May 2014 Portfolio Update as of May 17, 2016, 3.6%

It's been two years since I created the May 2014 portfolio and this year has been a challenging one. Here's how it looks before market open this morning.

The current performance shows an overall return of just over 3.5%.  Given that this portfolio is two years old, that gives us an average return of 1.7% per year.  Meh.

In the past month alone, the portfolio has lost 5%.  The TSX did much better this month at over 4%, so our relative performance by comparison is down 9%.

The above graph shows us how bad it is.  The portfolio lost 16% over the past year.  Compared to the TSX, the May 2014 underperformed for the first time by 8%.  So bad.

The two major contributors to the poor portfolio performance are West Fraser Timber (WFT) and Linamar (LNR).  Both stocks are down 37% since last year.  Last July, Motley Fool warned against buying WFT due to a sharp decline in U.S. lumber prices.

http://www.fool.ca/2015/07/23/should-you-buy-or-avoid-west-fraser-timber-co-ltd-today/

However, Motley Fool sees an upside to Linamar's value with their latest analysis last month.

http://www.fool.ca/2016/04/18/should-you-buy-magna-international-inc-or-linamar-corporation/

Guess we won't see any upside on WFT for awhile, so let's hope there's a rebound for LNR at least.

The remaining stocks in the portfolio haven't fared much better, sorry to say.

Our double digit returns from Great Canadian Gaming (GC) have also been hampered this year, down 23% since last May.  Motley Fool think the valuations on this company are reasonable.

http://www.fool.ca/2016/04/27/are-these-3-gaming-stocks-a-good-gamble-for-your-portfolio/

Equitable Group (EQB) continues to underperform the TSX as well, down 12% since last year.
Motley Fool doesn't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with EQB.

http://www.fool.ca/2016/05/17/3-top-financial-stocks-for-fundamental-investors/

Stantec's (STN) return is negative 9% for one year.  Pretty consistent performance since the inception I think.  Motley Fool thinks there's potential upside to STN for 2016.

http://www.fool.ca/2015/12/18/3-top-engineering-stocks-for-2016-and-beyond/

Gildan (GIL) was not spared either, despite doing well initially.  Down 4% in the past year.  Motley Fool thinks GIL is a solid long term investment.

http://www.fool.ca/2016/05/06/gildan-activewear-inc-s-adjusted-q1-eps-jumps-16-7-is-now-the-time-to-buy/

And finally a silver lining amidst all the dark clouds.  CGI Group (GIB.A) is the only stock in the portfolio that had a positive performance in the last year with almost a 10% return.  It continues to be the best performing stock overall in the May 2014 portfolio.  Motley Fool says it's a good long term investment.

http://www.fool.ca/2016/04/27/cgi-group-inc-s-q2-eps-rises-10-3-should-you-buy/

We will check the portfolio again in August 2016.