Articles by Greg Swenson, CFA Director of Equities

Consumer Discretionary can’t be topped; it has held on to the highest-rated spot for seven consecutive months. Utilities and Telecom continue to close out the bottom two. 

While Momentum has worked very well during the last year, the best performance has been concentrated among the most expensive securities within the high Momentum group.

Consumer Discretionary has held on to the highest-rated spot for six consecutive months. Coming in last (again) is Utilities. After rating among the lowest two positions between April 2017 and April 2018, Energy finally improved and now sits in 6th place—the middle of the pack.

The Leuthold Core Portfolio and the Leuthold Global Portfolio both lagged their 100% equity benchmarks last month as the long-stock exposure trailed the benchmarks, while the equity hedge and fixed income both produced negative returns.

The makeup of Momentum has stayed surprisingly steady through the volatility in 2018, with Info Tech and Health Care maintaining overexposure. Energy is sneaking in, though, and could be poised to take a much larger share.

Consumer Discretionary is the highest-rated sector for the fifth consecutive month; Info Tech and Financials have been trading places between #2 and #3 for five months. Coming in last (again) is Utilities.

The Leuthold Core Portfolio and the Leuthold Global Portfolio both lagged their 100% equity benchmarks last month.

Air Freight & Logistics is now Attractive for the first time in two years; Managed Health Care has scored in the top tier dating back to 2009; Trading Companies/Distributors provides an option with oil exposure at a time when the GS Scores remain decidedly anti-oil overall.

The Leuthold Core Portfolio and the Leuthold Global Portfolio both handily outperformed their respective benchmarks during the second down month in a row.

Value can’t catch a break. Even a bounce in oil can’t jumpstart the traditionally value-oriented Energy sector. We’ve been sticking to our late bull-market thesis that Growth will outperform, but as we see signs that gains may be limited (or non-existent) going forward, a shift to Value could be in the making.

Department Stores have rallied the last four months; Health Care Distributors is one of the cheapest groups we track; Paper & Forest Products is the only Materials group in the Attractive range of the GS Scores.

The Leuthold Core Portfolio and the Leuthold Global Portfolio both outperformed their respective benchmarks during a volatile month.

The Leuthold Core Portfolio and Leuthold Global Portfolio both lagged their respective all-equity benchmarks in a very strong month to start the year. 

Airlines rebounded after a brief dip to High Neutral; Health Care Distributors is scoring well across the board (other than Technical factors); Specialty Stores is cheap due to the changing retail landscape.

The Leuthold Core Portfolio and the Leuthold Global Portfolio both lagged their respective all-equity benchmarks in another strong month for domestic and international equity markets.

2017 was a great year for factor performance. We track seven factor categories and Value was the only one to produce a negative return spread.

The Leuthold Core Portfolio and the Leuthold Global Portfolio both lagged their respective all-equity benchmarks in another strong month for domestic and international equity markets.

Apparently tax reform wasn’t priced in.

Asset Management & Custody Banks, General Merchandise Stores, and Hotels & Leisure are among the month’s intriguing opportunities based on the current GS Scores.

The Leuthold Core Portfolio slightly lagged the S&P 500, while the Leuthold Global Portfolio narrowly outperformed the MSCI ACWI during October.