Summary
The year 2024 is shaping up to be another spectacular time for equity investors. As opposed to many years, it seems like all you had to do in 2024 was throw a dart at a major index board and you came out a winner. It sure is nice when good news is spread around and not concentrated in just one industry or sector. Once again, the mega-cap indices outperformed — but smaller-cap stocks also did well. Some of the small-cap indices even broke out to all-time highs for the first time in three years. The Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF (XLG) is leading, with a surge of 32%. Close behind is the S&P 100 (OEX +29%), the Nasdaq (+27%), and the S&P 500 (+26%). Next up are the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ +24%), S&P MidCap 400 (MDY +22%), Russell 200 (IWM +21%), NYSE (+20%), Dow Jones Industrials (+19%), and the S&P Small Cap 600 (SML +16%). Strength has also been broad, with all 11 sectors higher, led by Financial (XLF +38%), Communication Services (XLC +36%), Utilities (XLU +34%), Industrials (XLI +27%), Consumer Discretionary (XLY +24%), and Information Technology (XLK +21%). With a year like this, it’s no surprise that sentiment is heavily tilted toward optimism. Th
