A Look at top 50 Mechanical Portfolio

As people know, I run two mechanical portfolios where I add a stock to the portfolio if it is "new" to the top 50 or top 30 list in the past 52 weeks. The stocks then get sold after a one year hold. Since 2008, these portfolios have vastly outperformed the benchmark S&P 500 as show in the table below:

Top 50 Portfolio
Totals	16.2%	2.1%	14.1%
Closed	22.4%	1.6%	20.8%
Open	-3.2%	3.8%	-7.0%
Top 30 Portfolio
Totals	18.1%	7.0%	11.1%
Closed	26.2%	7.8%	18.4%
Open	-1.3%	5.2%	-6.5%

So that shows you'd be up an average of 16.2% per year since early 2008, while the S&P 500 is up a mere 2.1% for the top 50. That is an old fashioned whooping. Of course, the bug wins are more in the past, you can see the open stocks are actually trailing by 7 points. There were numerous huge gains in stocks bought during the low times (when the market went nuts) between July 2008 and April 2009.

I am not sure if the open stocks are as bad as they look. There are some stinkers that I think most people would have avoided, such as DEXO and SPMD (two stocks that were warmed over former bankruptcies with poor business models going that way again). Also, some of the bio tech names seem exceedingly risky.

Open Top 50 Mechanical Stocks

Symbol	Date	Original	Current	Dividend	S&P O	S&P D	Stock Chg	S&P Chg	Diff
ESI	10/30/09	90.35	69.91	-	103.56	2.20	-22.6%	12.8%	-35.4%
VRSK	10/30/09	27.43	28.32	-	103.56	2.20	3.2%	12.8%	-9.6%
APOL	11/6/09	55.99	51.93	-	107.13	2.20	-7.3%	9.0%	-16.3%
CBST	11/6/09	17.60	23.48	-	107.13	2.20	33.4%	9.0%	24.4%
SNTA	11/6/09	3.20	4.01	-	107.13	2.20	25.3%	9.0%	16.3%
IMMU	11/6/09	3.61	3.25	-	107.13	2.20	-10.0%	9.0%	-19.0%
PBH	11/13/09	6.95	9.89	-	109.62	2.20	42.3%	6.6%	35.7%
IDCC	11/20/09	23.56	30.19	-	109.43	2.20	28.1%	6.7%	21.4%
PDLI	11/27/09	6.63	5.26	1.00	109.57	2.20	-5.6%	6.6%	-12.2%
CBPO	12/4/09	9.06	9.79	-	111.01	2.20	8.1%	5.2%	2.8%
XOMA	12/4/09	0.72	0.20	-	111.01	2.20	-71.6%	5.2%	-76.8%
Valv	12/31/09	5.15	6.40	-	111.44	1.61	24.3%	4.3%	20.0%
RAI	1/15/10	53.81	58.85	0.90	113.64	1.61	11.0%	2.3%	8.8%
TRMS	1/15/10	2.45	2.45	-	113.64	1.61	0.0%	2.3%	-2.3%
SAI	1/15/10	18.90	16.03	-	113.64	1.61	-15.2%	2.3%	-17.5%
NATH	1/28/10	14.70	16.15	-	108.57	1.61	9.9%	7.0%	2.8%
SMED	2/5/10	6.74	4.99	-	106.66	1.61	-26.0%	9.0%	-34.9%
SPMD	2/5/10	36.63	10.86	-	106.66	1.61	-70.4%	9.0%	-79.3%
UIS	2/5/10	34.25	28.36	-	106.66	1.61	-17.2%	9.0%	-26.2%
QKLS	2/12/10	5.69	4.95	-	108.04	1.61	-13.0%	7.6%	-20.6%
MGIC	2/12/10	1.78	2.56	-	108.04	1.61	43.8%	7.6%	36.2%
ESIC	2/19/10	2.07	2.58	-	111.14	1.61	24.6%	4.6%	20.1%
ODSY	2/19/10	17.89	27.50	-	111.14	1.61	53.7%	4.6%	49.1%
HRB	2/26/10	17.28	12.59	0.15	110.74	1.61	-26.3%	5.0%	-31.2%
TNDM	2/26/10	16.12	12.77	-	110.74	1.61	-20.8%	5.0%	-25.7%
DEXO	2/26/10	29.80	12.05	-	110.74	1.61	-59.6%	5.0%	-64.5%
AFAM	3/5/10	35.52	29.73	-	114.25	1.61	-16.3%	1.7%	-18.0%
DNB	3/5/10	69.95	74.65	-	114.25	1.61	6.7%	1.7%	5.0%
SNTS	3/5/10	4.87	2.96	-	114.25	1.61	-39.2%	1.7%	-40.9%
KIRK	3/12/10	20.11	13.98	-	115.46	1.61	-30.5%	0.7%	-31.1%
PRSC	3/12/10	14.18	16.15	-	115.46	1.61	13.9%	0.7%	13.2%
QDEL	3/25/10	13.73	11.28	-	116.58	1.13	-17.8%	-0.7%	-17.1%
SVA	4/9/10	5.83	3.86	-	119.55	1.13	-33.9%	-3.2%	-30.7%
VALU	4/9/10	22.07	14.24	3.00	119.55	1.13	-21.9%	-3.2%	-18.7%
BDSI	4/16/10	4.12	2.93	-	119.36	1.13	-28.9%	-3.0%	-25.9%
LOV	4/23/10	3.45	3.20	-	121.81	1.13	-7.2%	-5.0%	-2.3%
MD	4/23/10	57.02	53.09	-	121.81	1.13	-6.9%	-5.0%	-1.9%
ABC	4/23/10	31.13	30.85	-	121.81	1.13	-0.9%	-5.0%	4.1%
SNDK	4/30/10	39.84	37.03	-	121.81	1.13	-7.1%	-5.0%	-2.1%
OSK	4/30/10	38.62	28.07	-	121.81	1.13	-27.3%	-5.0%	-22.3%
GXDX	5/7/10	27.89	14.53	-	111.26	1.13	-47.9%	4.0%	-51.9%
IPXL	5/7/10	16.66	19.89	-	111.26	1.13	19.4%	4.0%	15.4%
SOHU	5/7/10	44.19	57.73	-	111.26	1.13	30.6%	4.0%	26.6%
CHOP	5/14/10	6.54	5.90	-	113.89	1.13	-9.8%	1.6%	-11.4%
LIWA	5/14/10	8.24	8.47	-	113.89	1.13	2.8%	1.6%	1.2%
FLL	5/14/10	3.10	3.19	-	113.89	1.13	2.9%	1.6%	1.3%
MRX	5/21/10	22.50	29.52	-	107.71	1.13	31.2%	7.5%	23.7%
zlcs	6/4/10	1.53	1.30	-	106.82	1.13	-15.0%	8.4%	-23.4%
DJCO	6/4/10	71.00	72.00	-	106.82	1.13	1.4%	8.4%	-6.9%
TNAV	6/4/10	8.53	5.32	-	106.82	1.13	-37.6%	8.4%	-46.0%
JGBO	6/11/10	8.45	7.60	-	109.68	1.13	-10.1%	5.5%	-15.6%
DRWI	6/11/10	5.94	6.67	-	109.68	1.13	12.3%	5.5%	6.8%
SCEI	6/18/10	7.36	5.88	-	111.73	0.60	-20.1%	3.1%	-23.2%
SUPG	7/16/10	1.75	2.12	-	106.66	0.60	21.1%	8.0%	13.1%
PETS	7/23/10	16.09	17.77	-	110.41	0.60	10.4%	4.3%	6.1%
COCO	7/30/10	9.39	7.19	-	112.41	0.60	-23.4%	2.5%	-25.9%
GRMN	7/30/10	28.96	29.98	-	112.41	0.60	3.5%	2.5%	1.0%
CSGS	7/30/10	19.09	18.32	-	112.41	0.60	-4.0%	2.5%	-6.5%
CJJD	8/6/10	5.62	5.08	-	112.39	0.60	-9.6%	2.5%	-12.1%
FSYS	8/6/10	35.95	39.13	-	112.39	0.60	8.8%	2.5%	6.3%
CNXT	9/3/10	1.50	1.67	-	110.89	0.60	11.3%	3.9%	7.4%
CECO	9/3/10	18.66	21.67	-	110.89	0.60	16.1%	3.9%	12.2%
RST	9/3/10	17.51	21.18	-	110.89	0.60	21.0%	3.9%	17.1%
NEWN	9/3/10	6.17	5.99	-	110.89	0.60	-2.9%	3.9%	-6.8%
MPAA	9/3/10	7.15	9.19	-	110.89	0.60	28.5%	3.9%	24.6%
GMAN	9/3/10	10.63	11.77	-	110.89	0.60	10.7%	3.9%	6.8%
CRME	9/24/10	6.10	6.15	-	114.82	0.60	0.8%	0.3%	0.5%
CMTL	9/24/10	26.48	27.50	-	114.82	0.60	3.9%	0.3%	3.5%

Actually some interesting stocks here. First I'd note that stocks bought since September are up about 8% over S&P, more evidence that MFI is starting another "plus" streak. Then note the bad biotech stocks: IMMU (-19%), XOMA (-77%) and ZLCS (-23%). And then a few stocks that were falsely profitable due to the H1N1 virus: QDEL (-17%), SVA (-31%), SMED (-35%) and BDSI (-26%). Finally the yellow page rehashes, DEXO (-64%) and SPMD (-79%).