February 2026 Mailbag: Countless… Right?

This week’s Mailbag picks up where Pet Peeves left off—and then some. Listeners write in with their own linguistic grievances, from “10 straight unanswered points” to the curious inflation of words like “countless,” to the conversational reflex of “Right?” that may or may not actually validate anything. Along the way, we touch on Evernote in an AI world, foreign exchange risk from a Fool down under, and the eternal market phenomenon of buying the day before the drop. It’s playful, pointed, and a reminder that words shape how we think… and how we invest. 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 GardnerProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been 27 months since this series’s last installment, which means David has had time to quietly bottle up a fresh batch of entirely new irritations—all original, no repeats. This year’s edition takes aim at the slippery phrase “Buy Now, Pay Later,” the suspicious preface “If I’m being honest…,” and the curious cultural surrender embedded in “In my day…“.Along the way, there’s a certain Halloween-sized marketing sham, a conversational tic that may deserve early retirement, and a high-decibel train experience you may never un-hear again.Part humor, part language audit, part cultural critique—Pet Peeves returns to remind us that words matter, incentives matter, and yes… it is still your day. 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 GardnerProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ten years ago this week, in the teeth of a downturn, David picked five stocks under the banner “5 Stocks to Feed the Bear.” This week, he and longtime Fool Rick Munarriz revisit that full basket—not after a month, a quarter, or a year, but after a much better, truer timeframe for the Rule Breaker Investor: 10 years. To the very day.Which stocks did David get really right? Which ones really wrong? And why? As always, in this third installment of our new episodic series, it’s not about cherry-picking highlights—it’s about accountability and perspective. It’s about what a 10-year scorecard teaches that the financial media’s shorter windows simply can’t.And the results of this sampler—along with the full program of all 30 5-stock samplers—once again prove the eye-popping success and durable wins that come to Rule Breaker investors. 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: CRI, ELLI, IPGP, MELI, PLNTHost: David GardnerGuest: Rick MunarrizProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Kelly—founding editor of Wired magazine and a lifelong observer of technology in motion—returns to Rule Breaker Investing for a conversation about how the future actually shows up. We don’t trade in predictions here. Instead, Kevin shares ways of noticing long arcs, understanding why certain platforms and ideas compound, and staying optimistic without getting swept up in hype. From AI working alongside other AIs to the power of patience and perspective, this episode is an invitation to slow down just enough to see what really matters as change unfolds. 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: Kevin KellyProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s Rule Breaker Investing Mailbag brings together beautiful questions and stories to start the new year. We wrestle with a values-alignment dilemma around owning Robinhood, explore what it looks like to turn investing into a real, score-kept game for kids (including outperforming Dad), consider a mischievous strategy for the Market Cap Game Show, and close with an inspiring note from a retired basketball coach whose patient, optimistic approach built lasting financial freedom. Along the way, we’re reminded that investing isn’t just about returns—it’s about judgment, temperament, family, and choosing to be a “for” person over time. 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: HOOD, MELI, NFLX, TTD Host: David GardnerProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Risk gets talked about a lot in investing—and often defined poorly. This week on Rule Breaker Investing, David is joined by Motley Fool analysts Alicia Alfiere and Yasser El-Shimy to walk through his full 25-point risk rating system, a framework he’s used for more than a decade to replace vague labels like “medium risk” with something concrete and measurable. Using Etsy and Duolingo as live 2026 case studies, the trio scores each company question by question—covering the business, financials, competition, leadership, and the investor’s own willingness to dig deeper. Along the way, listeners get a deeper look at how studying risk is really about studying quality—and how seeing risk clearly with a number is just another way Rule Breaker investors can learn to break the rules…. Companies mentioned: DUOL, ETSY Host: David GardnerGuests: Alicia Alfiere, Yasser El-ShimyProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Rule Breaker Investing, David is joined by Raj Sisodia and Nilima Bhat, co-authors of Healing Leaders, for a conversation about leadership burnout, meaning, and why wholeness may be a strategic advantage. Rather than treating healing as a “soft” idea, Raj and Nilima walk through the book’s seven steps and explore how inner state shapes judgment, patience, courage, and long-term thinking—in business, investing, and life. Along the way, they connect the “Wise Fool” archetype and the idea of Shakti to conscious capitalism, rule-breaking optimism, and the kind of leadership that compounds over time. Host: David GardnerGuests: Nilima Bhat, Raj SisodiaProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we open 2026, David looks backward to get clearer about what really matters going forward. In the eighth installment of Essays From Yesterday, he revisits four Rule Breaker essays written between 2006 and 2014—spanning market sell-offs, forgotten drawdowns, early buyouts, language that shapes behavior, and the enduring power of mindset. Along the way, we’re reminded that sharp declines happen more often than we remember, that short-term scorecards mislead, and that a handful of great winners can overwhelm many mistakes. This lesson-filled episode makes the case for capital “H” History as an investor’s secret weapon—and for why perspective, patience, and precise thinking continue year after year to crush the stock market averages. • (5:02) Introduction to July 2006 Issue • (15:55) The Tim Beyers Issue • (27:42) Greatest Issue Ever • (37:26) Starter Stocks Companies mentioned: AKAM, APKT, CRM, GOOG, ISRG, MELI, NILE, PDLI, QLIK Host: David GardnerProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the final Rule Breaker Investing podcast of 2025, and the year ends as it always does—with your Mailbag. David shares his annual year-forward market call, then works through listener notes that capture the heart of the Foolish journey. We hear from a father investing alongside his seven-year-old son, an investor who audited his own selling history and discovered just how early he’d stepped off some great rides, and Fools thinking carefully about contribution timing, position sizing, and excellence that keeps winning. Along the way, David revisits core ideas like letting winners run, being a “for” person, and ultimately answers the question that brings the year full circle: How do you know—really know—Am I a Fool? Companies mentioned: CRWD, NFLX, RKLB, SPOT, TSLA Host: David GardnerProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s time once again for the Market Cap Game Show Holiday Edition, where intuition meets valuation and everyday life meets market caps. Bill Barker and Matt Argersinger take the stage, vying for the final spot in our 2026 March Market Cap Madness World Championships, as they test their mettle—and yours—across ten public companies. From Bubble Wrap and sidewalk robots to semiconductors, ski resorts, biotech pipelines, and online commerce platforms, the matchups span the familiar and the delightfully unexpected, with plenty of raucous banter along the way. Play along at home, challenge your market-cap intuition, and see whether you can outscore Bill, Matt… or both. Companies mentioned: ANET, DAVA, DFH, INCY, MTN, QCOM, SEE, SERV, SHOP, TSLA Host: David GardnerGuests: Bill Barker, Matt ArgersingerProducer: Bart Shannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices