Our Focus List Stocks: Short Model Portfolio[1], the best of our Danger Zone picks, outperformed shorting the S&P 500 by 41% from the start of 2021 through 2024. See Figure 1. This outperformance underscores how important trustworthy research is.
Figure 1: Focus List Stocks: Short Performance Since Beginning of 2021
Sources: New Constructs, LLC
In 2024, the Model Portfolio rose 29% compared to 23% for the S&P 500 and underperformed by 6% as a short portfolio, which outperforms when the stocks in the portfolio fall more than the index.
Figure 2: Focus List Stocks: Short vs. S&P 500 in 2024
Sources: New Constructs, LLC
Figure 3 details the Model Portfolio’s performance, which includes all stocks present in the Model Portfolio at any point in 2024.
Figure 3: 2024 Performance of the Focus List Stocks: Short Model Portfolio
Sources: New Constructs, LLC
Performance includes stocks in the Model Portfolio in 2024 as well as those removed during the same time (6).
Professional and Institutional members get real-time updates and can track all Model Portfolios on our site. The Focus List Stocks: Short Model Portfolio leverages superior fundamental data, which provides a new source of alpha.
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This article was originally published on January 9, 2025.
Disclosure: David Trainer, Kyle Guske II, and Hakan Salt, receive no compensation to write about any specific stock, sector, style, or theme.
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[1] Stocks are in the Focus List Model Portfolios for different periods of time as we open and close positions during the year. When measuring outperformance of the Focus List Model Portfolios, we compare each stock’s return to the S&P 500’s return for the time each is in the Focus List Model Portfolios. This approach provides more of an apples-to-apples comparison of how each stock performed vs. the S&P 500.