Beginners Series Webinars

A new cycle of Beginner Series lessons will return again on Monday, September 8th, at 2:00 PM EST starting with a Point & Figure (PnF) Basics and Charting Overview. 

Register for the series and attend the September 8th session for a chance to receive 3 months of an Elite subscription for free!

• Register Here

San Jose RS Institute: Register to join us in person for a 3-hour educational symposium on relative strength investing. This event is for financial advisors and will offer 3 hours of CFP/CIMA credit.

When: September 18th, 2025, 9 AM EST - 12 PM EST

Where: San Jose Marriott, 301 South Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113

Who: Speakers include...

John Lewis, CMT, Senior Portfolio Manager; Andy Hyer, CFP, CIMA, CMT, Client Portfolio Manager; Ian Saunders, Senior Research Analyst

Cost: Free! Lunch will also be provided.

Registration is limited to the first 75 advisors, so be sure to act fast!

Click Here to Register!

On the Asset Class Group Score Page, China currently ranks 2nd with an average score of 5.28 and remains one of a few groups with an average score above 5.0. As evidence by its score direction of 2.19, Chinese equities have been one of the strongest areas of the markets in recent months, outperforming domestic equities by a notable amount. Historically, China’s State-owned Enterprises (SOEs), which are companies on behalf of the Chinese government used to accomplish certain economic goals, were often misaligned in their interests and led to very inefficient capital allocations. Additionally, the unpredictable government intervention in key Chinese sectors left investors skeptical and fearful for quite some time, leading to a stock market crash in 2007 and in 2015.

Despite these factors and the lingering fear of increased tariffs on behalf of the United States this year, Chinese equities continue to rebound and trudge forward. Chinese equities still sit significantly below its 2007 highs, however, attractive equity valuations, government support and stimulus, and an enthusiasm around artificial intelligence has led to a rally in 2025. A possible method for gaining exposure into Chinese equities is by using the KraneShares Tactical Emerging Markets Model (TR) (KRANETACTEM.TR). The matrix model aims to tactically gain exposure in Chinese equities by investing equally in each of the top 6 positions. However, the KraneShares MSCI Emerging Markets Ex China Index ETF TR (KEMX.TR) acts as a “sweep down indicator” that takes the full allocation of any position that it ranks above in its respective matrix. This allows the model to overweight/underweight Chinese equities depending on which areas of emerging markets are favored. Last week, the KraneShares Tactical models sold a portion of its KEMX allocation and now maintains its maximum weight in Chinese equities.

The iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) tracks large and mid-cap Chinese equites that are available to international investors. After reaching a low of $45 in April, the fund reversed back into column of Xs at the end of April, breaking a double top at $52 in April and reversing back into a positive trend in June. Currently, the fund sits on multi-year highs above $62 and is up over 35% peak to trough. Year-to-date, the fund has outperformed domestic equities by roughly 20%, earning its 2nd spot in the ACGS page. MCHI maintains a strong fund score of 5.90, with a positive score direction of 1.43. Additionally, the fund offers a yield of 2.3%. MCHI sits in actionable territory for those considering. Initial support can be seen at $49, with additional support at $45. Bullish support line can be seen at $46.

With the start of the NFL season officially kicking off on September 4^th, many who play fantasy football have poured over stats sheets recently. Deciding which players may continue their impressive performance from seasons prior or who may be that breakout player poised for their best season yet. Even as the season continues football fans will constantly evaluate their lineup and decide if players should be swapped in or out.

While the stats and metrics are different, constructing and evaluating a portfolio throughout a given year loosely follows a similar process – selecting an initial lineup of investments and then adjusting those as time moves along. While adjusting, investors have long-term holdings that have performed well and continue to find a place within the portfolio – much like a franchise quarterback an NFL roster is built upon as they have proven their worth to the team. Sometimes these long-term holdings go on historic runs, leaving investors to wonder how long such a performance can continue, but more often than not, they continue to be a part of the portfolio (think Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes for those still following the football reference).

Among the assets where the question of its recent run continuing has been prevalent is gold (GC/), which is up 32% year-to-date through the end of August. This marks the second-best performance for the shiny metal through August since the beginning of 1975 (beginning of daily pricing data for gold), following only 1979, which saw the metal rally 40% through the end of August. Gold is outperforming the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 22% through the end of August, making for the largest outperformance by the commodity since 2011 (31% outperformance in favor of gold through August) and the 5th largest going back to the beginning of 1975.

On the point and figure trend chart, gold has been in a positive trend since 2023. This week’s action brought a second buy signal on both the default 10 point per box and intermediate-term 20 point per box chart for the commodity as it rallied to a new all-time chart high. Gold now resides in overbought territory and in an extended position on the chart well above support in the lower $3300 and upper $3200 range. With both the gold continuous chart (GC/) and SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), a pullback toward the middle of the 10-week trading band is warranted before considering exposure.

Expanding beyond 2025, gold’s one-year rolling outperformance over the S&P 500 Index (SPX) resides at 25% as of the end of August. The outperformance in favor of gold moved above 30% March through May, peaking at 34% to mark the largest outperformance in gold’s favor over SPX since late 2009.

Looking at the three-year rolling performance difference between gold and SPX shows the largest outperformance by the shiny metal over equities since 2011, and challenging levels not seen since 2009. At the end of August, gold was up 103% in the rolling three-year period for the first time since late 2011, while SPX was up 63% from August 2022 through 2025.

While performance for gold has been notable in recent months (and years for that matter), the relative strength leadership has been equally impressive. Within the broader premade Asset Class Matrix – a relative strength ranking of 34 asset class ETFs - the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) has been ranked within the top quartile of the matrix since May 2024. GLD has  ranked number 1 (out of 34) in the Asset Class Matrix since February 2025, marking its longest period as the top ranked ETF within the matrix going back to the beginning of 2000.

Isolating gold futures within the Continuous Commodity Matrix shows gold (GC) currently in 4^th (out of 21), but it is important to note that gold has ranked within the top third of the volatile matrix for more than a year. It is worth noting that outside of feeder cattle, those commodities ranking ahead of gold as of Thursday’s (9/4) close were fellow precious metals, silver, and platinum.

Given gold’s notable relative strength leadership and strong trend picture, many investors have already added gold exposure. Until that leadership wavers, exposure should still maintain at a minimum. Those who may seek to add to an existing position will look for a pullback toward the middle of the 10-week trading band (or 50-day moving average) on the point and figure trend chart before considering.

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