in the United States. Hospitalist medicine is organized around inpatient care, primarilydelivered in hospitals, and is focused on providing, managing and coordinating the care ofhospitalized patients. The company reported solid fourth-quarter results and its guidance
for 2012 was in line with expectations, but its productivity levels appear to be returning to
historic norms, which should have a negative impact on gross margins going forward.Other detractors included beauty-products maker Elizabeth Arden. Investors showed
some skepticism about management’s plans to redo much of the company’s brand imageand pricing, moving more products upscale to spa positioning with luxury price points. Theworst performing financial shop stock in the portfolio was real estate investment trust Summit
Hotel Properties. The company reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings at
a time when many hotel companies are posting improving profits on increased corporate
and luxury travel.
Outlook
Our cautiously optimistic outlook three months ago has played out much faster and
stronger than we had expected, thanks to a global rally that pushed the S&P 500 Index up
12.59% and our benchmark index up 13.28%. At the time, we indicated that we had
positioned the portfolio to benefit fr