GS Scores
Time For Materials?
The Leuthold Materials sector jumped five spots to #3 in the June Group Selection (GS) rankings, its highest ranking in eight years and the first reading outside of the bottom four in almost four years.
Highlighted Attractive Groups
Food Retail & Distributors, Leisure Products, and Trading Companies & Distributors caught our eye this month.
Insurance Theme Intact Among Top GS Scores
Group Selection (GS) Score strength among insurance-related industry groups has been a long-running theme within our quantitative framework.
Highlighted Attractive Groups
Highlighting Automotive Retail, Education Services and Insurance Brokers.
Bottom-Fishing In Energy: Beware Of Bankruptcy Risks
New developments have lifted sentiment toward oil and Energy names, but we caution bottom-fishers to be mindful of risks. The fundamentals in the oil patch do not yet support strong oil prices going forward.
Purchased Specialized Finance: GS Score Surges
We see solid prospects for potential industry growth; consolidation and a full-blown industry evolution have resulted in group constituents having more in common than ever before.
Our Most Contrarian Group Ideas
We use our Group Selection (GS) Scores to identify the potential for a catalyst, and to gauge the health and future performance potential of those groups out of favor by analysts.
February GS Score Highlights
The Attractive quintile of the GS Scores became more defensive in nature; the six groups that were downgraded all sported a cyclical business model. The SI portfolio’s Homebuilding group was deactivated after its GS Score strength deteriorated fairly quickly during its disappointingly short tenure.
Tech In The Pole Position
The S&P 500 Information Technology sector has just broken out to a 15-year relative strength high, and it jumped two spots to the top scoring broad sector position. The breakout in Tech provides a rare example in which foreign market action presaged a major domestic move.
Highlighted Attractive Groups
A snapshot of Automotive Parts & Equipment, Large Cap Biotechnology, and Reinsurance.
Purchased Advertising: Global/Digital Prospects Appealing
Advertising has been in the top rankings of our Group Selection (GS) model for several months.
Automotive Retail: Still In The Driver’s Seat
We revisit this long-held industry group and explain our positive outlook going forward.
GS Score Sector Rankings, and Highlighted Attractive Groups
Health Care, Consumer Discretionary, and Financials remain the top three rated broad sectors.
Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing: New Purchase
Amidst the Energy carnage, the Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing group is the exception, having returned over 7% YTD. Refiners are able to perform well in a variety of oil price scenarios—and tend to thrive in a falling crude oil price environment.
Small/Micro Cap Biotechnology: Still Richly Valued
Despite the group’s big losses since May, the results show Small/Micro Cap Biotechs are still richly valued. As market volatility heats up, this group faces additional downside risk.
GS Score Sector Rankings, and Highlighted Attractive Groups
Advertising, Homefurnishing, Research & Consulting Services
Info Tech Sliding
IT’s overall sector rank has been falling recently. Growth has slowed, which has prompted downward earnings revisions, while valuation ratios have remained steady or gotten pricier.
Homebuilding, More Than Just Curb Appeal?
While this Consumer Discretionary group has not experienced six-plus-years of market outperformance, we think it may be poised for a late-game bounce. An overall lack of housing options may be just what this industry needs to give it a long-awaited boost.
GS Score Sector Rankings, and Highlighted Attractive Groups
Health Care, Consumer Discretionary, and Financials are the top three rated broad sectors.
The 30/30 Club!
The S&P 500 Energy sector’s latest plunge puts it down by almost a third in the last 14 months. It now belongs to an exclusive list of sectors which have declined 30% on both an absolute basis and relative to the S&P 500!
Perception for the Professional
March 2026 Issue
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March 2026 Issue
