Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Stock Advisor

Motley Fool has been helping investors pick the right stocks since the early 2000s, and there have always been two plans you could choose from: Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Stock Advisor.

This decision influenced the specific types of opportunities you were presented with. The Stock Advisory service gives you reliable growth stocks that you’ll hold for at least 5 years. Rule Breakers identifies disruptive innovators that are bursting with upside potential – but these stocks obviously have more volatility.

These days, though, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers isn’t nearly as simple. Rule Breakers isn’t available anymore. You can still buy individual Rule Breakers recommendations at $100 a pop, but you can’t subscribe to regular recommendations.

That’s why we’re going to compare Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Stock Advisor next to the VectorVest system. Our stock forecasting tools analyze over 18,000 stocks each day and assign a Buy, Sell, or Hold recommendation for every one. You get the idea AND the execution guidance all in the same place. It saves you time and stress while helping you win more trades!

Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Stock Advisor (Fast Facts With VectorVest)

Overview of Motley Fool

Before we compare Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Stock Advisory specifically, we want to take a step back and explain how exactly Motley Fool works in general. It originally began as a print newsletter, but has since evolved into one of the biggest retail investing companies in the world.

Motley Fool has a team of analysts who do all the heavy lifting to identify potential trade opportunities, usually with the idea that you’re going to hold these stocks for multiple years (usually 5+). The number of stock picks (and the additional features you get) depend on which service you subscribe to.

Stock Advisor was Motley Fool’s flagship service, launched almost 25 years ago. It was created by David and Tom Gardner, the brothers behind Motley Fool. Rule Breakers came out just a few years later. This was led solely by David Gardner. And as the name suggests, the system surfaced higher-risk, higher-reward ideas for more aggressive investors.

The two teams worked independently with their own scorecards and analyst teams for over two decades. But, everything changed just a few years ago when Motley Fool consolidated 40+ individual services into 5 membership tiers.

This is to say that the Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers comparison isn’t apples-to-apples anymore. There are quite a few moving pieces, so follow along as we break it all down for you.

What Do You Get With Motley Fool Stock Advisor?

This is the entry-level tier with two curated stock picks delivered to your email every single month. Each idea comes with a written thesis, which you can read through to determine if you agree with the rationale or not.

Those two picks are very different. The first comes from the Hidden Gems team, which seeks out those “diamonds in the rough” every investor hopes to stumble across. These are high-quality companies that appear undervalued.

The second pick comes a few weeks later – from the Rule Breakers team. Yep – the Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Stock Advisor thing isn’t really an “either-or” decision anymore. You technically get both in one subscription. The Rule Breakers team identifies up-and-coming companies that have massive upside potential.

Here’s what you get on the Stock Advisor tier along with your monthly stock picks:

• Three model portfolio strategies (Cautious, Moderate, Aggressive)
• A monthly “10 Best Stocks to Buy Now” ranking
• Full scorecard and historical pick performance
• Community discussion forums

Notice what you don’t get – any sort of guidance on when to sell your stocks. Motley Fool just assumes you’re a long-term buy-and-hold investor, but you get really limited direction on when to exit your position. That’s where profits are made, and you’re left to figure it out on your own.

You don’t get much insight into position sizing, either. A lot of the more crucial decision-making still requires you to conduct your own technical and fundamental analysis or rely on a separate tool to do it for you.

Stock Advisor costs $199 per year, though, so it’s hard to argue with the value. It’s a really cheap way to find 24 potential trades a year.

What Do You Get With Motley Fool Rule Breakers?

Where Stock Advisor identifies steady growers with proven track records, Rule Breakers hunts disruptive companies early in their growth curves with massive upside potential. David Gardner uncovered candidates using six criteria:

• Top dog and first mover in an emerging industry
• Sustainable competitive advantage through momentum, patents, or leadership
• Strong past price appreciation
• Good management and company culture
• Strong consumer appeal and brand loyalty
• Overvalued according to mainstream media (Gardner saw contrarian signals as bullish)

A lot of investors don’t have the stomach to follow the Rule Breakers philosophy, though. Gardner accepts that some individual positions could lose 50% or more along the way. The idea was that the winners would make up for those losses and then some.

Some of the success stories include Chipotle, Tesla, MercadoLibre, and more recently, Nvidia. But like we said earlier, you don’t subscribe to “Rule Breakers” any longer. There are two ways you can still get Rule Breakers stock ideas, though:

• Buy a Rule Breakers recommendation for $100.
• Subscribe to a current service (Stock Advisor, Epic, or Epic Plus) for Rule Breakers. You’ll get a few mixed in with other recommendations.

So, you really don’t have to pick between Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Stock Advisor. Picking the Stock Advisor tool technically means gaining access to Rule Breakers as well. You just won’t get a full portfolio of Rule Breakers recommendations specifically.

Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers: Side-by-Side Comparison

Here’s a closer look at how Motley Fool Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers compare side by side, starting with where they overlap.

How They’re Similar

Whether you’re looking at a recommendation from Stock Advisor or Rule Breakers, the expectation is that you’re going to hold the stock for the long haul. They’re delivered the same way – on a set schedule every month with written theses to back them up.

Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers are also closely intertwined in the sense that your subscription to Stock Advisor gains you access to a Rule Breakers pick every single month.

There are some negative similarities, too. Neither gives you any sort of guidance on when to sell your stock. Zero timing support. Both assume you’re building a diversified portfolio and holding through volatility.

How They’re Different

This is what you really want to know about Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers – how they diverge from one another. The answer is different today than it was a few years ago.

Back in the day, these were two TYPES of stock recommendations. Stock Advisor brought you established, high-quality companies that appeared undervalued. Rule Breakers gave you more volatile opportunities with higher potential (and higher risk).

Today, though, Stock Advisor is a membership tier you subscribe to. Rule Breakers remains a type of stock recommendation. These picks tend to be smaller businesses, usually pre-profitability, operating outside of what mainstream analysts would look for.

The idea that Gardner set out with while creating Rule Breakers was that the market consistently undervalues disruption. Getting in on ENOUGH opportunities early enough more than makes up for the failure rate. You only need one Nvidia to completely transform your portfolio!

Performance

We see Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Stock Advisor performance comparisons out there, but we think they’re missing some pretty important context. Stock Advisor is said to have earned cumulative returns of 883% compared to 205% for the S&P 500 since its 2002 inception. A LOT of that performance can be traced back to a few companies, though – like Nvidia and Amazon.

Rule Breakers posted cumulative returns of up to 355% compared to the S&P 500 index’s 149-169% over the same period. So, Rule Breakers performed worse than Stock Advisor which is interesting considering you’d think the more aggressive strategy would perform better. That’s only true if you’re actively managing your portfolio and buying/selling at the right time.

But the Motley Fool philosophy is always buy and hold. So, the picks could be great but the strategy is misaligned. All of this is to say you should take “performance comparisons” with a grain of salt.

Pricing

Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers pricing used to be straightforward. Stock Advisor was $199/year. Rule Breakers was $299/year. You picked one or subscribed to both.

Stock Advisor is still $199/year today, but individual stock recommendations from the Rule Breakers team cost $100 each. Or, you can subscribe to Stock Advisor and get one Rule Breakers pick a month. You could also subscribe to the Epic plan at $499/year for more access to Rule Breakers picks (and a whole lot more, for that matter).

There are even higher tiers available at Motley Fool, too. Epic Plus at $1,999/year and Fool Portfolios at $3,999/year. But at the end of the day, you’re paying just for recommendations. Not any guidance on how to actually execute on the opportunities outside of “buy and hold.”

How VectorVest Helps You Win More Trades With Less Work and Stress

We know you came here hoping for help comparing Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Stock Advisor. But there’s a third option you should be eyeing as well. VectorVest’s stock advisory tells you not just what to buy, but when to buy it and sell it as well. You aren’t just given a few ideas a month. You gain access to recommendations on 18,000+ stocks every single day.

Introducing the VST System

VectorVest is a proprietary stock rating system that puts every single equity through the same criteria. It’s all based on three metrics:

• Relative value (RV): A comparison of a stock’s long-term price appreciation potential forecasted 3 years out. It also factors in AAA corporate bond rates and risk.

• Relative safety (RS): A risk indicator that assesses a company’s financial consistency & predictability, debt-to-equity ratio, business longevity, and many other factors.
• Relative timing (RT): Looks at the direction, dynamics, and magnitude of a stock’s price movement day over day, week over week, quarter over quarter, and year over year.

Each sits on an intuitive scale of 0.00-2.00 with 1.00 being the average. Just pick safe, undervalued stocks rising in price and win more trades with less work! Every stock gets a buy, sell, or hold recommendation based on its overall VST rating.

A Track Record of Success

The system has outperformed the S&P 500 index by 10x over the past 22 years and counting. Meanwhile, Confirmed Calls has warned subscribers about every major market move so they could adapt their strategy to protect capital and maximize wealth.

Advanced Features

Real-time data is available on premium tiers, so active traders get the same quality data that institutional investors have had access to for decades. This matters when profits are made or lost in a matter of minutes for day traders and swing traders. There are advanced features for options traders, too.

ProfitLockerPro even removes you from the exit side of the trade if you find yourself consistently missing out on profits or taking larger losses than you should. It uses dynamic trading stops to automatically take profits when they’re there while still leaving room for more gains. It closes your position out before losses eat into your portfolio.

Wrapping Up Our Motley Fool Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers Comparison

VectorVest is the Motley Fool alternative you’ve been searching for. Don’t get us wrong, Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers are great for what they’re intended to do – bring you unique opportunities on a regular basis. But what happens next? That’s the problem with Motley Fool.

You need more than just ideas. You need execution guidance. That’s what makes VectorVest the #1 stock picker on the market. Don’t just take our word for it, though. Get a free stock analysis and see the VST system in action firsthand!

Frequently asked questions

Is Motley Fool Rule Breakers worth it?

It could be if your strategy involves finding aggressive growth stocks with high potential and high risk. It uncovered opportunities like Tesla, Chipotle, and Nvidia. But the catch is you can’t subscribe to Rule Breakers anymore. You have to buy these picks separately or subscribe to a different plan.

Is The Motley Fool Stock Advisor accurate?

Yes, its cumulative returns since the early 2000s speak for themselves. Our only issue with it is the returns would have been a lot higher had there been more active portfolio management. Motley Fool, in general, assumes you buy and hold through downturns.

What’s the difference between Motley Fool Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers?

Stock Advisor picks established growth companies with moderate volatility. Rule Breakers uncovers early-stage disruptors and accepts steeper drawdowns. Stock Advisor is a subscription tier, while Rule Breakers is a type of recommendation you get delivered through Stock Advisor (or through other Motley Fool services).

Is it easy to switch between Motley Fool Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers?

No switching needed. You can access Rule Breakers through Stock Advisor. You pay $199/year for both. Or, you can subscribe to Epic ($499/year) for even more insights.

When does it make sense to use VectorVest instead of Motley Fool?

When you want more than just stock picks. VectorVest brings you winning opportunities on autopilot while telling you exactly what to do with them. It’s an all-in-one tool for passive and active traders alike.

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