Don’t let one market narrative control your portfolio
Discover the four-guru approach behind AAII’s long-running Stock Superstars Report.
Dear Investor,
Sit down with investors in 2026 and you’ll hear the same worries on repeat.
Consumer sentiment is near record lows, yet the market keeps reaching new highs. That disconnect should make every investor stop and think.
Investors are paying premium prices based on high expectations for future growth. And with just a few of the largest companies driving much of the market’s gains, the margin for error is shrinking.
Throw in rash geopolitical actions, policy uncertainty, AI bubble worries and expensive markets, and volatility becomes the baseline.
But if you asked seasoned investors, they’d say none of this is truly new. Markets have always cycled through fear, poor investor sentiment, excess and of course uncertainty, but what’s different each time is whether or not your strategy can combat these concerns.
John Neff, one of the key gurus we follow in our Stock Superstars Report (SSR) portfolio, built his entire career navigating exactly this kind of environment: expensive markets, herd behavior and investors paralyzed by headlines.
SSR Group 4:
John Neff
His answer wasn’t to predict the next shock or time the next rally; it was to practice a repeatable, unemotional process for finding value that the market had overlooked.
What I’ve always respected most about Neff is that he never bought “cheap” just because it was cheap. He insisted that the numbers — like real earnings growth, real sales growth, real cash flow and margins better than those of the industry — back it up. That’s the difference between a bargain and a trap, and it’s exactly the kind of discipline baked into SSR’s Neff approach.
We can talk strategy all day long, but the proof is in the performance. You won’t want to skip this next section.
Since its inception in 2002, the Neff SSR portfolio has delivered a 1,795.6% total return, compared to just 905.8% for its benchmark, the iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF (IYY), over the same period. (Performance as of July 10, 2026.) That’s nearly double the money.
But that’s just scratching the surface.
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) — a key provider of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips and displays — was added to the portfolio back in 2020 and has gained +1,195.7% since addition.
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) — a developer of medicines, vaccines and animal health products across oncology, cardiovascular care and infectious diseases — was added on June 30, 2025, and is up +56.6% since addition.
Virtu Financial Inc. (VIRT) — which uses trading technology to provide market liquidity and execution services across global asset classes — was added on August 27, 2025, and has gained +51.7% since it was added.
Which just goes to show how diversified this Neff-based portfolio is.
But that’s the most interesting part about SSR. Instead of focusing on one guru’s strategy, SSR follows four gurus: William O’Neil, David Dreman, James O’Shaughnessy and John Neff.
And the Neff portfolio isn’t the only one doing well. In fact, the James O’Shaughnessy group also has an impressive total portfolio return since inception of 343.2% compared to the benchmark at only 171.2%. (Performance as of July 10, 2026.)
Rather than betting on a single narrative (like continued AI and machine learning dominance), SSR spreads risk across four distinct, historically uncorrelated approaches: O’Neil’s momentum/growth stocks, Dreman’s dividend-paying value plays, O’Shaughnessy’s multifactor value-and-quality screen, and Neff’s low-price-earnings-to- earnings-growth picks.
So, if geopolitical shocks or a tech/AI-capex slowdown hit growth and momentum names hard, value- and dividend-oriented holdings can help cushion the portfolio, and vice versa if a rally is led by a narrow set of tech leaders.
This type of diversification is exactly the kind of risk control that matters when market direction hinges on unpredictable inputs like Fed communication, oil shocks and geopolitical headlines rather than one dominant, stable trend.
I neglected to introduce myself. Hi, my name is John Bajkowski, and I am the president of AAII as well as the lead analyst for the Stock Superstars Report.
Here’s the thing I learned the hard way: Even the greatest investors go through rough stretches where their approach just doesn’t work.
No one gets it right all the time. So instead of betting everything on one “genius” strategy, we built SSR around four very different, time-tested approaches that rarely struggle at the same time. When one goes quiet, another tends to carry the weight.
In a market like this one where the headlines swing from crisis to euphoria and back again, that kind of balance isn’t a “nice-to-have” feature. It’s the thing that lets you actually stick with your plan.
And right now, we are offering new members a one-month $2 trial if you join by July 25.
Four distinct model portfolios, featuring stocks selected for long-term outperformance while mitigating short-term risk;
Weekly commentary from me, John Bajkowski, along with portfolio addition and deletion alerts;
Archived insights to understand each holding before you invest;
Portfolio watchlists, allowing you to apply the SSR strategy to additional stocks that meet the stringent criteria but aren’t in the model portfolios;
And much more!
I’d love for you to see how it works.
I want to make it easy for you to actually try this, not just read about it. I can tell you about the performance, the strategy and the track record all day long, but words only go so far.
You won’t really know if this works for you until you’re in it, reading the insights and following the strategy in real time. And now you can do all of that with our Summer Sale.
We’re offering investors like you a low-cost way to try SSR
And we know that something as simple as offering a one-month trial to SSR can make all the difference for investors who just want the room to try it out for 30 days.
We did this because we don’t want cost to be the reason someone misses out on a strategy that could genuinely change how they invest for the rest of 2026 and beyond. I want you to be able to experience it firsthand.
During your trial, we encourage you to dig into the portfolios, see how the research holds up, explore the watchlists, read about the strategy further and follow along as real decisions get made. If it’s not for you, no hard feelings.
True diversification across strategies isn’t a defensive afterthought, it’s what stands between you and the kind of gut-punch losses that take years to recover from. Try for just $2 during our sale.
I don’t say this lightly: I think this strategy has the power to change your portfolio (and your approach to investing) for good.
We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.
