Period 4 covers May 2 to May 10, 2026 — eight calendar days, the longest period tracked so far. The S&P 500 added +2.33% and the NASDAQ surged +4.51%, its strongest single-period gain recorded in this journal. Only two of the seven tracked strategies cleared the index this week: Magic Formula at +4.59% and CANSLIM Rocket at +3.75%. The other five posted gains that trailed the market, and one — Piotroski F-Score — turned negative at −2.04%, a sharp reversal after leading Period 3 at +1.18%.
Four periods in, the cumulative scoreboard now shows two strategies ahead of the S&P 500's +9.10% cumulative gain: Quality Growth at +12.16%, a lead that traces back to Piper Sandler's split-adjusted +26.8% Period 1 return (see the Period 3 Review) and is still compounding, and CANSLIM Rocket at +9.21% — a wafer-thin 0.11 percentage point ahead of the index. One period ago, only Quality Growth had cleared the bar.
Within the period, the headline reversal belongs to Magic Formula. After shedding −5.50% in Period 3 — the worst single-period result recorded in this journal — the screen rebounded to +4.59%, the strongest single-period return recorded so far. The recovery is driven almost entirely by gold and specialty mining names: DRD Gold surged +12.88% and Centerra Gold (CGAU) added +6.49% within the retained portfolio. The sector that punished the screen in Period 3 handed it a sharp bounce in Period 4.
Best Screen
+4.59%
S&P 500
+2.33%
Worst Screen
−2.04%
Overlap Stocks
6
Period 4 Returns: Two Screens Clear the Bar
For the first time in this journal, more than one screen beat the index in the same period. Magic Formula (+4.59%) and CANSLIM Rocket (+3.75%) both cleared the S&P 500's +2.33% gain; the remaining five — Schloss Dividend, Quality Growth, Burry Value, Lunch, and Piotroski F-Score — all trailed it, with Piotroski's −2.04% the only outright loss.
| Strategy | Period 4 Return | vs S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| S6 · Magic Formula | +4.59% | +2.26 pp |
| S8 · CANSLIM Rocket | +3.75% | +1.42 pp |
| S2 · Schloss Dividend | +2.14% | −0.19 pp |
| S9 · Quality Growth | +2.03% | −0.30 pp |
| S1 · Burry Value Screen | +1.19% | −1.14 pp |
| S3 · Lunch | +0.49% | −1.84 pp |
| S7 · Piotroski F-Score | −2.04% | −4.37 pp |
| Benchmark · S&P 500 | +2.33% | — |
| Benchmark · NASDAQ | +4.51% | — |
CANSLIM Rocket's +3.75% was carried by one position: Micron (MU) gained +37.73% within the retained portfolio, by far the largest single-stock move recorded this period. Corning (GLW) added +18.12% and Lam Research (LRCX) added +14.54%, but the screen also absorbed real losses — Celestica (CLS) fell −10.35%, Fabrinet (FN) fell −12.07%, and Insulet (PODD) fell −11.93%. The net +3.75% is the result of a handful of very large moves in both directions inside an 18-name portfolio.
Piotroski's −2.04% came with the heaviest turnover in the portfolio — five stocks exited (AZTA, GDYN, LEGH, SCSC, VRTS) and only SSSS entered. Among the names that stayed, TOUR collapsed −14.91% — the single worst stock return of the period — and LUXE shed −5.89%, dragging the retained portfolio well into negative territory. When a screen holds mostly small, illiquid names and several move sharply lower in the same week, there is no diversification cushion.
The same sector concentration that burned Magic Formula in Period 3 is what rescued it in Period 4. Sector risk cuts both ways, and it cuts fast.
Retention: Two Screens Reshuffle Sharply
Four strategies maintained retention above 82% — broadly stable compared to Period 3. The two exceptions are notable. Quality Growth replaced four of ten positions (60.0% retention), rotating out of BCRX, DAVE, EVR, and TMDX and into ANET, NBIX, and RDDT. Piotroski dropped to 68.8%, its largest single-period turnover since it was rebuilt from scratch in Period 1. Two screens reshuffling this aggressively in the same period creates noise that will take at least another snapshot to resolve.
Period 3 Retention
Period 4 Retention
Cumulative Scoreboard: Two Screens Ahead of the Market
Four periods in, Quality Growth (+12.16%) and CANSLIM Rocket (+9.21%) are now both ahead of the S&P 500's +9.10% cumulative return — up from one strategy after Period 3. Quality Growth's edge is the widest yet: +3.06 percentage points ahead of the index, powered by a Period 1 that included Piper Sandler's genuine, split-adjusted +26.8% gain, still compounding through the total two periods after that position was closed. CANSLIM Rocket's lead is razor-thin at +0.11 percentage points — effectively a tie with the market. The remaining five strategies trail the S&P 500, led down by Magic Formula at −12.40 percentage points behind and Piotroski F-Score at −11.30 points behind.
| Strategy | Portfolio Value | Cumulative Return | vs S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| S9 · Quality Growth | $11,216 | +12.16% | +3.06% |
| S8 · CANSLIM Rocket | $10,921 | +9.21% | +0.11% |
| S2 · Schloss Dividend | $10,563 | +5.63% | −3.47% |
| S3 · Lunch | $10,362 | +3.62% | −5.48% |
| S1 · Burry Value Screen | $10,308 | +3.08% | −6.02% |
| S7 · Piotroski F-Score | $9,780 | −2.20% | −11.30% |
| S6 · Magic Formula | $9,670 | −3.30% | −12.40% |
| Benchmark · S&P 500 | $10,910 | +9.10% | — |
| Benchmark · NASDAQ | $11,564 | +15.64% | — |
Both of the market-beating screens still trail the NASDAQ, which has compounded to +15.64% and just posted its strongest single-period gain yet (+4.51%). CANSLIM Rocket's portfolio is the most NASDAQ-correlated by construction — it holds semiconductor and hardware names like AVGO, NVDA, MU, and LRCX — so a hot NASDAQ period should be expected to help it, and Period 4 shows exactly that dynamic even though the cumulative gap to the index remains wide at −6.43 percentage points.
Overlap: Six Names, One New Addition
The May 10 snapshot shows six stocks appearing in two or more screens — down from seven in Period 3. Two names dropped out: DAVE (Dave Inc.) exited both Burry Value and Quality Growth, and CDE (Coeur Mining) left both Lunch and CANSLIM. One new name appeared: FSM (Fortuna Mining), which has been a Lunch screen holding since March but only now entered the Burry Value Screen — making it a new cross-screen signal. The remaining five names (AEM, AUPH, CALM, DRD, LUXE) are all persistent carry-overs.
Stocks in 2+ Screens · May 10, 2026
AEM and FSM occupying the same pair of screens (Burry Value and Lunch) is a notable development. Both are gold miners, which suggests that two very different screens — one rooted in balance sheet value, one in a broader growth-plus-value hybrid — are now converging on the same sector call. DRD has now appeared in the Magic Formula / CANSLIM overlap for three consecutive periods, making it one of the most persistent cross-screen signals in this journal.
What Four Periods Tell You
Two screens have cleared the market, but by very different margins. Quality Growth's +12.16% is a genuine +3.06 percentage point lead over the S&P 500, built on a real split-adjusted gain in Piper Sandler that is still compounding through the total even though the position was closed after Period 1. CANSLIM Rocket's +0.11 point edge is effectively a coin flip — a good period could put it back behind the index just as easily as a bad one could widen the gap. One of these leads is durable so far; the other needs more data before it means anything.
Magic Formula's reversal is not a recovery. The screen is still at −3.30% cumulatively, −12.40 points behind the S&P 500. A single +4.59% period after a −5.50% collapse does not erase the damage. What it does confirm is that the screen's holdings — gold, energy royalties, specialty mining — remain active and liquid. If the underlying sector trend sustains, the screen could genuinely recover. One more period of data will matter.
Piotroski's aggressive turnover is a flag. A screen that rebuilt itself completely in Period 1, stabilised through Periods 2 and 3 with 81% and 100% retention, and then shed five positions in a single period is behaving inconsistently. Either the F-Score model is cycling through names rapidly in the current environment, or the quality-fundamentals filter is reacting to earnings releases. Either way, a 68.8% retention rate on a screen that showed 100% last period is worth monitoring closely.
Quality Growth's rotation into ANET, NBIX, and RDDT is aggressive — and it now sits atop the leaderboard. Replacing four of ten positions is a significant bet that the new entries will outperform the exits. FICO (+8.74%) and GRND (+9.51%) among the retained names delivered strong results this period, which partially explains the +2.03% return despite the churn. A screen that is both the cumulative leader and the most heavily reshuffled strategy in the portfolio is worth watching closely in Period 5 — the lead is real, but so is the turnover risk.