Shifting Models?

by David Forrest ([email protected])

Topeka, KS. (Sept. 25, 1998) -- Holy cow! I've been working all day crunching the numbers for this week's Workshop data. This is the first time that someone other than Robert has done the data, and I hope I prove as strong a compiler as Robert was. Some of the companies falling out of Value Line's Timeliness 1 ranking are Arterial Vascular <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AVEI)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AVEI)") end if %> and Solectron <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SLR)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SLR)") end if %>. Some additions include Tyco International <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: TYC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: TYC)") end if %> and the Gartner Group <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IT)") end if %>. Check out this week's rankings for the other movers and shakers in the database.

Seven of the eight models we're following are up for the year, but only four are beating the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Keystone continues to kick butt, up 36.54% on the year. IBD-Relative Strength is also up there at 31.84%. O'Shaughnessey's Low PSR screen is really sickly, down 18.10% on the year. It's always the way, isn't it? Write a best-selling book and your screen goes to pot! Let's hope this doesn't happen with ALL best-selling books, eh?

I'd like you all to discuss the possibility of shifting some of the models. I don't want to add more models to the fray, as it gets too difficult to track them all, but does anyone have an interest in swapping any of the models we currently follow for others? Spark5 comes immediately to mind. I'm definitely going to start up a mock Spark5 Dozens portfolio for next week. I'm interested in your feedback, so please drop me a note in the message folder.

I'll close tonight's shortened Workshop report by encouraging you all to keep developing new models. I'm more interested than ever in seeing new types of screens develop, like the Spark5. The aim here is continually to improve the offerings with better models. Louis has been working on using profit margins to improve returns, and I've been toying around with Beta calculations to see if buying the most volatile stocks is to our advantage. If you're out there and have a model you've been tracking, drop by the message folders and spread the word. We'll take the best (or most interesting) and spotlight them in these columns.

Take care.

Check out the latest file updates for the Workshop:
New Rankings | 1998 Returns | New Database

What Happened to Robert Sheard?