Long ago when I was a mutual fund analyst, I would tell the brokers that if they let me pick the beginning and end dates for performance history, I could prove both that it was a great buying opportunity and it was among the worst funds in its category.

Take Mackenzie Financials Cundill Value Fund (a fund I liked a lot in my previous life) as an example. To prove it was a great buy, it would be easy to emphasize the 2016 returns where the funds 10.5 per cent appreciation outpaced the average global equity fund by more than 700 basis points. To argue the fund was mediocre, Id point to the three year average annual return that was worse than 95 per cent of the competition.

So is it a good or bad fund? Neither, at least based on this cursory look at performance.

Each fund, and by extension each investing style, is best suited to specific market conditions.

The momentum investing strategy, with its agnosticism on valuations and emphasis on stock price and earnings strength, has been the top performer in the past five years. Momentum-based managers have been comfortable holding the extremely expensive FANG stocks that were leading global equity markets higher, as long as their prices and earnings continued to climb.

Im not suggesting history is about to repeat itself but momentum investors were also riding high in the late 1990s, with a similar dependence on the technology sector, before getting obliterated in the 2000 to 2002 period.

For mutual funds and individual investor portfolios, all performance data must be taken in context. An investor with strong trailing portfolio returns over the past five years has every right to be proud of themselves, but they also have to make sure that their holdings are also positioned to benefit from the next five years.

Are the same growth drivers that drove returns in the past in many cases technology stocks and dividend paying companies benefitting from declining interest rates sustainable?

-- Scott Barlow is The Globe's in-house market strategist

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Stocks to ponder

Air Canada. The airline demonstrates just how fickle the business can be. The carriers gains this week take its stock back only slightly beyond the $21 a share it went public at in 2006. For investors, the past 11 years have been one long round trip. Ian McGugan examines the industry.

BSM Technologies Inc. The Toronto-based company, whose equipment and software help owners of truck, rail and other fleets track their vehicles, has grown through acquisition and could be a takeover target, according to David Barr, president of PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. in. Vancouver. Shirley Won looks at six budding stocks that trade for less than $5 a share.

AcuityAds Holdings Inc. The Toronto-based technology firm has rallied 89 per cent year-to-date. There are six buy recommendation on the stock with a 46-per-cent price return anticipated over the next year. Jennifer Dowty analyzes at the stock.

Ross Stores Inc. This discount fashion retailer is a seemingly contrarian pick given the pressure on retailers from e-commerce giants such as Amazon.com. But it passes all the criteria Berkshire Hathaway would use. John Reese examines three stocks from a Warren Buffett-inspired portfolio.

Theratechnologies Inc. Shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company have shot up nearly 200 per cent over the past year on the promise of a newer product and some analysts say the run may not be over yet, according to Brenda Bouw.

Cineplex Inc. The industry leader that took a rare tumble on Wednesday, falling over 8 per cent. For patient long-term investors, this pullback may represent a buying opportunity with a potential reacceleration in the share price in late-2017 or early-2018. Jennifer Dowty breaks down the stock.

The Rundown

Investors, heres a case for buying CanadaCanadian investors have been criticized since forever for having too much of a home bias. In that context, the push into international ETFs is laudable. Now, investors seem to have a home aversion to some extent, according to Rob Carrick.

Why investors shouldnt be reading too much into the fear indexPessimists see the decline of the VIX and disappearance of volatility as evidence of investor complacency a dangerous precursor to many of historys most severe corrections. But while an underappreciation of the markets risks is a legitimate concern, many investors are putting too much stock in the VIX index, writes Tim Shufelt.

Its the world, not Donald Trump, thats making the Dow great againWhile the U.S. President may want to make America great again, his countrys major stock indexes are globalized to an extent that surprises many investors. The companies in the S&P 500, a broadly based index of large U.S. businesses, derived 44.3 per cent of their sales from outside the United States in 2016, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Ian McGugan explains.

Canada should fight for shareholder rightsAt some point, someone tries to take things just too far, and all hell breaks loose. This is what happened when Snap Inc., owner of the Snapchat messaging app, went public earlier this year in the United States with shares that gave investors no vote at all on virtually all corporate matters, writes David Milstead.

How to make the right choices when investing in REITsReal estate investment trusts should be an integral part of every income investors portfolio. They offer steady income, relative safety, and tax advantages if held outside a registered plan. The question is, how should you hold them? Gordon Pape explores the possibilities.

Others

Rob Carrick: The financial disadvantages of living alone

Charity fund managers navigate difficult second quarter

Fridays Insider Report: Companies insiders are buying and selling

Thursdays Insider Report: Companies insiders are buying and selling

Wednesdays Insider Report: Companies insiders are buying and selling

Number Crunchers

Eight U.S. restaurant stocks that are looking oversold

Eleven Canadian stocks with solid fundamentals that analysts ignore

Fifteen large-cap stocks built to weather the storm

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Compiled by David Leeder

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Keeping pace with momentum investors, ignoring the VIX and why it may be time to buy Canadian - The Globe and Mail