Can Monthly-Return Rank Order Reveal a Hidden Dimension of Return-Momentum? The Post-Cost Evidence from the U.S. Stock Markets

We introduce a new return-momentum indicator that is based on monotonicity of monthly-return rank order within an 11-month lookback period (henceforth abbreviated as MRRO). Based on an extensive post-cost performance comparison of long-only momentum portfolios formed on six stand-alone and 36 double-sort criteria across three holding period lengths in the non-microcap universe of U.S. stocks over the 55-year sample period, MRRO is particularly useful for annual holding periods, towards the end of whom the conventional return-momentum indicators tend to lose their prediction power. Based on the return-based style analysis, MRRO adds some favorable style-diversification characteristics into long-only momentum portfolio selection