Period 23 Review: Magic Formula Alone Stays Positive as CANSLIM Rocket Passes Schloss Dividend

Period 23 covers September 12 to September 19, 2026 — a period in which the S&P 500 slipped a scant −0.08% while the NASDAQ added +0.72%, a split verdict after Period 22's uniform declines of −0.80% and −0.66%. Only one of the journal's seven screens managed to close positive: Magic Formula, at +0.30%, powered by a run of tanker and mining names. CANSLIM Rocket came closest to flat among the rest at −0.45%, followed by Burry Value Screen at −0.79%, Lynch at −1.27%, Quality Growth at −1.29%, and Piotroski F-Score at −1.49%. Schloss Dividend brought up the rear at −2.11%, the period's worst result. The spread between best and worst screen narrowed to 2.41 percentage points, tighter than Period 22's 2.81 but still well off Period 21's record 2.26.

The period's clearest thread was reversal, again. Quality Growth's SNDK completed a third straight whipsaw — +17.17% in Period 21, −6.13% in Period 22, and now +9.70% — while its Period 22 counterpart FICO gave back part of its own rebound, sliding −3.62% after climbing +5.70% the period before. CENX, Magic Formula's largest position by weight-adjusted swings this quarter, tumbled −11.44%, the steepest single-position decline of the period on any screen. Overlap names again did double duty: OGC's −5.80% dragged both Lynch and Magic Formula at once, and INSW's +7.24% lifted both Burry Value Screen and Magic Formula together.

Period 23 Returns: Magic Formula Breaks the Field's Losing Streak

Magic Formula was the lone screen in the green at +0.30%, a sharp turnaround after Period 22's −0.52%. CANSLIM Rocket followed at −0.45%, Burry Value Screen at −0.79%, Lynch at −1.27%, and Quality Growth at −1.29% — a near-dead heat between the two. Piotroski F-Score closed at −1.49%, and Schloss Dividend brought up the rear at −2.11%, the single worst result of any screen this period and a stark reversal from its own perfect retention two periods ago.

Magic Formula's +0.30% was led by TRMD, which gained +8.98%, from $35.08 to $38.23, contributing approximately +0.64 percentage points at the screen's 7.14% weight — the largest single contribution of the period across any screen. HAFN added +7.89% (+0.56 points) and INSW gained +7.24% (+0.52 points), the latter shared with Burry Value Screen. DHT rose +5.77% (+0.41 points), its second straight strong period, and CGAU and BVN each added smaller gains. Against these, CENX collapsed −11.44% (−0.82 points), the steepest single-position decline of the period on any screen, and OGC fell −5.80% (−0.41 points), shared with Lynch. FHI declined −4.15% (−0.30 points) and ERO fell −3.67% (−0.26 points). Seven of thirteen retained positions closed positive — the widest breadth of any screen this period. TDC exited at the sell fee; no names enter for Period 24, trimming Magic Formula to thirteen names. The result lifts Magic Formula's cumulative return to +4.04% from +3.73%, enough to pass Lynch for fifth place on the scoreboard.

Magic Formula didn't just avoid a loss — it was the only screen in the journal to post a gain at all this period, on the back of a shipping and mining rally the rest of the field never caught.

CANSLIM Rocket's −0.45% was led by INOD, which gained +7.39%, from $53.21 to $57.14, contributing approximately +0.37 percentage points at the screen's 5% weight. ARQT added +6.24% (+0.31 points), HALO gained +4.90% (+0.25 points), and MU rose +4.16% (+0.21 points), its second straight positive period. LLY, GLBE, and NVDA each contributed smaller gains. Against these, APH fell −7.59% (−0.38 points), the screen's largest drag, and INTR declined −6.30% (−0.32 points). AGX fell −5.77% (−0.29 points), and CLS and BE both reversed sharply after leading the screen in Period 22 — CLS from +10.95% to −4.02%, and BE from +9.05% to −3.67%. FIX, ETON, LRCX, MPWR, and AVGO each declined smaller amounts. Seven of twenty retained positions closed positive. LUXE exited at the sell fee, shared with Piotroski F-Score; PAAS enters the screen for Period 24, a name shared with Lynch, holding CANSLIM Rocket at twenty names. The result trims CANSLIM Rocket's cumulative return to +10.14% from +10.64%, but that's still enough to pass Schloss Dividend's steeper decline into second place on the cumulative table.

Burry Value Screen's −0.79% saw twenty-nine of its forty-two positions decline. INSW led the gainers, adding +7.24%, from $103.65 to $111.15, contributing approximately +0.17 percentage points at the screen's 2.38% weight, shared with Magic Formula. INSP added +5.18% (+0.12 points) and AUPH gained +4.97% (+0.12 points), the latter shared with Quality Growth. EXEL, INCY, and RMD each contributed smaller gains. Against these, HLNE fell −8.59% (−0.20 points), the screen's largest drag, and MWA declined −8.52% (−0.20 points). ZM fell −7.12% (−0.17 points) and TDW declined −6.75% (−0.16 points). SII, LRN, JOE, GNTX, NMIH, and a dozen more retained names each fell between roughly −2% and −4%. Thirteen of forty-two retained positions closed positive. COCO and TGS both exited at the sell fee; HL enters the screen for Period 24, trimming Burry Value Screen from forty-two to forty-one names. The result trims Burry Value Screen's cumulative return to +8.24% from +9.11%.

Lynch's −1.27% was dominated by BZ, which fell −9.98%, from $16.44 to $14.80, contributing approximately −0.59 percentage points at the screen's 5.88% weight, the screen's largest drag. OGC added to the damage, falling −5.80% (−0.34 points), shared with Magic Formula, and KSPI declined −2.36% (−0.14 points). ADMA, SKHY, and CVE each fell smaller amounts, the first two shared with Burry Value Screen and Quality Growth respectively. Against these, PLMR gained +1.75% (+0.10 points), PDD added +1.40% (+0.08 points), and HRMY rose +1.20% (+0.07 points), shared with Burry Value Screen — the only three of seventeen retained positions to close positive. FRSH and PLGO both exited at the sell fee; no names enter for Period 24, shrinking Lynch from seventeen to fifteen names. The result trims Lynch's cumulative return to +3.83% from +5.16%, dropping it from fifth to sixth place as Magic Formula's gain moves ahead of it.

Quality Growth's −1.29% saw SNDK complete its third straight reversal, surging +9.70%, from $1,633.35 to $1,791.82, contributing approximately +0.75 percentage points at the screen's 7.69% weight — the largest single contribution of the period across any screen. AUPH added +4.97% (+0.38 points), shared with Burry Value Screen, and INCY gained +3.16% (+0.24 points), also shared with Burry Value Screen — the only three of thirteen retained positions to close positive. Against these, NBIX fell −6.39% (−0.49 points), the screen's largest drag, and PAYS declined −5.15% (−0.40 points). APP fell −4.91% (−0.38 points) and MNTN declined −4.56% (−0.35 points), and RDDT eased −4.39% (−0.34 points). FICO fell −3.62% (−0.28 points), giving back part of its Period 22 rebound of +5.70%. No names exited or entered, holding Quality Growth at thirteen names for a third straight fully static period. The result trims Quality Growth's cumulative return to +29.87% from +31.56%, though it remains comfortably first on the scoreboard.

Piotroski's −1.49% was led by WGO, which fell −6.44%, from $28.25 to $26.43, contributing approximately −0.50 percentage points at the screen's 7.69% weight, the screen's largest drag for a second straight period. RLX followed close behind at −5.08% (−0.39 points), and SD declined −3.21% (−0.25 points). ARVN, MOMO, and CYD each fell between roughly −1% and −2%. Against these, VISN gained +1.39% (+0.11 points) and DDI added +0.55% (+0.04 points) — the only two of thirteen retained positions to close positive, the narrowest breadth of the period alongside Lynch and Quality Growth. API and LUXE both exited at the sell fee, the latter shared with CANSLIM Rocket; IPI enters the screen for Period 24, trimming Piotroski from thirteen to twelve names. The result deepens Piotroski's cumulative loss to −14.56% from −13.27%, extending its stay in last place.

Schloss Dividend's −2.11% — the period's worst result — saw eleven of its fourteen positions decline. THO led the drags, falling −6.99%, from $72.86 to $67.77, contributing approximately −0.50 percentage points at the screen's 7.14% weight, a reversal after a comparatively mild Period 22. VSNT declined −5.40% (−0.39 points) and GGB fell −4.08% (−0.29 points), its first negative period after three straight gains. LEN, AGO, RDN, VIPS, and TX each fell between roughly −1% and −4%. Against these, JOYY gained +1.90% (+0.14 points), DAC added +1.17% (+0.08 points), and VTMX rose +0.42% (+0.03 points) — the only three of fourteen retained positions to close positive, tying the period's narrowest breadth. PLGO exited at the sell fee, shared with Lynch; CHRD and TME enter the screen for Period 24, growing Schloss Dividend from fourteen to fifteen names even as its retention posts the period's weakest mark.

Retention: Piotroski Falls Hardest as Burry Loses Its Perfect Score

Period 23 saw only Quality Growth post perfect 100% retention, unchanged from Period 22. CANSLIM Rocket held steady at 95.0%, and Burry Value Screen slipped to 95.2% from a perfect 100% after two exits. Schloss Dividend and Magic Formula both posted 92.9%, with Schloss climbing sharply from Period 22's 85.7% low. Lynch fell to 88.2% after two exits and no entrants, and Piotroski F-Score posted the period's lowest mark at 84.6%, erasing its Period 22 rebound to perfect entirely.

Quality Growth was the only screen to hold a perfect score across both periods. Burry Value Screen fell the furthest among the top tier, from a share of first at 100% to 95.2%, while Schloss Dividend rebounded sharply from the period's worst mark to a share of the middle tier at 92.9%. Piotroski F-Score reversed its own Period 22 recovery entirely, sliding from a share of first at 100% back to last place at 84.6% — the same journal-record swing in the opposite direction. The retention spread widens to 15.4 points, up slightly from Period 22's 14.3, as Piotroski's collapse pulled the floor down further than Schloss's rebound pulled it up.

Cumulative Scoreboard: CANSLIM Rocket Passes Schloss Dividend for Second

CANSLIM Rocket's −0.45% trimmed its cumulative return from +10.64% to +10.14%, while Schloss Dividend's much steeper −2.11% pulled its own figure down from +11.17% to +8.83%. The gap between the two flipped: CANSLIM Rocket now leads Schloss Dividend by 1.31 points, having trailed it by 0.53 points just one period earlier. Magic Formula's lone positive result lifted it past Lynch into fifth place, from +3.73%/+5.16% to +4.04%/+3.83%. Quality Growth held first, Burry Value Screen held fourth, and Piotroski F-Score remained last.

Quality Growth's −1.29% trimmed its cumulative lead to +29.87% from +31.56%, and its margin over second place narrowed to 19.73 points from 20.39, since CANSLIM Rocket's own loss was smaller. Burry Value Screen slipped to fourth at +8.24% as CANSLIM Rocket's milder loss carried it past both Burry and Schloss into second. Magic Formula's gain lifted it to +4.04%, edging past Lynch's +3.83% for fifth place. Piotroski F-Score's −1.49% deepened its cumulative loss to −14.56% from −13.27%, extending its stay in last place.

The S&P 500 eased further while the NASDAQ rose, and alpha widened against both benchmarks for every screen except Magic Formula. The S&P 500's cumulative return eased to +12.81% from +12.91%, and the NASDAQ's climbed to +16.85% from +16.02%. Quality Growth's alpha narrowed to +17.06% against the S&P 500 and +13.02% against the NASDAQ, down from +18.65% and +15.54% — still the only screen with positive cumulative alpha against either benchmark. Magic Formula posted the period's only alpha improvement against the S&P 500, tightening to −8.77% from −9.18%, though its NASDAQ alpha widened to −12.81% from −12.29% as the index's own gain outran it. Every other screen's alpha widened against both benchmarks: CANSLIM Rocket to −2.67%/−6.71% from −2.27%/−5.38%, Schloss Dividend to −3.98%/−8.02% from −1.74%/−4.85%, Burry Value Screen to −4.57%/−8.61% from −3.80%/−6.91%, Lynch to −8.98%/−13.02% from −7.75%/−10.86%, and Piotroski F-Score to −27.37%/−31.41% from −26.18%/−29.29%.

Overlap: PLGO and LUXE Drop Out as PAAS Links Lynch and CANSLIM Rocket

The September 19 snapshot shows eleven stocks in two or more screens, down from twelve on September 12. Schloss Dividend's exit of PLGO removes its only overlap pairing with Lynch, and CANSLIM Rocket's exit of LUXE removes its pairing with Piotroski F-Score. Offsetting one of those losses, CANSLIM Rocket's new entrant PAAS is already held by Lynch, creating a fresh overlap between the two. Every other pairing carried over unchanged from Period 22.

INSW's +7.24% was the period's most consequential overlap move on the upside, lifting both Burry Value Screen and Magic Formula at once. OGC's −5.80% weighed on both Lynch and Magic Formula, making it the sharpest shared drag of the period. ADMA's −1.30% and FSM's −0.33% each touched all three of their respective holders — Burry Value Screen, Lynch, and either Magic Formula or Quality Growth. AUPH's +4.97% lifted both Burry Value Screen and Quality Growth, and INCY's +3.16% did the same for that pair. DRD's −1.90% weighed on all three of Burry Value Screen, Magic Formula, and Quality Growth together. HRMY's +1.20% gave a mild lift to Burry Value Screen and Lynch, RELY's −0.27% trimmed the same pair slightly, and SKHY's −1.35% weighed on Lynch and Quality Growth alike.

What Period 23 Tells You

A single screen carrying the whole field's gains is its own kind of signal. Magic Formula was the only one of seven screens to post a positive return this period — a narrower margin of success than even the "worst" scenarios of Periods 5, 8, and 22, when every screen fell together. Breadth across screens can dry up just as sharply as breadth across positions within one.

The same stock can whipsaw a screen three periods running. Quality Growth's SNDK went from +17.17% to −6.13% to +9.70% across Periods 21, 22, and 23 — three consecutive reversals in the same position, inside a screen whose own return moved far more calmly across the same span. A position's volatility doesn't need to show up in the fund's headline number to be real.

Retention swings can be as sharp as return swings. Piotroski F-Score went from a journal-record climb to perfect retention in Period 22 straight back down to the period's worst mark in Period 23 — the same magnitude of move, in the opposite direction, in consecutive periods. A single strong or weak retention reading tells you less about a screen's discipline than two or three in a row do.

Cumulative rank keeps moving even without new information. CANSLIM Rocket lost money for a second straight period, yet it still climbed a rung on the scoreboard — this time past Schloss Dividend — because its losses were consistently milder than the screens around it. Two periods of small losses can outrank one period of a large gain surrounded by declines.