Period 9 Review: All Seven Screens Positive for the First Time as Quality Growth and Magic Formula Lead the Recovery

Period 9 covers June 6 to June 13, 2026 — seven calendar days and the journal's first period where every strategy finished positive. In nine periods of tracking, all seven screens had never simultaneously closed in the green. The S&P 500 gained +0.65% and the NASDAQ added +0.70%, making this a broadly flat-to-slightly-positive market week. What makes Period 9 notable is not the market backdrop — it is that four strategies significantly outpaced the benchmarks while the other three still managed gains. The all-green result is not a bull market tide lifting all boats; it is seven distinct factor screens each finding positive returns in a week the index barely moved.

Two themes dominated. First, Quality Growth's concentrated position in fintech names delivered. SEZL (Sezzle) gained +14.4% from $116.01 to $132.70 and DAVE (Dave Inc) reversed its Period 8 loss of −8.6% with a +11.1% move from $258.25 to $286.78 — together contributing approximately +3.64 percentage points of the screen's +3.39% return. Second, Magic Formula's precious metals names bounced sharply from their Period 8 collapse: BVN (Buenaventura) reversed from −18.0% to +10.4%, IAG (IAMGOLD) gained +8.0%, and CGAU (Centerra Gold) added +5.7% — the same names that crushed the screen last period drove its best result in four periods. The pattern confirms what the prior Period 8 analysis noted: precious metals move together, and that correlation operates in both directions.

Period 9 Returns: The Full Reversal

Quality Growth's +3.39% was its best single-period return since the journal began, surpassing the prior high of +2.98% set in Period 6. SEZL contributed approximately +2.06 percentage points and DAVE approximately +1.58 points at the screen's ~14.3% equal weight per name. Together those two positions generated more than the screen's entire return — which means the other five names combined were slightly net-negative. FICO contributed a partial recovery at +3.7% (+0.53 points), while NBIX (−2.5%), ELMD (−1.5%), and CNX (−1.3%) subtracted roughly −0.76 points. The screen held all seven positions unchanged for the third consecutive period.

Magic Formula's +2.95% was its second-best period after Period 4's +4.59%. BVN contributed approximately +0.80 points, IAG +0.61 points, CGAU +0.44 points, and DHT (DHT Holdings) +0.43 points at the screen's ~7.7% equal weight. All four top contributors were names that suffered heavily in Period 8 — BVN had fallen −18.0%, OGC −14.7%, CGAU −13.6%. The partial reversal this period recaptures roughly 40–60% of those individual losses. DRD (−0.80%) and GPOR (Gulfport Energy, −0.98%) were the period's only modest drags. Magic Formula held all 13 positions with no exits or new entrants — the second consecutive period of 100% retention for the screen.

Schloss Dividend's +2.65% was led by MTH (Meritage Homes), which gained +8.94% from $68.33 to $74.44, contributing approximately +0.74 percentage points at the screen's 8.3% position weight. Meritage has now been a positive contributor in Periods 6, 7, and 9, making it the screen's most consistent source of upside momentum across recent periods. GGB (Gerdau) +3.5%, TX (Ternium) +3.2%, REXR (Rexford Industrial) +3.0%, and JOYY +2.6% each added smaller positive increments. AGO (Assured Guaranty) exited at the −0.10% sell fee — its contribution was negligible. New entrants ATHM and PLGO join the screen but do not contribute to this period's return.

Burry Value's +1.89% was driven by broad-based strength across its 39-position equal-weight portfolio. IPAR (Inter Parfums) led at +11.52% from $91.27 to $101.78, contributing approximately +0.30 percentage points at the 2.56% position weight. TOL (Toll Brothers) gained +6.66%, TDW (Tidewater) +6.11%, INCY (Incyte) +6.01%, NTES (NetEase) +5.31%, and DECK (Deckers) +5.27%. These six positions together contributed roughly +0.95 points of positive drag. ZM (Zoom Video) was the primary counterweight at −7.81% from $101.62 to $93.68, subtracting approximately −0.20 points. The result is a recovery driven by portfolio breadth rather than any single dominating position — the opposite construction from Quality Growth. Burry added APPF and SII as new entrants without making any exits, expanding the screen to 41 names.

Period 9 reverses Period 8 nearly perfectly in character. The same names that hurt hardest — BVN, DAVE, SEZL — drove the strongest recoveries. The screens didn't change; the prices did.

CANSLIM's +0.72% is the result of two extreme single-name moves canceling most of each other out. Lam Research (LRCX) surged +20.95% from $303.28 to $366.81, the largest single-period return of any CANSLIM position since tracking began, contributing approximately +1.10 percentage points at the 5.26% position weight. Micron (MU) gained +13.61% from $864.01 to $981.61, adding +0.72 points. Against these, Super Micro Computer (SMCI) collapsed −26.85% from $41.64 to $30.46, subtracting approximately −1.41 points — a single-name move that nearly offset LRCX's entire contribution on its own. MPWR (Monolithic Power) +6.50%, CLS (Celestica) +5.76%, and LWAY (Lifeway Foods) +6.23% added approximately +1.00 points combined. Without SMCI, CANSLIM would have returned approximately +2.1% this period. The screen retained all 19 positions, maintaining 100% stability for the second consecutive period.

Piotroski's +0.21% is the narrowest positive result in the journal — essentially the mirror image of CANSLIM's LRCX-vs-SMCI drama at a smaller scale. USNA (USANA Health Sciences) gained +10.43% from $18.03 to $19.91, contributing approximately +0.80 points at the 7.7% position weight. WGO (Winnebago) added +5.56% (+0.43 points). Opposing those, API (Agora Inc) fell −10.19% from $4.81 to $4.32, subtracting approximately −0.78 points, and LUXE (Brilliant Earth) fell −5.48% (−0.42 points). ASLE and TOUR exited at sell fees, each subtracting −0.10% × 7.7% ≈ −0.008 points. New entrants GASS and GDYN join the screen for Period 10.

Lunch's +0.41% was the quietest positive of the period. DLO (dLocal) was the standout at +8.99% from $11.24 to $12.25, contributing approximately +0.60 points at the 6.7% weight. PLMR (Palomar Holdings) gained +5.84% (+0.39 points). The counterweights were PDD (Pinduoduo) at −4.13%, EXE (Expand Energy) at −3.57%, and ESTC (Elastic) at −2.33%, collectively subtracting approximately −0.68 points. MGNI (Magnite) and TFPM (Triple Flag Precious Metals) both exited at the sell fee. Four new entrants — CPRX, PATH, PLGO, and SKWD — join Lunch heading into Period 10 without contributing to this period's result. Lunch has now been positive in two of its last three periods after five consecutive losses.

Retention: Most Active Rebalancing Since Period 4

Period 9 is the most active rebalancing cycle in recent memory, contrasting sharply with Period 8's near-perfect stability. Three strategies — Magic Formula, CANSLIM, and Quality Growth — held 100% of their positions unchanged, while Lunch made six total changes (two exits, four entrants) and Piotroski made four (two exits, two entrants). The contrast between the two ends of the stability spectrum is striking: the screens with the highest concentration risk (Quality Growth and CANSLIM) also had zero turnover, while the screens with the lowest concentration risk (Lunch and Piotroski) drove all the structural change.

Lunch's 86.7% retention marks its lowest since Period 3. MGNI (Magnite) and TFPM (Triple Flag Precious Metals) both exited — TFPM had entered only in Period 8, making it a single-period position. The four new entrants (CPRX, PATH, PLGO, SKWD) represent the largest single-period expansion in Lunch's screen history. One of those entrants — CPRX (Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals) — was already in Burry Value, creating a new two-screen overlap. Piotroski dropped ASLE (Air Lease) and TOUR (Tuya Smart) while adding GASS (StealthGas) and GDYN (Grid Dynamics). TOUR had been in the screen since Period 5; its exit marks the end of a five-period run. Schloss dropped AGO (Assured Guaranty) and added ATHM and PLGO — the latter also entering Lunch this period, immediately creating a new Schloss-Lunch overlap at the first snapshot of PLGO's existence in the journal.

Cumulative Scoreboard: Burry Returns to Positive, Magic Formula Recovers Sharply

Nine periods in, Period 9 produced the most meaningful single-period reshuffling of the cumulative standings since Period 7's CANSLIM surge. Magic Formula improved from −10.92% to −8.29% — a 2.63-point single-period recovery, its largest cumulative gain yet. Quality Growth jumped from +2.44% to +5.91%, nearly matching Schloss Dividend's +5.92% in a near-tie for second place. Schloss and Quality Growth are now separated by a single basis point after spending several periods trading the second-position slot. Burry Value returned to positive territory at +1.64% after crossing below zero for the first time in Period 8.

Against the benchmarks, the picture is unchanged at the top. CANSLIM leads the S&P 500 by 2.22 percentage points — fractionally wider than the 2.13-point advantage at the end of Period 8. The NASDAQ gap remains at −2.26 points, the same as after Period 8, because both CANSLIM (+0.72%) and the NASDAQ (+0.70%) advanced by nearly identical amounts. Four of the seven strategies now trail both benchmarks on a cumulative basis. The bottom of the table is notable: Piotroski at −7.85% and Magic Formula at −8.29% have nearly converged — they were 2.88 points apart after Period 8; now they sit 0.44 points apart. Magic Formula's precious metals bounce closed most of the gap. Whether it sustains or reverses again depends on whether the metals names stabilize or re-correlate downward in a future period.

Overlap: Eight Stocks, Two New Pairs, DRD Triple Continues

The June 13 snapshot shows eight stocks in two or more screens — up from six at the June 6 snapshot. This is the largest single-period net expansion in overlap since tracking began. Two new pairs formed: CPRX (Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals) entered Lunch while already present in Burry Value, creating a Burry-Lunch overlap. PLGO entered both Schloss Dividend and Lunch simultaneously as a new entrant to both screens — a direct debut into an overlap position, which has not happened before in this journal. The DRD triple overlap (Burry Value, Magic Formula, CANSLIM) continues for the second consecutive period.

CPRX (Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals) was held in Burry Value since Period 3 and entered Lunch this period as a new entrant. The Burry-Lunch overlap for CPRX joins AEM and FSM as the third simultaneous Burry-Lunch pair — Burry Value now shares three names with Lunch, more than with any other single screen. PLGO's simultaneous entry into Schloss Dividend and Lunch is structurally different: it is a new name to the journal entirely, and both screens identified it at the same rebalancing date. This type of coordinated new-entry overlap suggests the two screens — which use different criteria — converged on the same name based on current pricing and fundamentals rather than retention momentum. LUXE remains in both CANSLIM and Piotroski despite falling −5.48% across both; no screen dropped it at this rebalancing.

What Period 9 Tells You

The journal's first all-green period arrived in a flat market week, not a bull rally. The S&P 500 gained +0.65% and the NASDAQ +0.70% — both barely moved. Yet all seven strategies were positive. This matters because the prior all-red period (Period 8) also came in a broadly negative week. The implication is that systematic factor screens do not simply amplify market direction; they respond to idiosyncratic factor dynamics within a given period. The all-green result here was driven by specific reversal dynamics — fintech fintech names recovering, precious metals bouncing, homebuilders continuing — not by a market tailwind. Conversely, the all-red result in Period 8 was driven by factor-specific selloffs, not just a market decline. Both periods demonstrate factor independence from the index, which is precisely what multi-strategy systematic approaches are designed to deliver.

Quality Growth's concentration risk now has nine periods of evidence on both sides. Period 8 showed how FICO (−9.1%) and DAVE (−8.6%) together subtracted more than the screen's entire return in one period. Period 9 showed how SEZL (+14.4%) and DAVE (+11.1%) together contributed more than the screen's entire return in one period. The mechanism is identical: a seven-name screen with ~14% position weights cannot diversify away large single-name moves. This is structural, not accidental. The screen's +5.91% cumulative position is the direct result of those concentrated moves summing positively across nine periods. Whether that structural feature becomes a cumulative advantage or disadvantage depends on which direction the concentrated names move in future periods — and the screen's quality-growth criteria provide no short-term protection against either direction.

SMCI's −26.85% is a live demonstration of CANSLIM's downside asymmetry. Lam Research's +20.95% surge contributed +1.10 points to CANSLIM; SMCI's −26.85% collapse subtracted −1.41 points. The same momentum screen that captured LRCX's upside held SMCI through a larger percentage move in the opposite direction. CANSLIM's retention logic is designed around trend continuation — SMCI was retained because the screen's criteria did not trigger an exit. The position sizing is equal weight, so there is no mechanism to reduce exposure to a name just because it has become more volatile. The net result this period (+0.72%) is positive, but only because LRCX and MU together (+1.82 points) were enough to absorb SMCI's drag. A period where the high-volatility names move together against the screen would look very different.

Precious metals volatility is a structural feature of three screens, not a transient event. Magic Formula, Burry Value, and Lunch all hold silver and gold mining names. Those names fell 10–18% in Period 8 and bounced 5–10% in Period 9. Neither the fall nor the recovery is driven by anything these screens control — it reflects commodity price movements affecting correlated equities. The question for multi-period return assessment is whether the screens will capture more of the upside bounces or more of the downside drops over a full cycle. Nine periods is too short to tell, but the pattern so far shows roughly symmetric magnitude: Period 8's precious metals loss in Magic Formula was approximately −5.1 points from four names; Period 9's recovery from those same names was approximately +2.3 points. The recovery recaptured less than half the loss in one period. Mean-reversion is present but not complete within the time frame of a single period.