Top Gun Returns 14.5% In 2007 – 10% In 2nd Half

It was a tale of two different years for Top Gun, as for the stock market: the first half of the year and the second half (Top Gun 2007 Performance Chart).

Top Gun underperformed in the first half of the year, returning 4.15% compared to 6.00% and 6.66% for the S&P and Wilshire, respectively.  I was nervous about the market right from the start of the year, especially after the big move in the second half of 2006, and we were positioned conservatively and with a lot of cash.

We were vindicated in the second half as I started initiating large short positions on the very first day of the third quarter in financials, REITs and consumer discretionary companies.  It was a choppy ride and I misplayed the bottom on Thursday August 16th.  But besides for that one mistake our timing was pretty much impeccable and we returned 9.90% compared -2.33% and -2.27% for the S&P and Wilshire, respectively.

For the year as a whole the final tally was:

S&P: +3.53%

Wilshire: +4.25%

Top Gun: +14.46%