so I suppose I could also call myself a published stock author.
I look forward to participating in the Lab. I hope that I’m able to teach you about CAPS -- and demonstrate that one doesn’t have to be a Wall Street pro to do well in the stock market, and that all one needs is interest, dedication and a willingness to learn.
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