- 1). Compile a list of all the stocks in your portfolio if comparing your returns with the overall market. Create a spreadsheet where you list the name of each stock. Go to Yahoo! Finance to check each stock's price at the beginning of the period in which you're comparing market performances. Insert that stock price into the spreadsheet and multiply it by the number of shares you own. In the next column, insert the current stock price multiplied by the number of shares you own.
- 2). Add up the totals for each of the two columns to calculate the total percentage change of your portfolio for that period. Then compare this performance with an appropriate stock market index, such as the Standard & Poor's 500 or the Russell 2000. Calculate the performance of an index with Yahoo! Finance by looking at historical data to find the market value at the beginning of the test period and the current price. Compare the market performance with the performance of your individual portfolio to see which did better.
- 3). Compare your stock portfolio to mutual fund stock returns by using Lipper data, which are available on the websites of financial information providers, like Morningstar and "The Wall Street Journal." Lipper data allow you to see average mutual fund returns for various types of funds, such as large cap stocks or bonds. This allows you to compare the performance of one mutual fund you may own with the Lipper averages. Also compare mutual fund returns with the performance of the overall market.
- 4). Use Yahoo! Finance to compare the returns of U.S. stock markets, such as the S&P 500, with those of other countries, like Japan's Nikkei and China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index. Repeat the above steps to see which international stock market offered the best returns.
- 5). Compare the stock market's performance with the results of other types of asset classes, including gold, oil, real estate and bonds. The necessary data can be found on Yahoo! Finance. Look at the prices for each asset at the beginning of the period compared with their value at the end of the period to see if some other asset class offered better returns than stocks.
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