Advertisement

Are You Beating the Market This Year?

Since the pandemic lows in late March, the Dow has surged by more than 59%, the S&P by 63%, and the Nasdaq by 81%!

It’s been a record-setting move.

And in spite of the pandemic, both the S&P and Nasdaq (even with the recent pullback), are positive on the year with the S&P up by 2.7%, and the Nasdaq up by 20.3% YTD.

But the best part is that it looks like there’s a lot more upside to go.

And with expectations for unprecedented growth for the remainder of the year, record growth next year, near zero interest rates for the foreseeable future, and the possibility of a vaccine by year’s end (or sooner), stocks look poised to soar even more.

With that, there are plenty of investors handily beating the market. 

So why are so many other investors underperforming the market?

Could it be that one of the reasons why so many people are not seeing the kinds of returns they want is because they don’t know of new stocks to get into? They find themselves in mediocre stocks because they don’t know of anything better instead?

I think for some, their knowledge or ‘universe’ of familiar stocks is relatively small and this limits their opportunity of getting into better ones.

Which Half Are You In?

Nearly half of the companies in the S&P are beating the index and showing positive returns this year. But that means more than half of the stocks in the S&P 500 are underperforming the Index.

Even ‘good’ companies like Pfizer; they’re down -6.0%. Or Kellogg; which is down -8.2%. Or even Cisco; down -15.8%. So what gives?

I don’t single these out so you can feel bad if you have them. But instead, to stop and think about ‘why’ you have them.

Nobody invests so they can underperform the market. But if you are -- why? You don’t have to. If you’re underperforming the market, that means you have more of these types of laggards in your portfolio than leaders.

How the Other Half Lives

Of course, there are a lot of big names beating the S&P too. Take Oracle, or Walmart, or Electronic Arts for example. All are outperforming the S&P with gains of +13%, +15% and +16% respectively.

But now let’s move outside of the S&P.

Did you ever hear of a company called Green Brick? What if you did? It has outperformed the market by gaining +58.5% since the start of the year. Or Mr. Cooper? They’re up +70.9%. Or Horizon Therapeutics? Up by more than +115%. (By the way, these are all Zacks #1 Rank stocks.) 

There are hundreds and hundreds of stocks producing fantastic gains that many people may never have even heard of.

Continued . . .


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deadline this Saturday: Free Copy of Finding #1 Stocks

Zacks’ Executive Vice President, Kevin Matras, continues to remain optimistic about the market. He’s inspired by several positive indicators including Jobless Claims falling by more than 32,000 this week.

But in order to capitalize on soaring stock prices, you have to know where to find the ones that will lead the market.

Today, you can still claim a copy of his book, Finding #1 Stocks, free of charge (a $49.95 value). This 300-page hardbound book unfolds almost every stock-picking secret from the Zacks system that’s more than doubled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +24% per year for more than 30 years.

The book starts you toward mastering the system without attending a single class or seminar. Some of the strategies you'll discover produced gains of +122.2%, +153.0%, and even +156.8% from 2017 through Q2 2020.¹

This unique opportunity ends Saturday, September 19th.

Learn more now >>

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


What about you? How many times have you heard about a stock or read about a stock that skyrocketed – only to think to yourself; “if only I knew about that stock ahead of time, I would have been in that”.

Expand Your Universe and Pick Better Stocks

Increasing your stock knowledge and awareness of new and better stocks is easier than you think. And you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

• For example, since 1988, the Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buy stocks have beaten the S&P 500 in 26 of the last 32 years, with an average annual return of 24.7% a year. That’s nearly 2.5 x the returns with an 81% annual win ratio.

• Stick with the top industries. Since roughly half of a stock’s price movement can be attributed to the group that it’s in, you’ll significantly increase your odds of success by focusing on the best groups. By how much? Our tests have shown that the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of 2 to 1. And the top 10% of industries outperform the most.

• Or select your next stock from a proven profitable stock picking strategy -- like our ‘New Highs’ strategy with an average annual return (2000-2019) of 47.8%; or our ‘Big Money Zacks’ strategy with an average annual return of 50.3%; or the ‘Filtered Zacks Rank 5’ strategy which produces an average annual return of 54.1%!

Once you know what to look for, and how to pick better stocks, it can transform your portfolio.

You don’t need to turn yourself into an analyst to beat the market. Just focus on what works, and apply those methods consistently.

Leadership

For most of us, our investments are the largest, most important chunk of money we’ll ever be responsible for in our entire life.

And if it isn’t now, it likely will be one day.

The leaders in the past (stock names we’re all too familiar with) will likely not be the leaders in the future.

But you can stay ahead of the pack by following some simple rules and methods that have proven to work.

And don’t be afraid to consider a stock you may never have heard of before. There was a time when some of the best stocks in your portfolio today, were brand new to you before you bought them. And now they’re one of your top performers.

The next time you read about or hear about a stock that’s skyrocketed in price; instead of thinking, ‘I could have been in that had I known about it’ -- wouldn’t it be great to say, “I’m in it!” 

Where to Start

You can beat the market. And there's a simple way to add a big performance advantage for stock-picking success. It's called the Zacks Method for Trading: Home Study Course.

With this fun, interactive online program, you can master the Zacks Rank without attending a single class or seminar. Do it online in your own home at your own pace. It covers the investment ideas I just shared and guides you to better trading step by step.

You'll quickly see how to get the most out of the system that has nearly tripled the market for more than a quarter century. Discover how to identify what kind of trader you are, how to find stocks with the highest probability of success, and how to trade them so you can consistently beat the market regardless of where stock prices are headed.

The course also goes over some of our best-performing strategies from a variety of different trading styles that produced gains up to +122.2%, +153.0%, and even +156.8% from 2017 through Q2 2020.¹

Today is the perfect time to get in. I'm giving participants free hardbound copies of my book, Finding #1 Stocks, a $49.95 value. Its 300 pages unfold virtually every trading secret I know and have learned over the last 25 years to beat the market.

Please note: Copies of the book are limited and your opportunity to get one free ends midnight Saturday, September 19th. So if you're interested, be sure to check this out right now.

Find out more about the Zacks Home Study Course >>

Thanks and good trading,

Kevin

Zacks Executive VP Kevin Matras is responsible for all our trading and investing services. He developed many of our most powerful market-beating strategies and directs the Zacks Method for Trading: Home Study Course.

¹ The results listed above are not (or may not be) representative of the performance of all strategies developed by Zacks Investment Research.


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research