“Following the formula for any two-year period in a row (starting with any month during the 17 years), the magic forumla underperformed the market averages in one out of every six periods tested. Remember, while that may not sound all that bad, underperforming for two years in a row is actually pretty hard to take! But here comes the good news. Following the formula for any three-year period in a row, the magic formula beat the market averages 95 percent of the time (160 out of 169 three-year periods tested)!* (There are fewer three-year periods tested than one-year periods because the last three-year period that could be tested started in January 2002 and ended December 31, 2004. The last one-year period started in January 2004.) But that's not all! Over three-year periods, if you followed the magic formula, you would never have lost money. That's right. Sticking with the magic formula for any three-year period during those 17 years, you would have made money 100 percent of the time (169 out of 169 three year periods).”
