Market Performance

Performance charts going back to November last year.  The top chart shows the performance of major equity ETFs around the world.  I've also thrown in an ETF showing the performance of the gold ETF and US High Yield.  Owning the portfolio shown below would give you something like 95% exposure to most equity markets around the world.  As you can see you take out the US tech-heavy Nasdaq, {That's the Fidelity OneQ-2nd from left} and REITS {Third from right} and every other major index represented in this ETF universe is down for the year.   Owning this whole basket would have you down around 5% in 2015.  This is a pretty diversified group of companies.  It's lacking US bond exposure and maybe some US small and mid-cap stocks but you can get the idea of the tough road equities have had since November, 2014.  By-the-way, US small and mid-cap stocks are down respectively 1.95% and 4.25% during the same period so they would have been no help in any event.

If we break down the different sectors of the S&P 500 then you can see what has really ailed the markets.  The commodities bust and the decline in the oil sectors have been a significant drag on both corporate earnings and on the index during the same period.  If you take these two sectors of the market out then the S&P 500 would have been up about 2.5%.  That's nothing to write home about but it still is a gain.  Same problem in commodities and energy is what's bedeviling much of the rest of the world. 

  

*Performance charts via Stockcharts.com.

**Long many of the above represented ETFs in personal and client accounts.  Positions can change at any time though.