All fund risk and return metrics, ratings, and analytics were uploaded to MFO Premium yesterday, reflecting performance through May. The update uses Lipper’s Friday data drop, so return and drawdown performance is available through 2 June using our new Month To Date (MTD) display period.
Despite pervasive skepticism based on: Russian invasion. China US tension. Inflation. Rising rates. Bank collapses. Default fears. The S&P 500 has been climbing generally since October or 8 months ago. Month ending data has us 2% shy of a new bull market. But if you include MTD, the S&P is up more than 20%, which meets the definition. We’ll coin it The Great Normalization (TGN) Bull … the 7th bull market for S&P 500 since Vietnam War circa 1968.
Granted. Value has lagged. But growth has soared. NASDAQ up 30%. Europe is up 40% (STOXX 50). As is Germany (DAX). Berkshire Hathaway BRKA is up 20%. So is Japan (Nikkei) and the rest of the world (ACIXUS).
TGN Bear lasted just 9 months, inflicting drawdown pain of -24% last September. The S&P is still underwater, 8% off its December 2021 high, so perhaps that explains the lack of enthusiasm.
The table below shows risk and return metrics from last October for three top-rated fund families (Dodge & Cox, FMI, and Leuthold, the latter profiled by David this month), sorted by absolute percent return (APR). QQQ, SPY, JNK, and AGG have been added for reference. The 10-month trend numbers are nearly all positive. You will also see the new MTD return and a so-called “Weeks To Date” (WTD) return, which is YTD plus the MTD contribution. (The fund names in dark blue are MFO Great Owls.)
Except for the new MTD and WTD display periods, and the new PayPal portal, the site upgrades have been mostly in background to improve data quality and turnaround speed, while providing a stronger foundation for future upgrades. Our goal is to post updated ratings each Sunday, reflecting performance through the previous Friday.
You can find a report on the recent Morningstar Investment Conference here. We will hold our mid-year review and webinar in early July, announcement forthcoming.
As always, if you see anything amiss or have suggestions for improvement, let us know and we will respond soonest.
