In April, the S&P 500 (TR) gained 0.4%, ending its first consecutive monthly loss in almost two years, but the index is still down 0.4% year-to-date (ending April 30, 2018.) Mid caps are also down for the year, -1.0%, after the S&P 400 (TR) lost 0.3% in April. However, Small caps pushed into positive territory, up now 1.6% Read more […]
In our previous blog, we highlighted the contribution to domestic equity market returns by mega-cap stocks in 2017 and the implications for active management. In this blog, we focus our discussion on investment style classification. Specifically, we analyze the impact of the style classification scheme on managers’ performance analysis, such as in the SPIVA® U.S. Read more […]
Historically as interest rates have risen, equities have done well. As illustrated in this post, since 1971, the S&P 500 (TR) has gained about 20% on average in rising rate periods, has gained 8 of 9 times and has gained nearly 40% twice with less than a 4% loss for its worst rising rate period. Also shown Read more […]
In a prior post, we looked at the global exposure of the S&P 500. Given the large number of multi-national corporations based in the U.S., approximately 29% of S&P 500 revenues came from overseas in 2017. Beyond large-cap companies, do regional and country exposures change as investment style changes? In this blog, we add to Read more […]
Equities haven’t been the most lovable asset class lately but there are reasons to love them despite these prickly times. The first reason to love equities in rising rate times is that they have gained significantly. Since 1971, the S&P 500 (TR) has gained about 20% on average in rising rate periods, has gained 8 of Read more […]
There are two major types of dividend strategies: Dividend growers: those targeting stocks that consistently grow their dividends over time High dividend yielders: those focusing on stocks that pay a high dividend yield In our paper “A Case for Dividend Growth Strategies,” we compared dividend growth strategies to high-dividend-yielding strategies and concluded that dividend growers, Read more […]
The S&P 500 just posted its best January since 1997, and also had its highest measured optimism, a 6.6% risk premium, since October 2015. Whether history repeats itself is yet to be seen, but just a few days after that high risk premium, the stock market topped on Nov. 3, 2015. By December investors saw the Read more […]
The first estimate of US GDP for the fourth quarter is set to be released this Friday and the median forecast is 3.0% according to MarketWatch, which if met or exceeded will be the first time 3 consecutive quarters to show at least 3% growth since the first quarter of 2005. While this is supportive Read more […]
In December, the S&P 500 (TR) gained 1.1%, posting its 14th consecutive monthly gain, the longest monthly streak on record (data since Sep. 1989.) Also, the S&P MidCap 400 (TR) gained 0.2%, while the S&P SmallCap 600 (TR) lost 0.5%, bringing the 2017 performance to a respective 21.8%, 16.2% and 13.2% for the S&P 500 (TR), S&P MidCap 400 Read more […]
In November, mid-caps led the U.S. equity market with the S&P 400 gaining 3.68%, followed by small-caps in the S&P 600 that gained 3.52% and large-caps in the S&P 500 that gained 3.07%. The S&P 500 logged its 13th consecutive positive month, the longest streak in its monthly history ever (data going back to Oct. Read more […]
