Credit: Shutterstock photoThe year 2017 has been great for the overall broader market. However, large-cap stocks have performed better than small caps. Hopes of solid growth in the U.S. economy have been high given promises of deregulation and fiscal reflation made by President Donald Trump. U.S. consumer sentiment is hovering around a decade high.
Things are shaping up even on the earnings front. As per the Earnings Trends issued on Dec 19, year-over-year corporate earnings growth by the S&P 500 companies was 7.5% over 5% revenue growth. As far as Q4 earnings are concerned, 8.6% growth was witnessed over 6.8% revenue expansion, which is decent enough in the current scenario(read: Ten Predictions for the ETF Industry in 2017 ).
Corporates have been strengthening not only in the United States but also in Europe and other so-long besieged regions. The euro zone is forecast to have expanded 2.2% in 2017, the quickest clip in a decade, according to the European Commission.
The greenback has been a little subdued this year on geopolitical threats and occasional policy uncertainty. Overall, PowerShares DB US Dollar Bullish ETF UUP is down more than 9% year to date (as of Dec 22, 2017) (read: After a Weak 2017, Can Dollar ETFs Rebound in 2018? ).
Investors should note that large-cap stocks perform better in a falling dollar environment as these have wide foreign exposure. Foreign economies are looking up lately, making the case for large-cap investing even stronger.
Added to this, materialization of a corporate tax reform and fiscal reflation in the Trump administration have offered growth stocks an upside potential. If this was not enough, Treasury bond yields remained on the lower side despite three Fed rate hikes (read: ETF Winners & Losers Post Partly Dovish Fed Meet ).
So, easy access to cheap money flows has resulted in a surging stock market. The combination of these factors has boosted the stock market. This is especially true as growth investing is basically a momentum play and a great strategy in a trending market.
PowerShares Russell Top 200 Pure Growth Portfolio ETF PXLG - Up 34%
The fund tracks the Russell Top 200 Pure Growth Index. Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary and Health Care are the top three sectors of the 68-stock fund. The fund charges 39 bps in fees.
PowerShares QQQ QQQ - Up 31.7%
The fund looks to track the Nasdaq-100 Index. The fund is heavy on Information Technology. It charges 20 bps in fees (read: Top Sector ETFs of 2017 ).
iShares Russell Top 200 Growth ETF IWF - Up 27.9%
The 552-stock fund looks to track the Russell 1000 Growth Index. The fund charges 20 bps in fees. Here also, Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary and Health Care are the top three sectors.
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF JKE - Up 27.9%
The 87-stock fund offers exposure to the Morningstar Large Growth Index and charges 25 bps in fees. Again, Information Technology (47.4%), Consumer Discretionary (18.8%) and Health Care (15.8%) are the top three sectors of the portfolio.
Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF VONG - Up 27.9%
The product looks to track the Russell 1000 Growth Index. Technology (31.8%), Consumer Discretionary (19%) and Producer Durables (13.6%) are the top three sectors of the fund. It charges 12 bps in fees (read: Forget Geopolitics, Large-Cap Growth ETFs Still Strong Buys ).
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NASDAQ-100 SHRS (QQQ): ETF Research Reports
PWRSH-DB US$ BU (UUP): ETF Research Reports
ISHARS-RS 1K GR (IWF): ETF Research Reports
VANGD-RUS 1000G (VONG): ETF Research Reports
ISHARS-MO LC GR (JKE): ETF Research Reports
PWRSH-FP LG GR (PXLG): ETF Research Reports
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
