Archives
US small cap stocks continue to outperform big caps this year
June 18th, 2018
The rally in shares of small-capitalization shares relative to large caps has accelerated in recent weeks. A month ago, the Russell 2000 (a widely followed gauge of small companies) was ahead of its large-cap counterpart (Russell 1000) by roughly ...
Real Estate Stocks Continue To Rebound
April 18th, 2017
Foreign and US real estate stocks extended March’s rally into the first week of April, generating the top performances among the major asset classes last week, based on a set representative exchange-traded products. Vanguard Global ex-US Real Estate (VNQI) ...
The Fed Lifts Interest Rates On Outlook For Firmer Growth
December 16th, 2016
The Federal Reserve announced an increase in interest rates yesterday, nudging its target rate up by 25 basis points to a 0.50%-to-0.75% range. The central bank’s revised economic projections were slightly more hawkish too. Meantime, the government yesterday reported ...
Most Markets Tumbled Last Week, But US Stocks Surged
November 15th, 2016
Last week’s election of Donald Trump triggered widespread selling in global markets, based on ETF proxies representing the major asset classes. US equities bucked the trend with a strong gain for the five trading days through Oct. 11. Stock ...
Emerging-Market Stocks Edge Higher As REITs Tumble
October 12th, 2016
The major asset classes dispensed a wide range of performances last week, based on a set of proxy ETFs. Although losses dominated the five trading days through Oct. 7, a handful of markets bucked the trend, led by equities ...
Is Recession-Risk Monitoring Useful For Investing?
July 27th, 2016
There’s a myth going around that tracking the business cycle is a waste of time for investors. On the surface, the reasoning sounds logical. By the time it’s clear that the US has slipped into a recession, it’s too ...
Emerging-Market Stocks Post First Weekly Gain Since Early April
June 1st, 2016
Emerging-market equities rebounded last week, posting the first weekly gain since early April. The 2.8% total return for the Vanguard Emerging Market ETF (VWO) for the five trading days through May 27 also marked the strongest performance for the ...
Foreign Developed-Market Stocks In The Lead Last Week
May 24th, 2016
Stock markets in the developed world outside the US led the major asset classes higher last week, based on a set of proxy ETFs. Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets (VEA) posted an 0.8% total return for the five trading days ...
Is The 9-Year Drought For Value Investing History?
April 14th, 2016
The notion that value outperforms in the long run is a staple in the financial literature, and for an obvious reason: the historical record tells us so. But the last nine years tell a different story, based on the ...
The Crystal-Ball Business For 2016: A Brief Sampling
January 4th, 2016
It’s a new year and that means that it’s time to roll out a new round of predictions. There’s no reason to think that turning the calendar to January is any more productive for prognosticating vs. flipping the page ...
