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GS Scores

Jul 07 2023

Group Selection Scores Remain In Gear

  • Jul 7, 2023

The Group Selection Scores have performed well in the first half of 2023, not an easy feat considering the abrupt style reversal that took place in January. Value and technical indicators are struggling, but the rest of the model is more than picking up the slack.

Jun 06 2023

Select Industries Portfolio Shifts From Commodities To Growth

  • Jun 6, 2023

Exposure to commodities (and defense) has fallen rapidly within Select Industries. The primary beneficiaries of that reduction are growth-oriented groups.

Apr 06 2023

Leuthold Select Industries Portfolio

  • Apr 6, 2023

A combination of strength from Information Technology with weakness from Energy resulted in the two swapping places in our sector ranks this month. 

Oct 07 2021

GS Scores Successfully Navigate Choppy 2021

  • Oct 7, 2021

Industries propelling performance have been diverse; the top-five groups are from five different sectors. Commodity-oriented, retail, and financial groups have been the primary drivers. The Leuthold Select Industries equity strategy, which chooses its thematic investments from the GS Score’s Attractive range, is up 20.2% YTD through September.

Aug 06 2021

Big Time

  • Aug 6, 2021

Market environments are driven not just by industry preferences, but also by a bias toward the very largest companies. We have developed a new set of groups composed of the 10 largest companies from each sector. With several of these baskets sporting positive rankings, we felt a closer look was in order.

May 07 2021

GS Scores Identify Successful Equity Themes In 2021

  • May 7, 2021

The Group Selection (GS) Scores are off to a fantastic start in 2021, and the Select Industries strategy, which takes its cues from the Attractive range, has taken full advantage.

Apr 01 2021

Our Most Contrarian Industry Group Ideas

  • Apr 1, 2021

Contrarian investing is difficult from both an emotional and implementation standpoint. Often the consensus is right, and industry groups are out-of-favor for a reason. As the saying goes, “Don’t be contrarian just for the sake of being a contrarian.”

Feb 05 2021

Energy: A Curse And A Blessing

  • Feb 5, 2021

The Energy sector emerged as the top performer for January, a nice respite after a terrible 2020—but not exactly a good omen. Unlike in horse racing—where the concept of “early speed” has significant predictive power—the early leader in the sector-performance sweepstakes hasn’t reliably followed through in the last 30 years.

Nov 06 2020

Energy: Still Too Early

  • Nov 6, 2020

Fundamentally, we don’t have much new to say on the disaster that Energy-sector equities have become. Mostly, we want to illustrate the danger of assuming that the stocks of commodity producers will necessarily follow the path of their underlying commodities.

Jul 03 2019

Financials Strengthen Among GS Scores; Specialized Finance Purchased

  • Jul 3, 2019

The Financials’ Group Selection (GS) Score sector-composite rating has incrementally improved over the past five months, rising to rank #2 out of 11 sectors in late June.

Apr 05 2019

Small Cap Biotech Getting Pricey Again

  • Apr 5, 2019

In May 2015, we warned about rich valuations for small cap Biotech stocks and looked at various ways to evaluate those companies, as the majority have no approved drugs on the market, thus no revenue; therefore, valuing these companies using the conventional methodology is problematic.

Nov 07 2018

Leuthold Sector Rankings; Attractive & Unattractive-Rated Industry Groups

  • Nov 7, 2018

For the fifth consecutive month, the top-three rated sectors are Health Care, Consumer Discretionary, and Info Tech. The newly launched Communication Services sector (which replaces Telecom Services) debuts with a strong ranking in fourth place. Rounding out the bottom end of the rankings are Utilities, Materials, and Real Estate.

Nov 07 2018

Brick & Mortar Retail Evades October Sell-Off

  • Nov 7, 2018

Although Discretionary stocks broadly underperformed during October’s market decline, prominent amongst the very top industry group performers was a rather unexpected genre of industries—brick & mortar retail. Not only did this cohort hold up during October’s tumult, but many of the underlying stocks have been posting strong returns all year.

Oct 05 2018

Sector Ranking

  • Oct 5, 2018

Health Care remains the highest-rated sector followed by Info Tech and Consumer Discretionary. These sectors have ranked among the top three since June. At the low end of the rankings are Utilities, Telecom Services, and Materials, all of which have been among the bottom three positions for three consecutive months.

Sep 07 2018

GS Sector Rankings

  • Sep 7, 2018

Read this month's Sector Rankings.

Jul 08 2017

Recent Years’ Oil Price Experience Akin To 1980s’

  • Jul 8, 2017

We revisit commentary we published in 2015 regarding the late-2014 oil price crash and review why, at that time, we believed oil prices could stay at depressed levels for a longer period than most expected. Additionally, we advise avoiding two Energy sector segments: companies with high balance-sheet risk, and Energy Royalty Trusts.

Jun 07 2017

Highlighted Attractive Groups

  • Jun 7, 2017

Home Entertainment Software, Managed Health Care, and Specialized Consumer Services are among the month’s intriguing opportunities based on the current Group Selection (GS) Scores.

Jan 07 2017

January’s GS Score Sector Rankings

  • Jan 7, 2017

A summary table detailing the Attractive and Unattractive sectors and industry groups going into 2017.

Jan 07 2017

2016 GS Score Performance Challenges

  • Jan 7, 2017

After three consecutive years of positive performance, the Group Selection (GS) Scores struggled in 2016.

Oct 07 2016

Tech: Prices (And P/E Ratios) Breaking Out

  • Oct 7, 2016

Technology has proven a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing year for our Group Selection (GS) Scores, and it sits atop the sector rankings for the third consecutive month as of October.

Jun 07 2016

Time For Materials?

  • Jun 7, 2016

The Leuthold Materials sector jumped five spots to #3 in the June Group Selection (GS) rankings, its highest ranking in eight years and the first reading outside of the bottom four in almost four years.

Apr 07 2016

Insurance Theme Intact Among Top GS Scores

  • Apr 7, 2016

Group Selection (GS) Score strength among insurance-related industry groups has been a long-running theme within our quantitative framework.

Apr 07 2016

Highlighted Attractive Groups

  • Apr 7, 2016

Food Retail & Distributors, Leisure Products, and Trading Companies & Distributors caught our eye this month.

Mar 07 2016

Our Most Contrarian Group Ideas

  • Mar 7, 2016

We use our Group Selection (GS) Scores to identify the potential for a catalyst, and to gauge the health and future performance potential of those groups out of favor by analysts.

Mar 07 2016

Purchased Specialized Finance: GS Score Surges

  • Mar 7, 2016

We see solid prospects for potential industry growth; consolidation and a full-blown industry evolution have resulted in group constituents having more in common than ever before.

Mar 07 2016

Bottom-Fishing In Energy: Beware Of Bankruptcy Risks

  • Mar 7, 2016

New developments have lifted sentiment toward oil and Energy names, but we caution bottom-fishers to be mindful of risks. The fundamentals in the oil patch do not yet support strong oil prices going forward.

Mar 07 2016

Highlighted Attractive Groups

  • Mar 7, 2016

Highlighting Automotive Retail, Education Services and Insurance Brokers.

Feb 05 2016

February GS Score Highlights

  • Feb 5, 2016

The Attractive quintile of the GS Scores became more defensive in nature; the six groups that were downgraded all sported a cyclical business model. The SI portfolio’s Homebuilding group was deactivated after its GS Score strength deteriorated fairly quickly during its disappointingly short tenure.

Dec 08 2015

Tech In The Pole Position

  • Dec 8, 2015

The S&P 500 Information Technology sector has just broken out to a 15-year relative strength high, and it jumped two spots to the top scoring broad sector position. The breakout in Tech provides a rare example in which foreign market action presaged a major domestic move.

Dec 08 2015

Highlighted Attractive Groups

  • Dec 8, 2015

A snapshot of Automotive Parts & Equipment, Large Cap Biotechnology, and Reinsurance.

Oct 07 2015

Purchased Advertising: Global/Digital Prospects Appealing

  • Oct 7, 2015

Advertising has been in the top rankings of our Group Selection (GS) model for several months.

Oct 07 2015

Automotive Retail: Still In The Driver’s Seat

  • Oct 7, 2015

We revisit this long-held industry group and explain our positive outlook going forward.

Oct 07 2015

GS Score Sector Rankings, and Highlighted Attractive Groups

  • Oct 7, 2015

Health Care, Consumer Discretionary, and Financials remain the top three rated broad sectors.

Sep 09 2015

Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing: New Purchase

  • Sep 9, 2015

Amidst the Energy carnage, the Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing group is the exception, having returned over 7% YTD. Refiners are able to perform well in a variety of oil price scenarios—and tend to thrive in a falling crude oil price environment.

Sep 09 2015

Small/Micro Cap Biotechnology: Still Richly Valued

  • Sep 9, 2015

Despite the group’s big losses since May, the results show Small/Micro Cap Biotechs are still richly valued. As market volatility heats up, this group faces additional downside risk.

Sep 09 2015

GS Score Sector Rankings, and Highlighted Attractive Groups

  • Sep 9, 2015

Advertising, Homefurnishing, Research & Consulting Services

Aug 07 2015

Info Tech Sliding

  • Aug 7, 2015

IT’s overall sector rank has been falling recently. Growth has slowed, which has prompted downward earnings revisions, while valuation ratios have remained steady or gotten pricier.

Aug 07 2015

Homebuilding, More Than Just Curb Appeal?

  • Aug 7, 2015

While this Consumer Discretionary group has not experienced six-plus-years of market outperformance, we think it may be poised for a late-game bounce. An overall lack of housing options may be just what this industry needs to give it a long-awaited boost.

Aug 07 2015

GS Score Sector Rankings, and Highlighted Attractive Groups

  • Aug 7, 2015

Health Care, Consumer Discretionary, and Financials are the top three rated broad sectors.

Aug 07 2015

The 30/30 Club!

  • Aug 7, 2015

The S&P 500 Energy sector’s latest plunge puts it down by almost a third in the last 14 months. It now belongs to an exclusive list of sectors which have declined 30% on both an absolute basis and relative to the S&P 500!