Login | August 11, 2026
Funds or Stocks?
Motley Fool
Published: August 11, 2026
Q. I really don't want to lose money. So should I only invest in mutual funds and not stocks? -- K.T., Biddeford, Maine
A. Mutual funds can lose money, just as stocks can, particularly funds that invest in stocks. Most investments carry some risk. The least risky (such as U.S. Treasury bonds) will often grow very slowly. Stocks have a wide range of risk. Established blue-chip companies, such as Procter & Gamble and Visa, are likely to do well over the long term, albeit with some volatility. Smaller or younger companies can be more volatile.
Mutual funds come in a wide variety, too. Some focus on certain regions or sectors, while others are much broader (and often less risky), tracking the S&P 500 or most of the U.S. or world stock market.
If you have a long investing time frame, you'll likely do relatively well with broad-market index mutual funds. But there will be occasional periods of disappointment, because few investments go up in a straight line. When choosing mutual funds, favor ones with low fees.
Q. How often should I review the stocks I'm invested in? -- S.N., Rapid City, South Dakota
A. Aim to follow those companies at least every three months, when they issue their quarterly and annual reports, which generally include press releases and financial statements. (These are typically found on the companies' websites.) Listening to or reading transcripts of the accompanying conference calls that managements hold with analysts can be especially informative. You can look up articles about the companies at sites like Yahoo Finance and at Fool.com, too. Though you can keep up with large established companies less often, the more you know about all your holdings, the better.
Fool's School
Paying for Underperformance
You surely know that CEOs (chief executive officers) get paid a lot more than average workers. You might not appreciate just how much more, though. Per the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), "In 2024, CEOs were paid 281 times as much as a typical worker -- in contrast to 1965, when they were paid 21 times as much as a typical worker." The EPI also notes: "From 1978 [to] 2024, top CEO compensation shot up 1,094%, compared with a 26% increase in a typical worker's compensation."
The highest-paid CEOs in 2025, per data analytics company Equilar, include Niraj Shah of Wayfair, with $280,847,068 in total compensation; David Solomon of Goldman Sachs Group, with $118,891,594; and Satya Nadella of Microsoft, with $96,496,790.
Some high compensations may be justified if tied to amazing results. But many richly compensated CEOs are not turning in great performances. A 2023 report from the folks at shareholder advocacy nonprofit As You Sow found that "Companies with the most overpaid CEOs have had lower returns to shareholders than the average S&P 500 company. ... As a group, over a decade, overpaid CEOs underperformed."
So why are so many collecting so much in cash and stock while not delivering impressive performances? The fault lies in the boards of directors that set CEO pay. Unfortunately, many directors find it hard to deny a CEO riches. As Warren Buffett has quipped, "When seeking directors, CEOs donÕt look for pit bulls. ItÕs the cocker spaniel that gets taken home." Worse still, CEOs can also influence who's nominated to be a board member.
Fortunately, shareholders are not without some recourse. Thanks to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) "Say-on-Pay" rule, public companies must offer shareholders a chance to cast an advisory vote on the compensation of the most highly compensated executives at least every three years. The vote is nonbinding, but it can still have an effect, such as emboldening the board of directors to take action.
My Dumbest Investment
Canopy Growth Didn't Grow
My biggest mistake was buying a few shares of Canopy Growth in 2020, when it was at $140 per share. It had a really huge run, all the way to $490. Then I discovered that it invested in Biosteel or something and had to cut lots of jobs; I didn't expect as much of a hit as it took. I don't know what I was thinking in not selling till it was below $3 per share, as it hasn't shown any signs of recovery. I've since cut my losses and gained absolutely nothing but emotional and financial damage. -- G.B., online
The Fool responds: Sadly, shares recently sank below $1, so it's good that you got out whenever you did. Canopy Growth, a Canadian cannabis company, has struggled for multiple reasons, a key one being its investment in BioSteel Sports Nutrition. Canopy stopped funding BioSteel in 2023, and it has been working on strengthening its business.
Its medical marijuana business has been booming, but other divisions have seen slowing sales, in part due to supply-chain issues. Canopy might do well in the long run, but many view it as a speculative and risky proposition right now. While the cannabis industry is promising, not every company in it will prosper.
(Do you have a smart or regrettable investment move to share with us? Email it to TMFShare@fool.com.)
Foolish Trivia
Name That Company
I trace my roots back to 1919, when two people combined four grain milling companies, forming Nebraska Consolidated Mills. Today, I'm based in Chicago and have a recent market value of $6.6 billion. In the consumer packaged goods industry, I'm a pure-play food company, with brands such as Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Marie Callender's, Orville Redenbacher's, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim and Wish-Bone. Several of my brands originated more than 125 years ago. I recently raked in more than $11 billion annually, boasted 42 U.S. manufacturing plants and employed 18,600 people worldwide. Who am I?
Last Week's Trivia Answer
I trace my roots back to 1969, when my first location opened in Columbus, Ohio. The next year, I debuted the first modern drive-thru service. I went public in 1976 and opened my 1,000th restaurant in 1978. (I now have more than 7,000 worldwide.) Baked potatoes were added to my menu in 1983, and my founder appeared in his first TV commercial in 1989. (In 1990, he joined a national program promoting the adoption of children.) I bought Tim Horton's in 1995 and spun it off in 2006. I merged with Arby's in 2008 and split with it in 2011. Who am I? (Answer: Wendy's)
The Motley Fool Take
Not Too Late To Invest in Nvidia
Is semiconductor giant Nvidia's (Nasdaq: NVDA) incredible run finally over? Its shares have recently pulled back a bit, but there remain excellent reasons to invest in Nvidia.
Nvidia's bears point to increased competition in the graphics processing unit (GPU) market. They argue that hyperscalers -- the company's biggest customers -- are increasingly relying on internally developed custom artificial intelligence (AI) chips, which could reduce their reliance on Nvidia's hardware.
But Nvidia still reigns supreme in the GPU space, with a 94% market share, according to one research report.
Furthermore, the company is launching a new, powerful platform, Vera Rubin: Rubin is the GPU, while Vera is a central processing unit (CPU). That should help Nvidia mitigate the threat from custom AI chips, since one of their appeals is that they offer better price-to-performance ratios for specific workloads.
Finally, Nvidia is tapping into a new opportunity with the Vera CPU, as the shift to agentic AI will bring about increasing demand for CPUs. Nvidia thinks this market could be worth $200 billion.
Nvidia's AI-related tailwind appears to be far from over. And in the coming years, the stock could generate above-average returns. (The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nvidia.)
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