Published October 31, 2026 · by Troels Højbjerg, Founder
Every stock on WallStreetBuys gets three scores from 0 to 100. Value says how cheap it is for its earnings, sales and book value. Quality measures how sound the business is. Momentum says how strong the share price is. A score of 80 means ahead of 80% of all the stocks in our database.
I took the three scores for each covered US stock at the start of every month from July 2025 to August 2026, and looked at the next three months.
| The three scores at the start | Down more than 10% | Down 20%+ along the way | Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| All three 50 or more | 11.0% | 4.2% | 499 |
| At least two 50 or more | 17.3% | 11.4% | 1,195 |
| All US stocks | 26.5% | 22.4% | 2,326 |
| At most one 50 or more | 36.3% | 34.1% | 1,131 |
| All three below 50 | 39.4% | 39.6% | 579 |
Source: own calculation on 193 of the US stocks covered by WallStreetBuys, start on the first trading day of each month from July 2025 to August 2026, 63 trading days ahead. Only stocks that are still listed today.
The weaker the scores, the more often a stock fell hard. With all three below 50, four in ten were down more than 10% three months later. With all three at 50 or more, about one in nine.
The other question is how many stocks to own. I built random, equally weighted portfolios from the same US stocks and the same months, 2,000 of each size per month:
| Stocks in the portfolio | Down more than 10% after three months | Down 15%+ along the way |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26.0% | 30.9% |
| 5 | 14.0% | 14.9% |
| 10 | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 20 | 6.6% | 6.7% |
| 30 | 5.2% | 5.0% |
Source: the same data, 28,000 random portfolios per size.
Going from one stock to ten cut the chance of a 10% fall by almost two thirds. Going from 20 to 30 made only a small further difference.
US stocks priced under $10 at the start fell more than 10% within three months in 39% of cases, against 27% for all. A low price tells you how the company has split its value into shares, not whether it is cheap.
I do not track which stocks are in the S&P 500, so I cannot sort by it. The 200 stocks I cover are mostly large companies listed in the US.
I cannot tell you which stocks will be best to hold for the long term, and nobody can. What I can show is which kind of stock fell less over three-month stretches since July 2025. US stocks with value, quality and momentum all at 50 or more fell more than 10% in 11% of cases, against 27% for all and 39% when all three were below 50. Spreading helped even more: 20 random stocks fell that much 7% of the time, one stock 26%. Stocks under $10 fell more often than average. My data is 14 months long, so treat it as a direction, not a law.
One thing to check: count how many stocks you own, and whether any of them is below 50 on value, quality and momentum at the same time.
The three scores for every US stock we cover are free and need no sign-up. US stocks with a buy signal, ranked by their score across value, quality and momentum, are listed under Buy signals.
Nobody knows which stocks will be best over the next ten years, and I will not pretend to. What my data shows is which kind of stock fell less, and how much spreading helps. US stocks scoring 50 or more on value, quality and momentum fell more than 10% within three months in 11% of cases, against 27% for all of them. A random portfolio of 20 stocks fell that much 7% of the time, a single stock 26%. My scores for US stocks only go back to July 2025, so I cannot tell you what worked over ten years.
I do not name stocks for you to buy, because that depends on your money and your time. In my data, US stocks with all three scores at 50 or more fell more than 10% within three months in 11% of cases, against 27% for all of them. The scores of every US stock we cover are free on its stock page.
There is no beginner stock. Two things in my data went with fewer deep drops: owning more than a handful of stocks, and avoiding stocks that are weak on value, quality and momentum all at once. With all three below 50, US stocks fell more than 10% within three months in 39% of cases.
I do not track which stocks are in the S&P 500, so I cannot sort by it. The 200 stocks WallStreetBuys covers are mostly large companies listed in the US, and each has a free page with its scores, signal and the analysts' price target.
A low share price says nothing about value. In my data, US stocks priced under $10 fell more than 10% within three months in 39% of cases, against 27% for all. If you look at them, check the quality score and the red flags on the stock page first. The free list Cheap stocks under $10 shows them with their scores.
In my data, most of the gain from spreading came by about 20 stocks. A random portfolio of 20 US stocks fell more than 10% within three months in 7% of cases, 10 stocks in 10%, 5 stocks in 14% and a single stock in 26%. Going from 20 to 30 stocks only took it from 7% to 5%.
Read also: How to compare two stocks · How to find undervalued stocks · Cheap stocks under $10 · Buy signals
This is information, not individual investment advice. The numbers are our own calculations on market data and may contain errors. Past results are no guarantee of the future. You decide for yourself — and remember to spread your risk.