Small-cap Growth Stocks Wilt in May
June 1, 2006 — The small-cap Russell 2000® Growth Index reflected a 7% loss in May and underperformed all others in Russell's family of 24 U.S. equity indexes for the month.
"May was tough on every segment of the market," said Steve Swartley, senior manager research analyst. "The widespread downturn in May was particularly painful for small caps as the Russell 2000 posted its worst monthly return in the past calendar year."
Despite two consecutive months of negative returns, the Russell 2000 (7.5%) reflects a relatively strong return for 2006 and continues to lead the large-cap Russell 1000® Index (2.6%) for the year. For its part, the Russell 2000 Growth has increased 6% in 2006, while the Russell 1000® Growth Index (-0.54%) shows a slight decline for the year. In addition, the Russell 2000® Value Index continues to lead all other Russell indexes year-to-date with a 9.1% increase for 2006.
"Finding winners in the May performance figures isn't easy, but the month's best performing index, though negative, was the Russell Midcap® Value Index (-2.09%)," said Swartley. "The index, which outperformed all others in 2005, reflects a three-year annualized return of 22.1% through the end of May and leads the family of Russell indexes for that period."
Among the 12 sectors in Russell indexes, technology suffered the most at every market capitalization tier. The sector lost 7.2% in the broad-market Russell 3000® Index and 9.9% in the Russell 2000.
The top-performing stock in the large-cap Russell 1000 was Valhi (25.5%), which was followed by two companies in the autos and transportation sector: TRW Automotive (25.5%) and General Motors (18.8%). By contrast, four of the worst performing stocks are in the consumer discretionary sector, including Expedia (-23.8%) and Claire's Stores (-22.9%).
In the Russell 3000, about 72% of the members lost value in May, including 317 of the 375 stocks in the technology sector.
In the Russell 2000, 133 stocks lost more than 20% of their value in May and 34 of them declined more than 30%. However, a few small-cap stocks turned in a big performance for the month, including Movie Gallery (91.9%) and Triple Crown Media (49.4%).
For additional performance figures on Russell's indexes and the user-friendly Russell index returns calculator, please visit: www.russell.com/Indexes.
View daily total returns for all Russell indexes.
| RUSSELL INDEXES TOTAL RETURNS (%) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
May |
|
YTD |
| Russell 3000® Index |
|
-3.20% |
|
3.05% |
| Russell 1000® Index |
|
-2.95% |
|
2.62% |
| Russell 2000® Index |
|
-5.62% |
|
7.52% |
| Russell 2500™ Index |
|
-4.72% |
|
6.27% |
| Russell Midcap® Index |
|
-3.37% |
|
4.72% |
| Russell Top 200® Index |
|
-2.78% |
|
1.76% |
| Russell Top 50® Index |
|
-2.55% |
|
1.16% |
| Russell Microcap™ Index |
|
-5.84% |
|
6.86% |
| Russell 3000® Value Index |
|
-2.67% |
|
6.16% |
| Russell 3000® Growth Index |
|
-3.74% |
|
0.03% |
| Russell 1000® Value Index |
|
-2.53% |
|
5.88% |
| Russell 1000® Growth Index |
|
-3.39% |
|
-0.54% |
| Russell 2000® Value Index |
|
-4.14% |
|
9.10% |
| Russell 2000® Growth Index |
|
-7.04% |
|
6.01% |
| Russell 2500™ Value Index |
|
-3.46% |
|
7.06% |
| Russell 2500™ Growth Index |
|
-5.97% |
|
5.48% |
| Russell Midcap® Value Index |
|
-2.09% |
|
6.38% |
| Russell Midcap® Growth Index |
|
-4.71% |
|
2.98% |
| Russell Top 200® Value Index |
|
-2.71% |
|
5.66% |
| Russell Top 200® Growth Index |
|
-2.85% |
|
-1.89% |
May 2006
SECTOR PERFORMANCE |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Russell 1000 Growth |
|
Russell 1000 Value |
| Technology |
|
-6.90% |
|
-9.90% |
| Health Care |
|
-1.80% |
|
-6.90% |
| Consumer Discretionary & Services |
|
-2.20% |
|
-5.00% |
| Consumer Staples |
|
-0.60% |
|
3.40% |
| Integrated Oils |
|
-2.80% |
|
-9.10% |
| Other Energy |
|
-2.90% |
|
-5.10% |
| Materials & Processing |
|
-3.60% |
|
-7.10% |
| Producer Durables |
|
-4.00% |
|
-7.30% |
| Autos & Transportation |
|
0.20% |
|
-2.50% |
| Financial Services |
|
-3.60% |
|
-2.90% |
| Utilities |
|
-0.30% |
|
-2.40% |
About Russell: Russell Investment Group, a global leader in multi-manager investing, provides investment products and services in 44 countries. Russell manages more than $167 billion in assets and advises clients worldwide representing more than $2.4 trillion. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., with additional offices in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Sydney, Singapore, Auckland and Tokyo.
Russell employs its indexes to objectively evaluate investment managers for multi-manager funds and other investment services. More than $3.8 trillion in assets are benchmarked to Russell indexes.
Russell Investment Group is a registered trade name of Frank Russell Company, a Washington, USA corporation, which operates through subsidiaries worldwide. Frank Russell Company is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Frank Russell Company is the owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to its indexes.
Russell's indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.
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