Philip Morris was Peirce's largest holding by far. All of them were well-known blue chips: Coca-Cola, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, Merck, Pfizer, and Philip Morris. But these companies were comparatively high-growth, with a long history of increasing their dividends every year. The second group of stocks, seven in all, overlapped a little with the first. He had two groups: There were about a dozen high-yield but slow-growing stocks such as utilities and high-yield bonds. Peirce pulled out a legal pad and pen, and wrote down his list of stock investments.
IN 1995, Hayford Peirce, a science-fiction and mystery writer by avocation, sat down in a Tahitian café. Now: I work on global strategy for The Motley Fool with a focus on Canada, Europe, and South America.
