October 2025 Mailbag: Add Up, Don’t Double Down

From Diwali’s lights in India to a “spiffy-drop” on Netflix, this Mailbag travels widely and thinks deeply. A listener celebrates the Rule Breaker habit of lighting candles, not fanning flames, while others ask how to “Add Up, Don’t Double Down” in practice, what makes a business cyclical, and how to think about price momentum. Plus, a 67-year-old Fool goes all-in, a Boilermaker misses Investor Island, and a Brit reminds us that some “periods of time” are best left to translation. Sign up for The Motley Fool’s Breakfast News here: www.fool.com/breakfastnews Order David’s Rule Breaker Investing book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1804091219/ Companies mentioned: AMZN, CRWD, MELI, META, NFLX, NVDA, RKLB, SHOP, TOST Host: David Gardner Producer: Dan Boyd Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the pricking of my thumbs, something SPOOKY this way comes. That icy chill in the air tells us that it’s that season again. It’s that time of year when Robert Brokamp brings his ghoulishly chilling tales of frightful scams, legal guillotines, and savings depleting poltergeists. But, along with every tale of fright, comes a lesson and a warning, to help you beware these dark and malevolent pitfalls. Let the tales begin! (5:35) -  The Chimera of Omaha(12:15) - The Vanguard Vanishing(16:55) - Helter Shelter(23:35) - Invasion of the Crypto Snatchers!(31:00) - I Know What You Signed Last Century(39:22) - The Nightmare on Margaritaville Street Sign up for The Motley Fool’s Breakfast News here: ⁠⁠www.fool.com/breakfastnews⁠⁠ Order David’s Rule Breaker Investing book here: ⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1804091219/⁠ Host: David GardnerGuest: Robert BrokampProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every stock tells a story. This week we gather around the campfire for five fresh tales—from silicon driving the AI era to supply-chain software that keeps retail humming, from a Latin American marketplace that became a fintech/logistics flywheel to a spicy franchiser scaling flavor by the bucket… and a legendary spiffy-pop that still makes us smile. Expect lessons in patience, optionality, moats—and why a single day can sometimes pay back an entire cost basis. Companies Discussed: AMD, AQNT, MANH, MELI, WING, Sign up for The Motley Fool’s Breakfast News here:⁠⁠www.fool.com/breakfastnews⁠⁠ Order David’s Rule Breaker Investing book here:⁠⁠ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1804091219/⁠⁠ Host: David Gardner Guests: Sanmeet Deo, Asit Sharma, David Meier, Andy Cross Producer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today is that day—once every two years—when this podcast goes back to basics and we restate and recommit to the eternal verities David sees in business, in investing, and in Rule Breaker Investing. So put down those oars, join us aboard our sailboat, and let the winds guide you back toward these valuable core beliefs. Whether you’re well steeped in Foolishness or at the beginning stages of your investing journey, these are nine foundational truths not to be forgotten. Stocks Mentioned: AMZN, GOOG, HUBS, ISRG, MELI, MRNA, NFLX, PFE, SBUX Sign up for The Motley Fool’s Breakfast News here:⁠www.fool.com/breakfastnews⁠ Order David’s Rule Breaker Investing book here:⁠ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1804091219/⁠ Host: David Gardner Producer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David slips on his Fred Roger’s cardigan to revisit five valuable lessons, intertwined with the theme of “how to win in life.” Pulled from classic episodes spanning the last decade of weekly podcasts, David spotlights lessons that light candles—at a time when too many are busy fanning flames. The five growth-minded blasts from the past: Roy Spence on being a “For” Person “Do you have a ________ friend?” Accept responsibility; blame no one Judge yourself by your results, and others by their intentions Sam Horn’s “proactive grace” An oh-so-timely Blast from the Past—equal parts warmth and backbone—here to help you lead with character, win with kindness, and keep the light on for others. Fool on! Sign up for The Motley Fool’s Breakfast News here:⁠www.fool.com/breakfastnews⁠ Order David’s Rule Breaker Investing book here:⁠ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1804091219/⁠ Host: David Gardner Producer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a Mailbag of gratitude as the reviews are rolling in for David’s new book. A listener invests $100 for each of his daughters’ birthdays, positioning them for success in their financial futures, as another listener follows David’s advice: “Add up, don’t double down.” David also shares some Strat-o-matic memories and reminds us that the math is always against you when it comes to sports betting. Plus, listener and host swap stories on selling Netflix (years ago) to build and buy their homes… Sign up for The Motley Fool’s Breakfast News here:www.fool.com/breakfastnews Order David’s Rule Breaker Investing book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1804091219/ Host: David Gardner Producer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to our quarterly Market Cap Game Show! Two past champions—Andy Cross and Yasser El-Shimy—take the stage to test their market-cap mettle (and yours) across ten public companies, vying for a spot in the 2026 March Market Cap Madness World Championships. From tech titans and international hotel brands to down home Texas fare and online car shopping, the matchups run from familiar to delightfully unexpected—plus plenty of banter. Can you outscore Andy, Yasser, or both? Play along, challenge your market cap intuition, and discover the surprising values of companies you know and love (and maybe a few you’ve never heard of!). Companies mentioned: ASR, CARG, CEG, CME, GOOG, LKQ, MAR, NXPI, PGR, TXRH Sign up for The Motley Fool’s Breakfast News here: ⁠www.fool.com/breakfastnews⁠ Order David’s Rule Breaker Investing book here: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1804091219/ Host: David Gardner Guests: Andy Cross, Yasser El-Shimy Producers: Bart Shannon, Dan Boyd Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A 5-minute listen from Chapter 3 of the Rule Breaker Investing audiobook, out September 16. In “After Yesterday,” David tells the CNBC story of a co-host stunned that he still liked cloud stocks—after yesterday—and why Rule Breaker investors don’t let yesterday’s tape write tomorrow’s script. Enjoy the excerpt, then share it with a friend who could use a smarter, happier, richer mindset. Pre-order Rule Breaker Investing (hardcover, e-book, audiobook) wherever you buy books. Host: David Gardner Producer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All year long we’ve opened each episode with a “Page Breaker Preview” sneak peek from David’s forthcoming book. Today, we’ve stitched those 35 snippets into a single, chronological highlight reel—a mini-audiobook that traces the arc of Rule Breaker Investing: from first principles and habits, through stock-picking traits and portfolio rules, to the capstone ideas that tie it all together. With light context, lots of personality, and a lively tempo, this week’s one-of-a-kind episode plays like a curated mixtape of the book’s big ideas. It’s out next week! Pre-order Rule Breaker Investing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1804091219/ Reactions or favorite excerpts? Write us: [email protected] Host: David Gardner Producer: Dan Boyd Companies mentioned: ADBE, AMZN, AXON, CMG, CRM, ISRG, META, NFLX, NVDA, SBUX, SHOP, TSLA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re launching a new series—10 Years Later—where we open a time capsule, revisit a 5-Stock Sampler on its 10th birthday, and see what really happened. First up is our original (9/2/2015) sampler, 5 Stocks for the Next 5 Years: a motley mix that spanned Latin American e-commerce, rural convenience, blockbuster gaming, frontline cybersecurity, and kitchen-tech roll-ups. Longtime Fool Rick Munarriz joins as David’s sidekick to share the what, why, and when of these stocks’ march through the decade. How did each of these stocks do? How about the sampler’s overall outperformance? David & Rick extract the key lessons. Rule Breaker Investing isn’t just about keeping score; it’s about learning how (and why) we win. Companies Discussed: ATVI, CASY, GOOG (legacy of FEYE/MNDT), MELI, MIDD Sign up for The Motley Fool’s Breakfast News here: www.fool.com/breakfastnews Pre-order David’s upcoming Rule Breaker Investing book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1804091219/ Host: David GardnerGuest: Rick MunarrizProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices