Period 4 covers May 2 to May 10, 2026 — eight calendar days, the longest period tracked so far. Six of seven strategies delivered positive returns, suggesting a broad advance in the underlying stocks. The outlier was not a value screen struggling against a momentum market: it was Piotroski F-Score, which posted −2.04% after leading Period 3 with +1.18%.
The headline reversal, however, belongs to Magic Formula. After shedding −5.50% in Period 3 — the worst single-period result 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 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%
Screens Positive
6 / 7
Worst Screen
−2.04%
Overlap Stocks
6
Period 4 Returns: The Widest Range Yet
The spread between best and worst this period — 6.63 percentage points — is the widest of any single period so far. CANSLIM Rocket (+3.75%) and Schloss Dividend (+2.14%) posted another solid result. Quality Growth added +2.03% despite replacing four of its ten positions. Burry Value Screen gained +1.19% with a well-retained portfolio. Lunch came in just barely positive at +0.49%. Only Piotroski was negative, weighed down by heavy turnover and a cluster of small-cap names moving sharply lower.
| Strategy | Period 4 Return | Period 3 Return |
|---|---|---|
| S6 · Magic Formula | +4.59% | −5.50% |
| S8 · CANSLIM Rocket | +3.75% | −0.80% |
| S2 · Schloss Dividend | +2.14% | +0.43% |
| S9 · Quality Growth | +2.03% | −0.68% |
| S1 · Burry Value Screen | +1.19% | −0.80% |
| S3 · Lunch | +0.49% | −2.22% |
| S7 · Piotroski F-Score | −2.04% | +1.18% |
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% 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: CANSLIM Pulls Away
Four periods in, CANSLIM Rocket has compounded to +9.21% — a position it has built gradually across each period without a single catastrophic drawdown. Schloss Dividend moves into second place at +5.63%, overtaking Lunch (+3.62%). Burry Value sits at +3.08%, its steadiness rewarded by high retention in every period. Quality Growth finally turned green on a cumulative basis at +0.18% after three consecutive negative periods. Piotroski (−2.20%) and Magic Formula (−3.30%) remain in the red, though Magic Formula's Period 4 bounce means the gap is closing.
Note: S&P 500 and NASDAQ benchmark closing prices for this period are pending confirmation. The table below shows the last confirmed benchmark levels, which run through Period 3 (May 2, 2026).
| Strategy | Portfolio Value | Cumulative Return |
|---|---|---|
| S8 · CANSLIM Rocket | $10,921 | +9.21% |
| S2 · Schloss Dividend | $10,563 | +5.63% |
| S3 · Lunch | $10,362 | +3.62% |
| S1 · Burry Value Screen | $10,308 | +3.08% |
| S9 · Quality Growth | $10,018 | +0.18% |
| S7 · Piotroski F-Score | $9,780 | −2.20% |
| S6 · Magic Formula | $9,670 | −3.30% |
| Benchmark · S&P 500 (through Period 3) | $10,662 | +6.62% |
| Benchmark · NASDAQ (through Period 3) | $11,065 | +10.65% |
CANSLIM's +9.21% is now approaching the NASDAQ's +10.65% cumulative gain. Whether this is structural outperformance or an artefact of sector overlap (both indices and CANSLIM hold large-cap tech and semiconductor names) is a question worth tracking. CANSLIM is built to find the fastest-moving stocks in a market — it correlates with growth indices by construction, not by accident.
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 (Daviddea) 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
CANSLIM is the clear cumulative leader, but it needs watching. At +9.21%, the screen has compounded steadily across four periods despite owning some of the most volatile names in the market. It has also reshuffled aggressively in several periods. If the high-growth, high-momentum stocks it targets see a broader de-rating, the drawdown potential is significant. The lead is real; so is the exposure.
Magic Formula's reversal is not a recovery — it is a bounce. The screen is still at −3.30% cumulatively. 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. 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. If the new entrants repeat, the screen could climb quickly. If they do not, the rotation will have created drag for nothing.