2 for 1®, the Stock Split Newsletter follows Neil Macneale’s personal IRA account. The account contains the 30 individual stocks that make up the 2 for 1 Index. Created in 1996, the Index is comprised solely of stocks that have recently announced a 2 for 1 (or higher) stock split. The newsletter is published monthly and contains commentary on recent split announcements and a selection of the one new stock to be added to the Index that month. A report on the stock that is to be removed from the index and sold from the portfolio is also included. The back page of each issue contains the monthly statement of the actual IRA account and a graph of the performance of the portfolio over the last 19 years. With no money added or withdrawn, and including all costs and dividends, the 2 for 1 model portfolio has returned approximately 11% per year annualized, the exact number varying up or down on a daily basis.
Subscribers to 2 for 1 can create their own 2 for 1 portfolio and follow the newsletter’s recommendations closely, or simply use the monthly list of split announcements as a starting point for their own analysis. The key to the success of the Index and the portfolio is the exploitation of The Stock Split Advantage. This is the fact that a stock split announcement signals the probable outperformance of that stock vs. the market for a period of up to three years.