For more than 30 years, I have offered an annual list of 10 stock picks with the potential to beat the market in the 12 months ahead. My selections for 2024 notched the highest return ever, but my choices for 2025 flamed out. They scored an average of a mere 5.9%, compared with 21.5% for the benchmark S&P 500 Index. Six out of 10 stocks fell, four by more than 20% each. What hurt me most? Not having any of the mega-capitalization tech stocks that provided the lift for the S&P 500. I correct the oversight this time around.
I am still ahead of the game by about three percentage points over the past 10 years, but mean reversion is dragging me down to the index, which is what is supposed to happen in theory.
