A month ago, the Toronto Blue Jays were 6 games out of a playoff spot; significantly under .500; and days away from trading a few of their most recognizable stars from last year’s World Series almost-Champions (Kevin Gausman, Jeff Hoffman, Daulton Varsho).  However, the Blue Jays front office did not just decide to sell some of their previous “winners” and give up on the season at the Trade Deadline.  They diversified!  In came another top-end starting pitcher (Jose Soriano); a potential Center Fielder-of-the-future (Brett Bateman); and several other minor deals to expand the available talent on hand.

Suddenly, the Blue Jays are right in the mix for that final Wild Card spot and are bringing some excitement back to the Rogers Centre on a nightly basis!  Most surprisingly, all of this is happening without much help from the team’s best player Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has struggled for most of 2026 after his star-making turn in last year’s playoff run.  (If you’re wondering - yes, this newsletter will still be about investing.  It’s just fun to talk positively about the Jays again!) 

When building out a properly diversified roster (or investment portfolio) you need more than just your “heavy hitters” doing all the work.  If Vladdy’s not slugging?  That’s ok, Alejandro Kirk can drive in the runs.  Are the pitchers struggling?  Well, you had better have your defense pick up the slack.  If you get the balance just right, you can keep winning even when the best performances are not coming from where you’d most expect.  

The Toronto Blue Jays and the stock market are both prime examples of this balance right now.

In the last 3 months (since May 20^th), the S&P 500 has risen about 4%.  You might think the bulk of that performance was due to technology and AI stocks since they get the most attention, but that has not been the case! 

The top performing US sector during this time frame?  Health care! (by a wide margin - see chart).  That was probably not the first thought that came to mind, especially since the Health Care sector had been underperforming for a while.  Financials have also had a solid run the past quarter, which has more than offset the weakness in Communication Services (which includes heavyweight names like Alphabet, Meta, Netflix and Disney).  The next 3 months could have different sectors providing leadership, so don’t guess!  You may need the whole roster to achieve success and occasionally it might be a player that’s been sitting on the bench for a while.  That’s why we recommend covering all your bases as an investor.  Diversification may not be the most exciting part of investing, but it gives you the greatest chance of achieving your goals without risking a major losing streak.

Long-term bull markets are a continuous ebb and flow of wins and losses.  You can’t make money every single day investing in stocks, just like a World Series Champion doesn’t win every game during the season.  The goal is to maintain your discipline and trust that you have the right pieces in place to achieve success.  Stay in the game!  If you look at how recent bull markets have performed in the past (1987-2000 or 2009-2020), it’s possible we are still in the “early innings” of this one.

And for those Blue Jays fans out there that are concerned about Vladdy’s recent struggles, especially with 13 ½ years left on his contract?  Remember that sometimes long-term investments have some volatility along the way.  But if you find the right one?  Their short-term struggles pale in comparison to the eventual gains.  All companies in the chart below had amazing success early on, but each of them also had plenty of blips along the way – some even this year!  For any investor that gave up on them during the tough times, someone else would have enjoyed the glory!

Let’s hope Mr. Guerrero Jr. can bounce back and bring some of that glory to Toronto fans in the coming years!  We’ll be watching.

Go Jays Go!  Enjoy the rest of your summer!