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Stock-Picking Contest vs. My Portfolio

Million Dollar Journey reported on the 6-month point of a stock-picking contest among 10 bloggers. They’ve been doing this for a few years now. I’m not in the contest, but I like to stick my nose in by comparing my actual portfolio results to their stock picks.

The stock-picking results so far range from -26.55% to +13.34% with an average return of -1.5%. My portfolio’s return for the first half of 2012 is +1.9%. If you add my portfolio to the group, I’d be fifth out of 11. So, as usual, my (mostly) index-based portfolio isn’t first or last and is a little above average.

This is what you expect from indexing compared to concentrated portfolios; rarely first or last over short periods of time, but always tending to be a little above average. Over longer periods of time, indexing rises toward the top.

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