American Express (AXP)

TotalReturn:

'The total return on a portfolio of investments takes into account not only the capital appreciation on the portfolio, but also the income received on the portfolio. The income typically consists of interest, dividends, and securities lending fees. This contrasts with the price return, which takes into account only the capital gain on an investment.'

• Looking at the total return, or increase in value of 271.7% in the last 5 years of American Express, we see it is relatively larger, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (111.6%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 138.5%, which is greater, thus better than the value of 68% from the benchmark.

CAGR:

'Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a business and investing specific term for the geometric progression ratio that provides a constant rate of return over the time period. CAGR is not an accounting term, but it is often used to describe some element of the business, for example revenue, units delivered, registered users, etc. CAGR dampens the effect of volatility of periodic returns that can render arithmetic means irrelevant. It is particularly useful to compare growth rates from various data sets of common domain such as revenue growth of companies in the same industry.'

• The annual return (CAGR) over 5 years of American Express is 30.2%, which is higher, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (16.2%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) is 33.8%, which is greater, thus better than the value of 19% from the benchmark.

Volatility:

'In finance, volatility (symbol σ) is the degree of variation of a trading price series over time as measured by the standard deviation of logarithmic returns. Historic volatility measures a time series of past market prices. Implied volatility looks forward in time, being derived from the market price of a market-traded derivative (in particular, an option). Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security.'

• Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 31.2% in the last 5 years of American Express, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.5%)
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 28.4%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 17.5% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

'The downside volatility is similar to the volatility, or standard deviation, but only takes losing/negative periods into account.'

• The downside risk over 5 years of American Express is 20%, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (12.1%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (11.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside volatility of 18.4% is greater, thus worse.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio (also known as the Sharpe index, the Sharpe measure, and the reward-to-variability ratio) is a way to examine the performance of an investment by adjusting for its risk. The ratio measures the excess return (or risk premium) per unit of deviation in an investment asset or a trading strategy, typically referred to as risk, named after William F. Sharpe.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.78) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.89 of American Express is larger, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (0.94) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 1.1 is higher, thus better.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio, a variation of the Sharpe ratio only factors in the downside, or negative volatility, rather than the total volatility used in calculating the Sharpe ratio. The theory behind the Sortino variation is that upside volatility is a plus for the investment, and it, therefore, should not be included in the risk calculation. Therefore, the Sortino ratio takes upside volatility out of the equation and uses only the downside standard deviation in its calculation instead of the total standard deviation that is used in calculating the Sharpe ratio.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (1.14) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 1.39 of American Express is higher, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is 1.69, which is greater, thus better than the value of 1.43 from the benchmark.

Ulcer:

'The Ulcer Index is a technical indicator that measures downside risk, in terms of both the depth and duration of price declines. The index increases in value as the price moves farther away from a recent high and falls as the price rises to new highs. The indicator is usually calculated over a 14-day period, with the Ulcer Index showing the percentage drawdown a trader can expect from the high over that period. The greater the value of the Ulcer Index, the longer it takes for a stock to get back to the former high.'

• The Ulcer Ratio over 5 years of American Express is 13 , which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.48 ) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (5.31 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 9.06 is larger, thus worse.

MaxDD:

'A maximum drawdown is the maximum loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio, before a new peak is attained. Maximum Drawdown is an indicator of downside risk over a specified time period. It can be used both as a stand-alone measure or as an input into other metrics such as 'Return over Maximum Drawdown' and the Calmar Ratio. Maximum Drawdown is expressed in percentage terms.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley of -31.5 days of American Express is smaller, thus worse.
• Looking at maximum drop from peak to valley in of -28.8 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-18.8 days).

MaxDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Max Drawdown Duration is the worst (the maximum/longest) amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs) in days.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 486 days of American Express is smaller, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 211 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 199 days from the benchmark.

AveDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Avg Drawdown Duration is the average amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs), or in other terms the average of time under water of all drawdowns. So in contrast to the Maximum duration it does not measure only one drawdown event but calculates the average of all.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days under water of 117 days of American Express is lower, thus better.
• Looking at average days below previous high in of 55 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (47 days).