The Daily Workshop Report
by Robert Sheard (TMF Sheard)

LEXINGTON, KY. (August 5, 1997) -- Now that we're in the second half of the year, some interesting patterns have emerged in the Workshop Growth screens. Take these observations for what they're worth, though; we're still just talking about seven months of history and there's no way to project trends with this limited record.

There's no doubt the Relative Strength screen is soaring this year, thanks to DELL COMPUTER <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") end if %>. But the aggressive updates, as strong as they have been, are still trailing the returns of the RS screen if one had simply held the original five stocks from January. Again, it's hard to say how much is thanks to a phenomenal performance from Dell, but MORNINGSTAR GROUP <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSTR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSTR)") end if %> and WESTERN DIGITAL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: WDC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: WDC)") end if %> have both posted solid gains as well.

Another case where the annual holding and the semi-annual periods are leading the more aggressive update cycles is for the original Investing For Growth approach. A solid year to date with returns in the 34% - 38% range, it's ahead of the market whereas the two shorter cycles are both lagging the market.

Of the semi-annual portfolios, the YPEG screen has done fairly well, which is most surprising given its very questionable results over other holding periods. There's no way to explain it, really, so I leave that to you to ponder.

Today, I'll include the returns for all the holding periods. For more specific detail on each screen, check out the data section of the Workshop. Enjoy!

Monthly Growth Screens
(Jan. 3 to present)
59.60%  Relative Strength  
27.32%  S&P 500 Index  
27.22%  Investing for Growth  
22.81%  YPEG Potential  
19.25%  Low Price/Sales  
16.72%  EPS Plus RS  
16.44%  Unemotional Growth  
1.14%  Formula 90  

Quarterly Growth Screens
(Jan. 3 to present)
41.95%  Relative Strength  
27.32%  S&P 500 Index  
23.69%  Investing for Growth  
19.47%  Unemotional Growth  
18.22%  Low Price/Sales  
9.62%  EPS Plus RS  
9.52%  Formula 90  
9.32%  YPEG Potential  

Semi-Annual Growth Screens
(Jan. 3 to present)
44.27%  YPEG Potential  
38.04%  Investing for Growth  
37.12%  Relative Strength  
29.86%  EPS Plus RS  
27.32%  S&P 500 Index  
19.24%  Unemotional Growth  
16.39%  Low Price/Sales  
13.05%  Formula 90  

Annual Growth Screens
(Jan. 3 to present)
65.22%  Relative Strength  
34.03%  Investing for Growth  
28.86%  YPEG Potential  
27.32%  S&P 500 Index  
23.48%  Low Price/Sales  
16.56%  Unemotional Growth  
14.85%  EPS Plus RS  
10.71%  Formula 90  

Annual Value Screens
(Jan. 1 to present)
26.97%  Dow Jones Ind Avg  
22.94%  Beating the S&P  
22.13%  Dogs of the Dow  
17.97%  Dow Combo  
17.53%  Unemotional Value  
17.53%  Beating the Dow  
 7.91%  Foolish Four