Included in this issue of 401k Made Easy:
Market Wrap
401k Made Easy Strategy YTD Return
Benchmarks YTD Return
Investor Sentiment
Market Wrap for the Week Ending Mar 12, 2021
The technology sector came roaring back this past week. You may recall a serious pullback in technology and growth sectors during the latter part of February. It’ll be interesting to see if technology’s comeback lasts or if it fades.
Overall, the S&P 500 was up 2.69% for the week.
401k Made Easy Strategy - YTD Return
My 401k Made Easy model is up 9.68% YTD. It’s still moving in the right direction and maintaining a modest lead on the market. See my S&P 500 index benchmark below. The model’s better performance versus the overall market is due to small cap stocks’ outstanding returns over the last several months. The model has me in a small cap fund, which has worked well so far.
Benchmark Stock Market Indices - YTD Return
The S&P 500 (Vanguard fund VFINX) is up 5.31% YTD
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (State Street SPDR ETF DIA) is up 7.61% YTD
Investor Sentiment
I find investor sentiment to be an interesting contrarian indicator. There are several similar indicators put out by different organizations. I like CNN’s Fear and Greed index as mentioned in past issues, however, I also look at the US Investor Sentiment, % Bullish indicator sometimes. Its latest reading is 49.41% which is up from 40.26% a week earlier and 38.74% a year ago. Its long term average is 37.98%.
This type of indicator is contrarian because supposedly, when investor optimism is very high, there are less investors likely to buy more stocks and push the markets higher.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Mike