Just realized something interesting looking back at 2023 market performance. While most investors were celebrating solid gains, there's this whole group who got genuinely disappointed - the people betting on the dogs of the dow strategy.

So here's the thing. The dogs of the dow approach sounds simple enough: take the 10 highest-yielding stocks from the Dow 30 at year-end, put equal money into each, and hold them. Theoretically, these beaten-down dividend payers should bounce back when the market favors value plays. Except 2023 decided to do its own thing.

The dogs of the dow portfolio only returned 10.1% that year while the broader Dow climbed 14.4%. Pretty rough when your strategy underperforms the index it's supposed to beat. And this wasn't just a one-off either - the dogs of the dow has now lagged the Dow in 4 of the last 5 years by that point.

What went wrong? Growth stocks came roaring back after 2022's bloodbath. Three of the Dow's four worst performers that year were actually in the dogs of the dow lineup. Chevron got hammered as energy prices normalized from their 2022 spike. Walgreens absolutely tanked, down nearly 30%, as the company struggled with its healthcare transformation and COVID-related traffic didn't bounce back as expected. Even Verizon, a dogs of the dow regular thanks to those juicy dividend yields, got crushed by rising interest rates and mounting concerns about potential liabilities.

But here's where it gets interesting. A lot of investors are still holding onto the dogs of the dow strategy heading into 2024 and beyond because they believe market sentiment could shift back toward value stocks. The simplicity of the approach and the quality of companies involved still appeal to people building long-term portfolios.

The real lesson? Sometimes even solid strategies go through rough patches. The dogs of the dow might have disappointed in 2023, but plenty of investors see potential for a comeback if market conditions favor value plays again.