Well, it had to end at some point. After rising in every quarter in 2023, our UK blue-chip-focused Momentum Classics screen has finally taken a slip.
Every three months, the screen takes long positions in the 10 FTSE 100 stocks whose share prices climbed the most in the preceding quarter, and ‘shorts’ the 10 weakest performers. By doing so, it seeks to exploit the curious market phenomenon of price rises begetting price rises (and vice versa).
Between 14 December and 20 March, the fallers followed the long-term trend, by declining 6.4 per cent in simple price terms. Unfortunately, the longs pretty much followed suit, shedding 5.6 per cent, compared with the 1.2 per cent rise in the market capitalisation-weighted FTSE 100 index.