The Report Card
A $10,000 stake in our flagship Core 20 would have grown to about $218,869 since 2001. The same $10,000 in the S&P 500 would have grown to about $92,398.
We grade ourselves in public. Every model, every calendar year, beside the S&P 500 Total Return, including the years we trailed. And we only publish a period once it has finished, so nothing here is cherry-picked or propped up by a good week that is still underway.
The chart starts in 2011 on purpose. It was a hard year for stock pickers, and it is the one many firms quietly skip by beginning their charts in 2012, right after the Euro-crisis rebound. We leave it in. The complete record back to inception is in the table below.
| Year | S&P 500 TR | Core 20 | Market Masters | Tepper Tactical | Apex Momentum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | -9.9% | -5.8% | — | +16.8% | — |
| 2002 | -22.1% | +0.3% | — | -21.9% | — |
| 2003 | +28.7% | +29.9% | — | +143.4% | — |
| 2004 | +10.9% | +15.9% | — | +82.3% | — |
| 2005 | +4.9% | +19.3% | — | +23.6% | — |
| 2006 | +15.8% | +17.1% | — | +9.6% | — |
| 2007 | +5.5% | +17.6% | +3.7% | -3.9% | — |
| 2008 | -37.0% | -27.7% | -39.8% | -45.5% | — |
| 2009 | +26.5% | +31.3% | +52.1% | +103.4% | — |
| 2010 | +15.1% | +13.6% | +54.3% | +27.6% | +20.1% |
| 2011 | +2.1% | +9.7% | -9.1% | -11.4% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | +16.0% | +14.5% | +28.9% | +53.3% | +26.7% |
| 2013 | +32.4% | +30.3% | +57.5% | +40.9% | +38.6% |
| 2014 | +13.7% | +13.5% | +30.1% | +9.5% | +35.3% |
| 2015 | +1.4% | +5.7% | +16.1% | -8.3% | +7.2% |
| 2016 | +12.0% | +11.0% | +8.5% | +10.6% | +4.1% |
| 2017 | +21.8% | +22.0% | +32.7% | +23.9% | +30.4% |
| 2018 | -4.4% | -2.7% | -17.7% | -13.1% | -7.9% |
| 2019 | +31.5% | +30.8% | +31.4% | +18.6% | +25.9% |
| 2020 | +18.4% | +17.6% | +30.3% | +23.6% | +24.4% |
| 2021 | +28.7% | +27.9% | +24.9% | +21.3% | +18.9% |
| 2022 | -18.1% | -17.6% | -19.1% | +0.3% | +2.0% |
| 2023 | +26.3% | +26.0% | +41.3% | +39.7% | +28.6% |
| 2024 | +25.0% | +24.1% | +9.4% | +11.9% | +34.1% |
| 2025 | +17.9% | +19.7% | +24.3% | +37.5% | +32.2% |
| 2026in progress | +9.1% | +10.7% | +14.3% | +7.8% | +21.6% |
Figures are final through the most recent rebalance. 2026 is still in progress, and its number holds steady until that quarter closes.Bold marks the year's best return. A dash means the model did not exist yet, and a model's first year may be a partial (inception) year. Total-return figures with dividends reinvested, benchmarked to the S&P 500 Total Return Index. Hypothetical, backtested performance based on applying the methodology to historical data; models carry no fees or taxes. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
How the grading works
We choose our stocks once a quarter and hold them through a full earnings cycle. Nothing changes in between. This is a buy-and-hold-for-a-quarter strategy, not day trading.
When the quarter ends and we rebalance, that period's return is settled for good. We record it, and it becomes a permanent part of the track record above. A number that has been recorded this way never changes again, even if we run the analysis a hundred more times.
The quarter we are in right now is different. Its positions are still open and its return is still moving day to day, so we do not grade it yet. That is why the current year is marked in progress and its figure holds steady until the next rebalance. The moment that quarter closes, its result is added here and frozen.
The rule is simple: we only publish returns that have actually happened. That keeps this page honest. Every grade you see is a finished result, never a hopeful guess about a quarter still in play.
You've seen the record. Here's what's behind it.
Pro is the exact stocks in every model, their weights, and the trade list the morning each quarter rebalances. The returns above are the proof. Pro is how you put them to work in your own account.