10 Best Stocks of the Past Decade

Investing in the stock market is always challenging. I manage my own portfolio and I am relatively pleased with the performance over the past ten years.

But what were the best 10 stocks to hold over the last decade? Microsoft was not one of them. The list will surprise you. All of these stocks came from the U.S. exchanges. Rate of return is from January 1, 1996.

• Hansen Natural: 24,185%
• Chico’s: 17,600%
• NVR: 7,150%
• Christopher and Banks: 6.795%
• Meritage Homes: 5,860%
• American Eagle Outfitters: 4,850%
• Comtech Telecommunications: 4,315%
• SCP Pool: 4,090%
• Engineered Support Systems: 3,800%
• Jos A Bank: 3,790%

Total average return for these ten stocks over ten years? 8,240% with a total annualized return of 55.6%.

Handy information if you decide to go back in time and make a few investments.

My holdings are primarily in stocks and bonds. I hold very little in the way of mutual funds. The dirty dozen of Canadian mutual funds is an interesting list. Herein are the ten worst Canadian mutual fund performers of the past decade (as of July 2006). Hopefully you did not invest in any of these funds.

• AGF Managed Futures: MER of 4.11 with -14.57%
• AIC World Equity: MER of 2.43 with 2.11%
• BMO International Equity: MER of 2.49 with 0.67%
• CI Global Bond: MER of 2.06 with 1.94%
• CIBC Far East Prosperity: MER of 2.87 with -0.98%
• Investors Pacific International: MER of 2.87 with -1.92%
• National Bank Global Bond: MER of 2.11 with 1.7%
• PH&N U.S. Equity: MER of 1.15 with 2.05%
• RBC U.S. Mid-Cap Equity: MER of 2.13 with 2.18%
• Scotia Global Growth: MER of 2.56 with 1.11%
• TD U.S. Equity: MER of 2.47 with 1.89%
• Trimark Discovery: MER of 2.91 with -0.69%

I highlighted the Management Expense Ratio (MER) so that you can see how much the fund managers got paid for the performance of the fund.