Small cap stock returns have lagged large caps for some time. Recent events indicate small caps may be coming back into favor. It is too early to say if the recent trend will stay but here are some statistics on recent returns using some indexes for large and small caps.
Year to Date
Russell 2000: 8.94%
S&P Small Cap 600: 8.32%
S&P 500: 1.87%
Dow 30: 0.26%
3 Months
Russell 2000: 33.27%
S&P Small Cap 600: 31.91%
S&P 500: 13.57%
Dow 30: 11.67%
1 Year
Russell 2000: 29.86%
S&P Small Cap 600: 21.07%
S&P 500: 16.03%
Dow 30: 6.53%
Good small cap ideas are often a hard task for investors. Some places to get ideas include Motley Fool and the recent Forbes article on 100 small cap stocks. You can also look at the holdings of good performing small cap mutual funds. And of course, there is my biggest source, the ICLUBcentral newsletter, the Small Cap Informer. Yes, I work for ICLUBcentral and I am now a contributor to the Small Cap Informer.
Russell Malley