The headlines of the S&P look great, masking a lot.
But, small-caps (IWM) are down since March, while the Nasdaq (QQQ) and S&P (SPY) have risen. During Q1, Nasdaq was down on a YTD basis, and the giant Apple has still returned only half of the Nasdaq and the S&P.
Further, energy stocks are still down over 30% from their all-time highs.
Last, and probably most importantly, fixed-income (bonds) are down for the year, something that has not occurred for more than a decade.
What, why, and how to understand how portfolios are built.
It will not matter what type of balanced fund, targeted fund, global ETF you build, there is only a single principle that unifies them all. The inputs into the construction will differ, that doesn’t change the general form. Those inputs are projections, and the results will differ. The point here is that the results have differed incredibly in 2021, more so than anytime over the past decade, except a couple of 3-month periods.
Thus, simply looking at the “S&P at …