Trump Hasn't Made America Great For Small Stocks Yet
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 3/13/2017, 10:45 a.m.
Donald Trump gives inaugural address.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It looks like investors aren't so sure that President Donald Trump's pledge to "Make America Great Again" will really help the companies that do most of their business in the United States.
The Russell 2000 index -- which represents stocks of mostly smaller companies with domestically-focused businesses -- is flat so far this year.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq -- home to large multinational tech companies like Apple, Google-parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon -- is up 9%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500, which also include big global focused U S. firms, are each up 6%.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
The Russell 2000 enjoyed a ferocious rally after Trump's victory in November. Wall Street believed that his pro-growth policies would probably benefit smaller companies even more than large blue chips.
So what's changed?
The U.S. dollar has weakened a bit this year against other currencies. That isn't great for small stocks.
Smaller companies tend to benefit when the dollar is strong because it makes the cost of goods they import cheaper. They also don't export as much to overseas markets, so they aren't hurt as much as large multinationals when the dollar is strong.
The greenback had enjoyed a sharp rally after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton -- the thought being that he would be more inclined to pursue both domestic and foreign policies that would be more inward and protectionist.
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