The second quarter began in the same manner as the first quarter ended — with stocks soaring — but the torrid run appears to have stalled since late May, and the markets have leveled off for the rest of the quarter. Altogether, our US market index added 17% for the quarter and is up 5% for the year.
Smaller was distinctively better in the quarter, as our small cap index added 24%. Our mid cap index added 21% for the quarter, while the our large cap index was the laggard with gains of 16%. Value and growth performed similarly in the quarter.
Still large growth leads all the other market capitilization indexes for the year, with a gain of 17%, belying the notion that the market’s surge has been a “junk rally.” In fact, only a small portion of our US market index’s return is owed to firms with financial health scores in the bottom two categories out of five. In addition, some consumer products stocks, such as PepsiCo, haven’t done much, while many other high-quality components of the growth indexes, such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, Qualcomm, and Schlumberger, are up over 20% for the year.
Despite the prospect of record bankruptcies, the fixed-income markets rose. Our core bond index was up 1% for the quarter. With the flight to quality imperative diminishing, last year’s gains in Treasuries have turned into losses, as our Treasury index dropped 3% for the quarter. On the flip side, our corporate bond index gained 9%, which is one for the record books.
Commodities’ performance also revealed that stimulus efforts worldwide and infrastructure investments in China may be working. Our commodity index rose 13.6% for the quarter. The index is up 9% for the year.
Source: Morningstar, Standard & Poor’s, JP Morgan Asset Manaagement, iShares, and Morgan Stanley
This entry was posted in Home and tagged Market Commentary. Bookmark the
permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.
Market Commentary: Second Quarter, 2009
The second quarter began in the same manner as the first quarter ended — with stocks soaring — but the torrid run appears to have stalled since late May, and the markets have leveled off for the rest of the quarter. Altogether, our US market index added 17% for the quarter and is up 5% for the year.
Smaller was distinctively better in the quarter, as our small cap index added 24%. Our mid cap index added 21% for the quarter, while the our large cap index was the laggard with gains of 16%. Value and growth performed similarly in the quarter.
Still large growth leads all the other market capitilization indexes for the year, with a gain of 17%, belying the notion that the market’s surge has been a “junk rally.” In fact, only a small portion of our US market index’s return is owed to firms with financial health scores in the bottom two categories out of five. In addition, some consumer products stocks, such as PepsiCo, haven’t done much, while many other high-quality components of the growth indexes, such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, Qualcomm, and Schlumberger, are up over 20% for the year.
Despite the prospect of record bankruptcies, the fixed-income markets rose. Our core bond index was up 1% for the quarter. With the flight to quality imperative diminishing, last year’s gains in Treasuries have turned into losses, as our Treasury index dropped 3% for the quarter. On the flip side, our corporate bond index gained 9%, which is one for the record books.
Commodities’ performance also revealed that stimulus efforts worldwide and infrastructure investments in China may be working. Our commodity index rose 13.6% for the quarter. The index is up 9% for the year.
Source: Morningstar, Standard & Poor’s, JP Morgan Asset Manaagement, iShares, and Morgan Stanley