Why are mid-caps doing so well for now?

[golfallday]

Mega-caps (SPY) are +3.09% YTD...Small-caps (IWM) are +3.45% YTD...while Mid-caps (MDY) are +8.26% YTD. Any thoughts on why mid-caps are currently doing so well? I'm quite pleased as the Mid-Cap 400 is part of my equity allocation in my 457 plan, but I can't figure it out.

[nedsaid]

Markets will do what markets do. In the short term, it is hard to know what causes the markets to do anything! But evidently, the big institutions are loving mid-caps right now. I just wouldn't worry about shorter term moves in the market.

Many people believe that mid-caps are the "sweet spot" of the stock market. Large enough to have more stability and quality than small-caps and small enough to have good growth potential. Mel Lindauer calls these the "unloved mid-caps." Over long periods of time, this is a good place to be. This is a favored area of investment for me.

[livesoft]

Perhaps it is time to rebalance OUT of mid-caps?

[Toons]

Same reason Healthcare did so well for about 5 years.

[Munir]

Mega-caps (SPY) are +3.09% YTD...Small-caps (IWM) are +3.45% YTD...while Mid-caps (MDY) are +8.26% YTD. Any thoughts on why mid-caps are currently doing so well? I'm quite pleased as the Mid-Cap 400 is part of my equity allocation in my 457 plan, but I can't figure it out.

Ask Mel

[lack_ey]

On a quick check, it looks like the Russell 1000 and S&P 500 have done similarly YTD, so that implies that broad mid caps (in particular, those in the top 1000 in market cap but outside the S&P 500) aren't collectively responsible for the difference, so it seems like it may be S&P's choice of mid caps for the S&P 400.


Some mid cap funds:


Vanguard's CRSP-based mid cap index fund is a bit larger, overlapping with the S&P 500. Also note above that the S&P 500 did beat the Russell Top 200, so I suppose some of the mid caps and smaller large caps did outperform the largest names.

[Kenkat]

Mega-caps (SPY) are +3.09% YTD...Small-caps (IWM) are +3.45% YTD...while Mid-caps (MDY) are +8.26% YTD. Any thoughts on why mid-caps are currently doing so well? I'm quite pleased as the Mid-Cap 400 is part of my equity allocation in my 457 plan, but I can't figure it out.

Ask Mel

It is because they are so unloved.

[Northern Flicker]

The SP400 midcap index has about a 4 percentage point larger allocation to the basic materials sector than the SP500 and about a 4 percentage point smaller allocation to the technology sector than the SP500. Those two sectors have moved in opposite directions YTD: think about gold miners and Apple.