The Little Stock that Beats the Market: Joel Greenblatt's Winning Plan

Back in early February I penned a post focusing on the methodology of Joel Greenblatt, author of "The Little Book That Beats the Market" and manager of super-successful hedge fund Gotham Partners.

At the time Greenblatt only owned four stocks, and his sister (who runs Saddle Rock) only owned two. Between the two of them, the Greenblatts owned over 3.5M shares of Aeropostale (ARO). Following a brilliant hedge fund manager, with a long track record of success, (and major cajones to only own a few stocks) sounds like a winning plan to me.

Since that post, ARO is up roughly 20% in 3 months, not bad. . .What does Greenblatt currently own? American Express (AXP), Wal-Mart (WMT), and Ameriprise (AMP) (options). All three of these are included in the hedge fund consensus strategy we track - maybe it bears in mind that we're not the only ones following Mr. Greenblatt. . . Saddle Rock only owns ARO, AMP, AXP, and Abercrombie (ANF). I will update these portfolios next week when the new 13Fs come out.

As far as Mr. Greenblatt's screen, what does it like currently? A list is below:

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEO)
Avici Systems Inc. (AVCI)
Axcan Pharma Inc. (AXCA)
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (BPT)
Barrett Business Services Inc. (BBSI)
Biovail Corp. (BVF)
Cellstar Corp (CLST)
Fording Canadian Coal Trust (FDG)
Frontier Oil Corp. (FTO)
Great Northern Iron Ore Properties (GNI)
Intevac Inc (IVAC)
JAKKS Pacific Inc (JAKK)
King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (KG)
Korn/Ferry International (KFY)
Mannatech Inc (MTEX)
Nathan's Famous Inc (NATH)
New Frontier Media Inc (NOOF)
OPTi Inc (OPTI)
PDI Inc (PDII)
Pacer International Inc (PACR)
Pinnacle Airlines Corp (PNCL)
Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. (PPD)
Vaalco Energy Inc (EGY)
Wayside Technology Group (WSTG)
Williams Controls Inc (WMCO)