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Why Diversification Is For Losers

Tyler Durden's picture




 

"Invest for the long-term," "buy-and-hold," "stay diversified," are the mantra of every asset-gathering commission-taking 'manager' out there... However, as JPMorgan notes, empirically that is a loser's bet. In fact, investors owning just the top 10 performers of the S&P 500 has never suffered a single rolling 12 month period loss (lowest was April 2009 +0.24%).

Getting a few key calls correct this cycle (Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Gilead, etc.) meant the difference between outperforming or lagging the index.  For instance, if one were to strip out just the top 10 contributors to the S&P 500 over the last year, the index would have a negative total return (vs. +3.6% YTD as of 12/4).

  • Owning the worst performing 490 out of 500 stocksin the S&P 500 has had a negative 12m total return during 38% of periods over the last 15 years. 
  • The top 10 out of 500 stocks never had a single rolling 12m period with a negative return (minimum 12m return = +0.24%, April 2009).

So that's why everyone is piling into the best performers.

Amid FANGs, NOSHs, and just NFLX all on its own... Stock concentrations are building dramatically. However, history tells us that this level of performance concentration is only marginally above average and well below the outlier levels of the Tech Bubble.

 

Charts: JPMorgan

 

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Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:32 | 6889414 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Awesome investing idea.  Please let me know what the Top 10 Performers will be over the next 12 months so I can invest in them.  

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:38 | 6889445 DetectiveStern
DetectiveStern's picture

I'm not sure but I've got a dead cert for the 3:15 at Ascot on Sunday if you're interested.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:59 | 6889555 Pladizow
Pladizow's picture

Thanks Carnac!

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:45 | 6889490 scintillator9
scintillator9's picture

Most likely the ones that:

Have most short interest

Are the current whipping boy (i.e. anything commodity related)

Is a weapons manufacturer or deals with "defense"

 

Things tend to run in cycles, such as Tech was hot late 1990's and commodities were crushed then. This appears to be rather similar.

 

 

 

 

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:56 | 6889550 underman
underman's picture

Buying SP Futures at 3:15pm ET is all you need to know.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 17:21 | 6889692 Bunga Bunga
Bunga Bunga's picture

The Top 10 performers?: blockchain, blockchain, blockchain, blockchain, blockchain, blockchain, blockchain, blockchain, blockchain and  blockchain.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 18:01 | 6889915 Butter_cup
Butter_cup's picture

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Mon, 12/07/2015 - 20:41 | 6890890 Hal n back
Hal n back's picture

or when the FANG NOSH stocks crap out.

 

if I was that good, I would have held Silver thru 4/25/11 and gold thru 8/31/11, out of the market spring 2000 and Summer 2008 and , drum roll, in banks starting March 2009 when FAS109 mark to BS accounting for banks was adopted.

 

But then lets discuuss shorting the  market.

 

Amazon: what if it misses its 1.89 a share eps for the year--after all its earned 28 cents thru first 3 qtrs. Anybody think Amazon margins will increase this year when everybody else in on line is competeing with amazon via price? A 25% increase in amzn sales, which now includes cloud (highly competitve) streaming (competitive) is about the increse its been having the last several years.   Amazon, with the holday season being crappy and a shit load of discounting, could beat on sales but miss huge on eps.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:33 | 6889419 I am a Man I am...
I am a Man I am Forty's picture

This is why everyone is piling into Vanguard funds.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:37 | 6889442 madcows
madcows's picture

Vanguard also costs much less than other used car salesmen, I mean Financial advisors.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:33 | 6889421 cheech_wizard
cheech_wizard's picture

William J. O'Neil wrote about diversification a long, long time ago.

Why is this suddenly news?

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:36 | 6889436 madcows
madcows's picture

Geez, all I need is for the FED to tell me what the top 10 are, and I'm all set!

Seriously, "The top 10 perform better than all the rest!"  No shit.  What a retarded article.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:38 | 6889444 FrankieGoesToHo...
FrankieGoesToHollywood's picture

"owning just the top 10 performers of the S&P 500"

Even the worst mathematician can tell you that.  if you have a "benchmark" and you select only the highest permorming members of that benchmark, you will outperform the benchmark.  You wasted a lot of time to state the obvious.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:47 | 6889475 Rainman
Rainman's picture

The bottom 490 will almost fit into an UBER

                http://seekingalpha.com/article/3735196-uber-is-valued-higher-than-gm-ford-and-most-of-the-s-and-p-500

 

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:45 | 6889488 PoasterToaster
PoasterToaster's picture

Remember when they got rid of pensions and forced everyone to throw their life's savings on the crap table called the Stock Market?  Don't worry, it's safe because you are in a mutual fund that reduces your risk!  Forget saving in a bank, 5 and 1/4 interest is over!  Step right up ladies and gentlemen, watch me make your financial lives disappear!

But yeah lots of people got rich on the stock market, and only the dumb ones lose money.  Just keep your money in there forever, because anything else is a sucker's bet.  It has to be true; I heard it on the internet.  And CNBC.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:45 | 6889491 i8emallup
i8emallup's picture

Thats why my strategy works so well. I just check which stocks have the best performance, then buy them last year.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 17:16 | 6889658 BeaverCream
BeaverCream's picture

Doc, is that you?

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:51 | 6889513 madcows
madcows's picture

There's the 3:30 ramp.

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 16:51 | 6889515 offwirenews
offwirenews's picture

wowzers look at that 3:30 ramp. Right on time. Any coincidence this article was published at 15:30?

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 17:07 | 6889603 moneylover3
moneylover3's picture

<----------- Buy S & P 10

<----------- Buy S & P 500

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 17:14 | 6889648 BeaverCream
BeaverCream's picture

Dat ramp...why fucking diversify when you can just BTFD at 3:00?  I mean, seriously WHY THE FUCK am I not doing this?  I feel so stupid most of the time for sitting here when this shit happens EVERY FUCKING DAY.

 

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 17:19 | 6889679 WTF_247
WTF_247's picture

What crap analysis - this is completely done in hindsight.

The true measure would be quarterly rankings of the "best" performing stocks held through the next quarter forward without the benefit of hindsight. My guess this does not nearly perform as well ....

Mon, 12/07/2015 - 18:45 | 6890168 Reichstag Fire Dept.
Reichstag Fire Dept.'s picture

So...once the market crashes to the bottom of the stairs of the CN Tower and gold pops...I should sell all my gold and buy FANG?

Bonus question: Does longing FANG come with 3 magic beans??

Tue, 12/08/2015 - 11:28 | 6893513 RedDwarf
RedDwarf's picture

So if I buy a winning lottery ticket for $1 and win $300,000,000 my ROI will be the hands down winner.  Just tell me the winning lotto numbers ahead of time and I can be the 'top' performer.

Look, everyone knows that diversification in a normal environment (which we currently do not have) is about safety more than it is about performance.  The more you shoot for the moon the more you cna make and the more you can lose.  This is news?

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