Since 2010, the best scoring names in our weekly mid cap reports have outpaced the S&P 400 by a median 4.07% in the following year. The best performers from our list from 1 year ago are ILMN up 87%, KNX up 81%, LVLT up 66%, ALXN up 58%, and AMED up 54%.

• The best mid cap sector is consumer goods.
• The top mid cap industry is residential construction.

The average mid cap score is 67.65, above the four week moving average score of 66.34. The average mid cap stock is trading -13.52% below its 52 week high, 3.71% above its 200 dma, has 6.44 days to cover held short, and is expected to grow EPS by 16.45% next year.

The best mid cap sector is consumer goods. Services, industrial goods, healthcare, and utilities also score above average. Technology scores in line. Financials and basic materials score below average.

Residential construction (RYL, NVR, KBH) is the best mid cap industry. New residential building permits were 1.2% higher in October versus a year ago. New residential sales grew 17% year-over-year in September. Truck (ODFL, HTLD, KNX) volume is boosting rates and offers earnings tailwinds into next year. According to Cass, linehaul and intermodal rates grew 7.3% year-over-year in October. Software budget growth offers opportunity for technical and system software makers as companies continue to embrace process and practice software (CDNS, ACIW, TYL). Textile (WWW, DECK, COLM, CRI) holiday sales growth bolsters top and bottom line results and supports share prices through the fourth quarter EPS reporting season. Specialty retail (OUTR, SBH, BID) also score strongly.

Only synthetics (MTX, CMP, POL) score above average in basic materials. In consumer goods focus on textiles and processed & packaged goods (HAIN, FLO). The top financials groups are investment brokers (GBL, MKTX, SF), regional banks (OZRK, ASBC, FHN), and asset managers (EV, JNS, WETF). In healthcare, concentrate on medical instruments (HRC, HAE, TFX, PODD, PKI, NUVA, DXCM). The best industrial goods industries are residential construction, industrial electrical equipment (RBC, AOS), and aerospace/defense (TDY, HXL, MOGA). Trucking, specialty retail, and restaurants (CBRL, WEN, EAT, PZZA, CAKE, BWLD) are best across services. The top technology baskets are technical & system software, semi ICs (IRF, MSCC), and business software (SSNC, CTSH, VRNT, INFA).