OK, everyone knows that the big mega-cap stocks have been doing most of the heavy lifting with respect to stock market returns of late, but one thing we continue to stress is that just because the big stocks are doing really well doesn’t mean that the rest of the market is in the tank. The most recent example? Just today, the Nasdaq 100 Equal Weight index is poised to close at an all-time high after rallying more than 1% off its early lows. While the index still hasn’t taken out its intraday all-time high, it’s basically right there.

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Again, we aren’t denying the fact that the cap-weighted Nasdaq 100, which has been driven by the FANG and other large-cap tech stocks has been outperforming.  In the six-month window that the Nasdaq 100 Equal Weight index has been rangebound, the cap-weighted index has been making a routine out of hitting new highs. 

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Comparing the performance of the two indices, the Nasdaq 100 is up just over 30% over the last year, but the S&P 500 has been no slouch either, rallying almost 19% which is better than the Dow, S&P 500, or even Russell 2000. 

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