During the 2011–2012 time period, the top 25 ACSI universe stocks in terms of returns—with an average return of
95% in 2012–2013—returned only 1.7% on average over the previous 12 months. The S&P 500 stocks had a similar reversal. As Table 7 shows, the top 100 stock performers in the 12-month 2012–2013 period had dramatically greater returns when compared with the prior 12-month 2011–2012 period and greatly outperformed the S&P average. Specifically, the top 100 returned 60% in 2012–2013, but these stocks returned only 8% in 2011–2012. The corresponding returns
for the remainder of the S&P were 16% and 13%, and for the total S&P 500, 14% and 24%.