After the Large Cap/Small Cap divergence seen in April, May was characterized by increased volatility in the Russell 2000 as the month featured several days of +/- 1% moves. In many cases, the intraday swings were even wider, with late-day trading reducing the extremity of the move. To an extent, some of the volatility can be attributed to macroeconomic data that fails to show a clear trend. A good example of that is Q1 GDP, which came in below consensus at -1%. Market participants that maintain an optimistic view regarding the overall trend of the US economy are quick to point out that Q1 was negatively impacted by the severe cold weather which a litany of companies cited as a factor in their Q1 earnings reports. Others that have a more pessimistic stance point to an economy that is, at best, in slow growth mode and thus can be easily tipped into negative growth. With the data ambiguous, volatility often follows.
For May, the S&P 500 was up 2.10%, the Russell 2000 was up 0.72% and the aggregate Singular List was down 1.11%. For the trailing twelve months, the S&P was up 18.5%, the Russell 2000 was also up 18.5%, and the Singular Research List was up 16.8%. We initiated coverage on two companies during May, Gentherm (THRM) and Gencor (GENC). Both are BUY-rated, with THRM having a price target of $50 and GENC a target of $13.75. Our top five performers in May include companies from a variety of industries and are also a mix of BUY and SELL rated ideas. As our table shows, the Singular List produced two standout performers in May – NNBR and VTNR. 
As with our top performers, our worst performers in May were also from a variety of industries and with a range of reasons for the declines. In the case of ACET for example, results are driven by the continued introduction of new products and some periods feature more than others. We see current weakness as a buying opportunity as the company has a healthy pipeline of product launches planned over the next several quarters which we expect to drive earnings growth. 
At Singular Research we continue to seek out investment ideas that have minimal to no Wall Street coverage. There are a number of uncovered and under-covered names we have been investigating, and we plan to launch coverage on several names in the coming weeks. We thank our clients for your support of independent equity research. Sincerely, Jeremy Hellman, CFA Chief Operating Officer
