The S & P 500 will wrap up the fourth quarter this week and is on track to gain about 5.5% over the three-month period from October through December, as of the close on Wednesday, Dec. 28. The positive performance represents the only quarter of gains in 2022, breaking what had been the longest losing streak since 2008. What made the fourth quarter stand out from the first three of the year? First off, equities finally found some reprieve from the strong U.S. dollar , which peaked on Sept. 27, right before the end of the third quarter. The strong dollar has been a headwind to multinationals all year because it makes revenues generated outside the U.S. smaller when converted from foreign currencies. Also helping equity valuations was the peak in Treasury yields on Oct. 24. After yet another volatile quarter in the books, we’ve reviewed how our portfolio fared in the 3 months ended Dec. 31, using the close on Dec. 28 as our reference point. Here’s a snapshot of the best and worst performers in the Investing Club’s 33-stock portfolio for the fourth quarter, starting with our top 4 performers. (Note: We’re excluding our most recent initiation, Emerson Electric (EMR), from the rankings since the stock was purchased in mid-December. Shares of this industrial automation company have gained about 30.1% in the fourth quarter.) Top performers Taking the crown was Halliburton ( HAL), with a huge gain of around 54.7% for the quarter. What a difference a quarter can make. Shares of this oil-services company were the biggest laggard in the portfolio during the third quarter . The turnaround in performance shows that Halliburton was briefly a broken stock, not a broken company. Earnings also did the trick. In late October, Halliburton delivered strong third-quarter results , including improved operating margins thanks to healthy demand for its equipment and services. The gains were even more impressive when considering that the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed a volatile quarter roughly at the same price it traded at the start of October. Second place was a tie. Wynn Resorts (WYNN) gained 27.1% in the quarter. This was the second quarter in a row that Wynn made our top 4 list. Shares of this Macao-centric casino operator gained 10.6% in the third quarter. Wynn’s strong stock performance can be attributed to China’s pivot away from its strict zero-Covid policy . Wynn shares appreciated because investors finally gained some visibility into when the world’s second-largest economy will recover. It also helped that Wynn’s properties in Las Vegas and Boston continued to perform at a high level. Honeywell (HON) also climbed 27.1% in the quarter. Usually cyclicals are the ones that get hit when recession risks are fresh on investors’ minds. But, it was actually the industrials that were among the strongest performers in the quarter. In late October, Honeywell delivered a solid earnings beat for the third quarter and management raised the…
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