The Daily Workshop Report
by Robert Sheard (TMF Sheard)

LEXINGTON, KY. (July 9, 1997)  Despite the Dow's sell-off this afternoon, technology stocks continued their recent strength, with semiconductor stocks leading the way. Given the group strength today, it seems a decent opportunity to update our experimental large-cap technology portfolio.

The design of this portfolio is fairly simple. At the beginning of 1997, I took the top 15 technology stocks (based on market capitalization and taken from the computer, software, and computer equipment maker groups of the S&P 500 Index) and then sorted them using the Relative Strength rankings from Investor's Business Daily.

The following results include capital gains only (no trading costs or dividends):

Dell Computer (DELL)         144%
Intel (INTC)                  17%
Seagate Technology (SEG)      -2%
Microsoft (MSFT)              58%
Compaq Computer (CPQ)         66%

Overall Total                 57%
S&P 500 Index                 23%

Needless to say, computer makers have been the place to be so far in 1997. Whether the technology sprint can continue or not is open to speculation, of course, but the out-performance to date is impressive.

Monthly Growth Screens
(Jan. 3 to present)
37.66%  Relative Strength  
21.33%  S&P 500 Index  
15.40%  Low Price/Sales  
 7.68%  Unemotional Growth  
 6.15%  Investing for Growth  
-3.55%  EPS Plus RS  
-4.93%  YPEG Potential  
-15.84%  Formula 90  

Annual Value Screens
(Jan. 1 to present)
21.62%  Dow Jones Ind Avg  
17.35%  Beating the S&P  
17.30%  Dogs of the Dow  
12.98%  Unemotional Value  
12.98%  Beating the Dow  
10.13%  Dow Combo  
 2.96%  Foolish Four