Figure 4-1 shows cumulative returns to the two portfolios for the sixty months after formation, relative to the overall market. Notice that the cumulative returns are indeed positive for losers would be associated with higher returns because they are riskier than the average stock; the opposite holds for winners. But De Bondt and Thaler contend that an investor who bought losers and sold winners short would have beaten the market by about 8 percent on a risk-adjusted basis. I discuss this issue further in chapter 7.