Slip Sliding Away

Slip Sliding Away

At the start of the year 10 of the 11 MFI tracking portfolios were leading the benchmark. A week ago, it was down to 6 out of 11.

Here is how it looks this morning:

3/24/2016	24.5%	20.4%	1
4/22/2016	10.4%	16.4%	0
5/27/2016	15.5%	15.9%	0
6/30/2016	15.6%	15.6%	0
7/29/2016	10.0%	11.2%	0
8/26/2016	11.1%	11.2%	0
9/30/2016	10.7%	10.8%	0
10/28/2016	12.0%	13.3%	0
11/25/2016	2.0%	7.7%	0
12/30/2016	0.6%	6.3%	0
1/27/2017	1.0%	3.8%	0
2/24/2017	-0.1%	0.5%	0
Average 12	9.4%	11.1%

So first column of % in MFI. Second column is benchmark. A "1" is MFI leading.  So we are now trailing 11 of the 12.  What is going on?  Let us look at the 12/30/16 tracking portfolio (which comprises my MFI Index):

Stock	Initial Price	End Price	Percent Change
LFVN	8.15	5.63	-30.9%
AWRE	6.10	4.80	-21.3%
BPT	22.95	18.30	-20.3%
IRMD	11.10	8.85	-20.3%
DHX	6.25	5.05	-19.2%
ICON	9.34	7.70	-17.6%
FPRX	50.11	43.14	-13.9%
AGTC	9.35	8.10	-13.4%
SCMP	13.55	11.85	-12.5%
PBI	14.98	13.37	-10.7%
VEC	23.85	21.31	-10.6%
HRB	22.99	20.65	-10.2%
SSNI	13.31	12.04	-9.5%
SYNT	19.79	18.12	-8.4%
IDCC	91.04	83.55	-8.2%
UIS	14.95	13.88	-7.2%
USNA	61.20	57.70	-5.7%
RGR	52.70	50.30	-4.6%
PDLI	2.12	2.04	-3.8%
CXRX	2.12	2.06	-2.8%
GILD	71.61	70.53	-1.5%
GME	25.26	24.98	-1.1%
SWHC	21.08	21.08	0.0%
AGX	70.55	70.75	0.3%
NSR	33.40	33.50	0.3%
TRNC	13.87	14.04	1.2%
BBSI	63.85	65.29	2.3%
MSGN	21.50	22.05	2.6%
RPXC	10.80	11.08	2.6%
UTHR	143.43	147.19	2.6%
CA	31.52	32.63	3.5%
MCFT	14.58	15.15	3.9%
DLX	71.33	74.40	4.3%
ACHI	2.25	2.35	4.4%
ESRX	68.79	71.96	4.6%
MPAA	26.92	28.76	6.8%
MCK	140.19	150.16	7.1%
GHC	510.69	564.70	10.6%
MBUU	19.08	21.40	12.2%
NHTC	24.47	27.76	13.4%
MYGN	16.67	19.02	14.1%
TDC	27.17	31.09	14.4%
CSCO	29.96	34.39	14.8%
AMCX	52.34	60.52	15.6%
HPQ	14.84	17.32	16.7%
VIAB	35.10	42.12	20.0%
AAPL	115.32	138.96	20.5%
TGNA	21.39	26.00	21.6%
AVID	4.40	5.53	25.7%
MDCA	6.55	8.95	36.6%

To be a mere 2+ months in and 12 of the 50 names are already 10%+ losers is tough.

I don't know.  It is frustrating. The poor showing is also reflected in my real life MFI portfolios: 

Component	YTD
Overall	+4.79%
Select	+5.71%
Formula	+0.54%
Miscellaneous	+11.62%
Dividend	+5.20%
R3K	+6.32%
MFI Index	+0.43%

So select has been pretty good, up 5.7%. But formula mirrors the Index, up 0.5%.  The struggle is indeed real.  Interestingly, GARIX is up 3.6% (it is a short/long fund run by Gotham).

Oh well.  It is a marathon, not a sprint.