When Jim Cramer and I came up with the FANG acronym (for Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google) back in early 2013, we had no idea the concept would take off like it did. Despite the naysayers, the FANG stocks remain market leaders.

We reviewed this group in February and found that these stocks were collectively up more than 500%, far exceeding all the indices. All four stocks have hit all-time highs multiple times this year, and together, the companies are worth nearly $3 trillion! Amazon and Google are both creeping up on trillion dollar valuations.

Jim clearly did the heavy lifting and talked about these names endlessly. As a result, FANG has become part of the financial vernacular. It’s nearly impossible to go a day without hearing the acronym mentioned at least once. An ETF was even created (called FANG plus), which includes the original four names and six others.

FANG stocks remain market leaders

Trends come and go, but the FANG trend still has strong momentum behind it, and it may be around for a while. As the numbers above show, there is no doubt that Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google have created enormous shareholder wealth. So why the negativity?

Jealousy and impossible expectations are two reasons. Trend leaders are often bashed when market conditions aren’t perfect, but it does seem unfair to not give these companies their due.

Another reason is pullbacks. Many in the business media look to the FANG names as leaders to the upside anddownside. When a pullback occurs (which is a normal activity), pundits are all too eager to write their eulogy for FANG. Interestingly enough, each pullback allows these names to gather more energy for the next run higher!

That was recently the case with Netflix, which pulled back 100 points from all-time highs following a big earnings miss. Yet, the stock was still up 45% for 2018 at the recent lows in mid-August! Despite that, some pundits called out the stock as a bogus member of FANG and blamed it for Facebook’s pullback. (I even saw someone change the acronym to GA by excluding Facebook and Netflix – sacrilege!)