ETF Watchlist: Week Of July 3, 2017

The stock market wrapped up the first half of 2017 with one of its strongest performances in several years. The S&P 500 had its best start since 2013 with the Nasdaq delivering its strongest first six months since the financial crisis ended in 2009. The Dow and the S&P 500 posted gains of just over 8% year-to-date while the Nasdaq is up more than 14%. Large caps outperformed their smaller counterparts during the first six months of the year – the S&P MidCap 400 is 5%, while the S&P 600 SmallCap is up just 2%. Growth stocks continue to outperform value stocks.

We might be seeing the start of a change in leadership in the equity markets. Technology stocks, leaders for much of 2017, have begun giving back gains in the last few weeks. Since June 8, the Nasdaq has lagged the S&P 500 by nearly 2.5%. In its place, healthcare and financials have powered ahead. Healthcare has gained as both sides of the aisle continue to battle over the new healthcare law. Financials have done particularly well this past week as the latest batch of CCAR test results came back all clear and led to big names such as Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS) announcing share buybacks and dividend hikes.

The upcoming week will be shortened due to the Independence Day holiday but it still looks to be a busy one economically. The meeting minutes from the latest Fed meeting will be released shining some additional light on where interest rates may be heading from here. June’s nonfarm payroll numbers will arrive on Friday. Market watchers will be looking to see if the economy has rebounded from May’s disappointing numbers. Manufacturing and auto sales numbers will come early this week as well.

As a side note, I’ll be publishing my 2nd quarter comprehensive review and commentary later this week where I’ll discuss not only the stock market but interest rates, oil prices, gold and more, so keep an eye out for that.