This guide will help you analyze the health and performance of your portfolios using our TradeSmith.

Pro Tip: Portfolio performance measures are a key factor in the investment decision. Many investors mistakenly base the success of their portfolios on returns alone. An investor cannot see the whole investment picture without evaluating risk and allocation.

Let’s walk through the steps of analyzing your portfolio.

Step 1: Go to the Analyze Portfolio tab of the My Portfolios page.

Step 2: Select your portfolio(s) for review.

At the top left, select any investment or watchlist portfolio you track within TradeSmith Finance. 

At a glance, you can review your daily gains and losses, the portfolio’s health distribution (long-term), the top winners and losers’ distribution, and the one-year performance of your portfolio compared to the S&P 500. 

Below, you will see the following tabs:

• Overview: provides portfolio performance and health, rating, sector, industry, and portfolio risk allocation widgets.
• Open Positions: This section provides an analysis of the positions, including the top winners and losers, the contributions graph, and a breakdown of positions ready for analysis and positions with missing data.
• Positions in Red Zone: provides the top five Red Zone positions with the highest values and the top five investment opportunities (pulled from your active TradeSmith subscriptions, which include investment strategies).
• Unbalanced Positions: displays a summary of how rebalancing for volatility would impact the overall portfolio volatility (PVQ), how much risk you are taking per position, and what risk categories your individual investments fall into.
• News: provides news-related headlines about the positions within the selected portfolio.
• Important Events: displays important events such as upcoming earnings reports, dividend notifications, insider transactions, and other corporate events for the selected portfolio positions.

You can review the tabs in any preferred order; however, starting with a bird’s-eye view may be a good idea.

Step 3: Go to the Overview tab to get a birds-eye view of your portfolio.

The Overview tab’s first widget is the Portfolio Performance (% change) graph.

The Portfolio Performance graph determines the portfolio’s performance by calculating the daily gains and losses of your open and closed positions.

You can view the equity percentage change on the graph based on a selected date range and compare the portfolio’s performance to any other portfolio within TradeSmith Finance or the major U.S. and international indexes.

How does your portfolio compare to the performance of the S&P 500 Index?

Pro Tip: The S&P 500 index is a benchmark of the overall performance of the U.S. stock market. Historically, the U.S. stock market (as measured by the S&P 500) has returned about 10% per year on average. Because of this, many investors see 10% or more as a strong long-term return.

You can also view your portfolio(s), Health (Long-Term), Rating, Sector, Industry, and Portfolio Volatility Allocations.

• Health Allocation: Provides a breakdown of your positions across the Green, Yellow, and Red Zones, helping you quickly assess overall portfolio strength and risk exposure.
• Rating Allocation: Shows the distribution of your positions across ratings—Strong Bullish, Bullish, Neutral, Bearish, and Strong Bearish—based on our proprietary indicators along with supporting technical and fundamental analysis.
• Sector Allocation: Highlights how your portfolio is diversified across different sectors, giving insight into potential concentration or balance among market segments.
• Industry Allocation: Drills deeper by showing the spread of your positions within specific industries, helping you identify trends, opportunities, and areas of over- or under-exposure.

The Portfolio Volatility Allocation widget allows you to view your overall portfolio volatility quotient (PVQ). The pie graph (left) displays the selected portfolio’s risk breakdown and cash allocation. The volatility line graph (right) displays the volatility of the top 10 positions with the highest value compared to your portfolio and the S&P 500. You can also adjust the index comparison by clicking on the index drop-down menu.

Note: The View more link takes you to the PVQ Analyzer tool.

Volatility Quotient Breakdown:

• Up to 15% = Low Risk
• 15% to 30% = Medium Risk
• 30% to 50% = High Risk
• 50% and Above = Sky High Risk

What is the overall risk of your portfolio?

Pro Tip: The PVQ tool considers the risk (VQ) of the individual securities and the correlation between the securities that make up the portfolio. Typically, you have a higher PVQ if the holdings are correlated (move up and down together). When you are diversified, you can potentially have high-risk securities and a lower overall PVQ.

Now, let’s check out our top money-makers and losers.

Step 4: Review your positions from the Open Positions tab.

The Open Positions tab contains the top winners and losers for the selected portfolio since the listed entry dates. You will find the Contribution to Performance widget to the right of the Positions tab, which displays the positions that contributed the biggest gains and losses. The green sections provide the stocks that contributed the biggest gains, while the red sections provide the stocks that contributed the most significant losses.

Two additional tabs at the bottom of the Positions Tab include:

• Positions Ready for Analysis lists the positions with available data (columns of information include position details and total gains).
• Positions with Missing Data lists positions with missing details (entry dates, prices, and share sizes).

Step 5: Review and potentially replace Red Zone stocks from the Positions in the Red Zone tab.

You may have a compelling reason to hold onto stocks in the Red Zone. The Positions in Red Zone tab allows you to examine your Red Zone stocks and potentially find replacement stocks in the Green Zone.

The Positions in the Red Zone tab displays up to the top five Red Zone positions with the highest value. The value is based on the TradeSmith value (latest close price x shares).

If you want to replace a Red Zone stock at a loss, you can review our top five investment opportunities according to our TradeSmith strategies.

Image as of Sept. 19, 2025.

At the core of the TradeSmith system is the Volatility Quotient (VQ) — a powerful metric that measures a stock’s normal volatility. The VQ drives our risk-management features, including the Risk Rebalancer tool, enabling investors to size positions more effectively and manage risk with confidence.

Step 6: Check out how rebalancing for volatility impacts your overall portfolio.

One way to be profitable is to avoid losing too much on any investment. The solution is equal risk parity (taking an equal amount of risk in each of your holdings). The Risk Rebalancer tool allows you to rebalance your portfolio using our volatility metric to allocate more money to your lower-risk positions and less to your riskier positions.

Pro Tip: When reviewing your top winners and losers, especially your losers, consider your position sizing and risk management.

• I rebalanced my portfolio.
• I am following my risk management strategies.

You can assess your current portfolio volatility and your PVQ after rebalancing. You will also see the adjusted risk allocation for the portfolio.

The Run Risk Rebalancer button (bottom left) will take you directly to the Risk Rebalancer tool.

This tab will also include the top overweighted and underweighted positions.

Step 7: Stay on top of the headlines with our News tab.

Keeping current on important news is more critical than ever, especially if you have investments easily affected by world news.

Along with news-related events, many fundamental actions within a company can impact share prices.  

Step 8: Review upcoming corporate actions with our Important Events tab.

Reports are announcements that happen regularly and represent the fundamental health of an economy or business.  

For example, the earnings report is the primary method by which publicly traded companies report their financial results for a specific period. Investors can use a company’s earnings report to understand how well it is run and whether it is performing well.

TradeSmith allows you to track numerous events that can cause stock prices to spike when a report is released. 

To review the full listing of our events and apply our filters, please click on the “View full calendar” link at the top right of the Important Events widget. The site will route you to the Market Calendar page.

Parting thoughts: Evaluating your portfolio’s performance isn’t just a good habit—it’s essential for smart investing. The Analyze Portfolio tab gives you the insights you need to see how well your money is working for you (or gently remind you if it’s been slacking off). It also keeps you informed about events that could impact your investments, so you’re never caught off guard.”

*Note – The tabs and features you see on your TradeSmith Finance in our Education Center articles are taken from a TradeSmith Platinum account.