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Russell 2000

Sep 08 2023

Small Caps: Unresponsive

  • Sep 8, 2023

Based on successful Russell 2000 VLT BUY signals, 1982-forward, the index had gained an average of 23% eight months later—and none had a losing position. Since the VLT BUY on January 31st (eight months ago), the Russell 2000 has dropped 3.9%. Furthermore, Small Caps bottomed 15 months ago, and in a normal cyclical bull market, the Russell 2000 would be up 50-70% by this time.

Aug 05 2023

Lowering The Bar!

  • Aug 5, 2023

As we’ve noted, none of the major indexes has kept pace with the typical path traced out during past cyclical upswings. It has since occurred to us that this nearly ten-month stock rally is being compared to an unrealistically high standard: The current advance doesn’t have the advantages enjoyed by bulls that launched out of recessionary conditions.

Jun 07 2023

A Look At Where Rate Hikes Are “Working”

  • Jun 7, 2023

Speculative spirits are back, and the index that’s suddenly close to its 2021 high is the one we viewed as the epicenter of the mania—the NY FANG+® Index!

May 05 2023

Small Caps Missed The Memo

  • May 5, 2023

For the first time since 1946-47, the super-bullish, six-month window beginning with the mid-term elections through the following April, failed to see a material upswing in Small Caps. 

May 05 2023

Small Caps Getting Cheaper By The Day

  • May 5, 2023

It was September 2020 when we suggested that a new multi-year phase of Small-Cap-stock leadership had begun. Almost immediately, the Russell 2000 reversed a big chunk of the prior decade’s underperformance. Unfortunately, that was the extent of the run.

Apr 07 2023

VLT: You Read It Here Last

  • Apr 7, 2023

We anticipated it for months, and now that it has finally happened, we’re burying the news in the final page of this section. Yes, the last day of March saw the S&P 500 trigger a “low-risk” BUY signal on our Very Long Term (VLT) Momentum algorithm, known elsewhere as the Coppock Curve.

Apr 07 2023

The Cycle That Never Was

  • Apr 7, 2023

At 144 months, this is now the longest Large-Cap cycle on record, but its dominance will have to prolong to eclipse the second-longest leadership phase (1946-1957), in which Large Caps achieved a 190% performance spread above Small Caps.

Mar 10 2023

Small Caps: We’ve Seen This Setup B-Four

  • Mar 10, 2023

In mid-2020, we wrote that a new multi-year leadership cycle had probably begun. Technically, that belief hasn’t been disproven, but the extent of outperformance has been disappointing in the nearly three years since. 

Mar 07 2023

Small Cap Malaise

  • Mar 7, 2023

Imagine telling a Small Cap investor in mid-2018 that: (1) the U.S. economy would spend all but two months of the next 4-1/2 years in expansionary mode; and (2) M2 money supply would increase by 50% in that time, and yet the Russell 2000 would gain a grand total of just 9% over the same span.

Feb 07 2023

VLT Update

  • Feb 7, 2023

The progression of bullish technical evidence since October’s S&P 500 low is compelling, though not overwhelming. With that low now almost four months behind us, the VLT Momentum oscillator for the S&P 500 probably “should” have already triggered a new BUY signal. Yet, both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite are still holding out.

Oct 07 2022

Supercharging VLT With Small Caps

  • Oct 7, 2022

Leuthold did not invent VLT. The credit goes to Sedge Coppock, a technical analyst who insisted on being called an “econometrician.” While the famed Coppock Curve was based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Leuthold found the algorithm useful at the industry group level—it is a component within our Group Selection (GS) Scoring system.

Apr 07 2022

X-Rays And EKGs

  • Apr 7, 2022

In late March, the S&P 500 rallied to within 3.5% of its January high, likely prompting producers at CNBC to put in an order for “S&P 500 5,000” hats. But we think that 4,000 will be undercut before 5,000 is topped, and action in key indexes (with the notable exception of the S&P 500 itself) reinforces our view.

Feb 05 2022

Two Ways To Spin The Russell 2000 “Bear Market”

  • Feb 5, 2022

At the market’s January 27th close, the headline blared, “Russell 2000 Enters Bear Market.” Well, not exactly. If one accepts that a 20% decline constitutes a bear market, then the bear actually began on November 9, 2021—the day after the Russell 2000 peak.

Feb 05 2022

“Collared” By The Fed?

  • Feb 5, 2022

In late January, the S&P 500 was down so much (almost 10%!) that it revived talk of investors’ favorite “safe” security. No, not T-bills—and not even Amazon or Apple common stock—but the Fed “put.” Years ago, we called it the “hypothetical” Fed put. But by now, we’re believers.

Jan 28 2022

Small Caps’ Three-Year Ride To Nowhere

  • Jan 28, 2022

Yesterday, the Russell 2000 closed down 20.9% from its November 8th high, and market bulls have conceded it was “due” for a pullback after a 146% gain off the March-2020 COVID lows.

The Russell’s decline is moderate by the historical high-beta standards of Small Caps. However, this drop—combined with other developments transpiring over the last few years—has produced a shocking result: The Russell 2000 is now unchanged on an inflation-adjusted basis since its “Quantitative-Tightening Top” of August 31, 2018. But what a three-year ride it’s been!

Jan 19 2022

Speculating In “The Nebs”

  • Jan 19, 2022

One measure of a bubbly bull market is the degree of speculative fervor embedded in the prices of companies with nebulous, indeterminate, or even nonexistent intrinsic values. Since the bear market low in March 2020, speculative manias have evolved in a menagerie of asset classes including Innovators & Disruptors, SPACs, meme stocks, crypto currencies, and NFTs. Based on the breadth of valuation extremes across numerous and diverse assets, this bull market may rank second to none.

Jan 07 2022

A Squandered Small-Cap Opportunity?

  • Jan 7, 2022

We know our view on this is controversial, but we like the relative prospects for Small Caps—even though we still believe the broad stock market is currently the most speculative one in U.S. history. 

Aug 06 2021

A Look At The Small-Cap Setback

  • Aug 6, 2021

The Russell 2000 has blown the 14% lead it had built against the S&P 500 earlier this year, and now trails the index by almost 5%. Has that type of intra-year reversal happened before, and, if so, did it portend a major change in leadership?

May 07 2020

Where Are The Leaders We Need?

  • May 7, 2020

Small Caps lagged during the bounce off the March lows before a late-April spurt briefly pulled them ahead of the S&P 500. Still, considering that Russell 2000 losses were so much steeper than the S&P 500’s (-43% versus -33%), we would have expected something better.

Apr 07 2020

Small Cap Smack-Down

  • Apr 7, 2020

We were fooled on Small Caps, and it’s been a “multi-factor” catastrophe.

Dec 18 2019

A Small Cap Strategy Session

  • Dec 18, 2019

Leuthold’s research team has recently flagged a number of items that suggest it may be time to consider small cap stocks. This asset class has been showing signs of life and the decision to overweight small caps is starting to seem relevant – and perhaps nicely profitable - again.

Nov 07 2019

VLT Complicates The Market Puzzle

  • Nov 7, 2019

At October’s close, a long-term BUY signal was triggered on the Russell 2000. The fact that some market segments are triggering “oversold BUYS” when blue chips are at record highs speaks volumes about the internal disparities that have developed during the last few years. The Russell BUY signal is not inconsistent with our belief that the action since the January 2018 peak remains part of a lengthy cyclical topping process.

Nov 01 2019

The Market Puzzle Gets Even More Complicated

  • Nov 1, 2019

At last night’s close, the Russell 2000 generated a “low-risk” BUY signal on our Very Long Term (VLT) Momentum algorithm, a possibility we’d alluded to in the September and October Green Books.

Oct 05 2019

Small Cap VLT BUY: Not Quite...

  • Oct 5, 2019

Small Caps came tantalizingly close to activating a major VLT BUY signal in September, with the Russell 2000 closing less than a half percent below the trigger level. A new bull signal from this indicator wouldn’t “fit” into our market and economic narrative, but we won’t sweep it under the rug if it occurs.

Sep 20 2019

Box Jumpers Beware!

  • Sep 20, 2019

Style rotation! Regime change! Market action of the first two weeks of September coaxed the few remaining Small Cap Value managers off ledges from New York to San Francisco.

Sep 07 2019

Small Caps: “What If?”

  • Sep 7, 2019

The Russell 2000 is the most important major index on the cusp of a new BUY signal. Our best guess is that Small Caps will still trend lower for now, creating a buying opportunity in the months ahead.

Jul 05 2019

Big Is Still Beautiful

  • Jul 5, 2019

The 10-year-old bull grabs most of the headlines, but its younger sibling has begun to command more respect.

Mar 22 2019

Partying Like It’s 1998-99

  • Mar 22, 2019

We thought Jerome Powell’s “Christmas Capitulation” would be tough to beat, but he accomplished that two days ago with what could be called his “Spring Surrender.” That, in turn, has rekindled hopes of a stock market melt-up along the lines of 1998-99, which, as old-timers will remember, followed a late-cycle correction that was nearly identical to the one seen last year.

 

Jul 07 2018

Multiple Personality Disorder?

  • Jul 7, 2018

Market behavior is always nebulous enough to generate diverging opinions, but lately it’s been sufficiently strange to give rise to a diverging set of facts.

Jun 01 2018

If You Think This Market’s Fishy, You’re Right

  • Jun 1, 2018

Tomorrow is the Minnesota season-opener for muskies, but the fanatics who chase them are likely disappointed that it comes a few days after an event that’s known to trigger these beasts: the full moon. The screenshot is from our $9.95 “iSolunar” iPhone app, and shows that Saturday merits only a “three fish” day (out of a possible “four fish”)—based on the moon’s fading illumination. 

 

May 18 2018

Is Small Cap Leadership Bullish?

  • May 18, 2018

The Russell 2000 closed above its January 26th high on Wednesday, and well beforehand bulls had seized upon the secondary stocks’ leadership as evidence that all is right again with both the U.S. economy and stock market...

Mar 07 2018

Mid-Term Mayhem?

  • Mar 7, 2018

The prospect of a mid-term congressional shake-up may rattle the markets in 2018. Since 1962, nine major bear market lows occurred during mid-term election years, with eight of those happening during the traditionally weak months of May through October.

Nov 07 2017

Stock Market Observations

  • Nov 7, 2017

We remain bullish on stocks but with very limited visibility into 2018.

Aug 05 2017

VLT Goes “Quiet”

  • Aug 5, 2017

Last year’s “low-risk” BUY signals from our Very Long Term (VLT) Momentum algorithm have proven very profitable, but enough time has elapsed that they should no longer be considered an important bullish factor.

Apr 07 2017

What’s Ailing Small Caps?

  • Apr 7, 2017

While the Russell 2000 loss during the 2015-16 correction was almost double that of the S&P 500, the decline did not fully erase the P/E premium Small Caps have enjoyed since the middle of last decade. The premium might need to be entirely erased before a multi-year Small Cap leadership cycle can begin.

Aug 05 2016

More Upside For Small Caps?

  • Aug 5, 2016

There was a major cyclical BUY signal (VLT Momentum) for the S&P 500 in late-May, and as of July’s close, that bullish development was reinforced by a new VLT BUY signal on the Russell 2000.

Apr 08 2014

A Milestone You Might Have Missed

  • Apr 8, 2014

The fifth anniversary of the bull market was met with fanfare, but the launch of the Large Cap leadership cycle in April 2011 is receiving no attention whatsoever.

Jan 08 2014

Stock Market Leadership In 2014: Large Caps, Tech, Health Care

  • Jan 8, 2014

Following a great year for trend-following, capitalizing on key reversals in sector performance will be important in winning the 2014 performance derby.

Nov 07 2013

How Long Can Small Caps Lead?

  • Nov 7, 2013

The Russell 2000 is about five points ahead of Large Caps YTD, and is approaching its April 2011 long-term relative peak. We view this outperformance as their leadership’s last gasp and not a new cycle.

Jan 05 2011

Large Cap Vs. Small Cap: Performance Parity 1979 To Date

  • Jan 5, 2011

If we look only at the past eleven years, 2000-2010, the S&P 500 has decisively underperformed the Russell 2000.